Ashikabi No Shinobi
by The Engulfing Silence
Summary: Unable to move onto the next life, Uzumaki Naruto travels the world. He comes back to Japan, the place where Konoha once stood, and soon finds himself sucked into a game of battling busty women. It all started when a girl fell on top of him. Literally.
1. Prologue: The Shinobi Ashikabi

**Disclaimer: Right, so this marks the start of my remake. You'll all notice that there are only a few changes, not much, but significant enough that you should take note of them. Now then, I do not own Naruto or Sekirei, both of them are products of Masashi Kishomoto and Akurako Gokurakuin.**

**And with that out of the way, please enjoy the story.**

**Ashikabi no Shinobi**

**Prologue: The Shinobi Ashikabi**

**XoX**

It was with a jerk that he was startled awake. For a moment, the man wondered where he was. It took only took a quick glance around, seeing the two seats on his left and the many rows of seats before and behind him filled with people that the male began to realize where he was.

That's right, he was on an airplane traveling that had been traveling from Los Angeles, California to Shinto Teito, Japan, the new capital of Japan. The landing struts hitting the runway must have woken him up.

Too bad, he was having a rather good dream too.

A ding filled the air before the pleasant voice of the flight attendant began speaking. "We have now arrived in Shinto Teito. Please remain seated until the plane has safely docked. Thank you for flying Tokyo air, and have a great day."

Sighing, the male relaxed back into his seat and looked back out the window. Outside was a riot of activity as the airplane he was traveling on made it's inexorable path to the docking station that would connect with the door and allow the passengers to unload. The window was very clear, with not even a tint to it, but he could still see his reflection in the mirror. The sight of his familiar spiky blond mop with the jaw length bangs and a fringe hovering over two cerulean blue orbs were as familiar to him as the three whisker marks that lined either side of his face.

It took a good while before they were allowed to leave, and the blond let his thoughts wander. Shinto Teito, recently renamed capital of Japan, the technical origin of his birth. How long had it been since he had stepped foot on it's soil?

"Far far too long," he muttered to himself. He must not have been quiet enough, however, because the older looking gentlemen next to him turned a questioning stare his way.

"Did you say something, young man?"

"Ah," the blond paused for a moment, surprised at having actually verbalized his thoughts. He spent so little time with others, except for the occasional one night stand, that he was no longer used to interacting or even being around others. Lately, he had even begun picking up the verbal tick of speaking to himself.

Perhaps it was a way of helping him keep his sanity.

"I was just thinking about how long it's been since I've been back," he finished a little hesitantly. It wasn't that he was nervous or anything, but he didn't quite know what to say, and considering he had just been caught speaking out loud, didn't want to give away too much information to this man. Or to anyone else, for that matter.

"I understand the feeling," the gentlemen replied with a wistful smile. He was an older man with black hair that was graying at the sides, giving him a very distinct look. The man was wearing a business suit that told the blond more things about him than he likely knew he was doing. Of course, most people would never suspect that even something as simple as seeing patch of lint on clothing could help someone judge their character. Or how the small scent of cigarette smoke wafting from the man let the blond know that the gentlemen had smoked at least a pack of cigarette's before getting on the airplane. Little things that like which helped an observative person determine more about another person than said person might be comfortable with.

For someone who had been trained as a fighter and assassin, the blond found those hard grained skills impossible to ignore, even after all this time. Perhaps especially after all this time.

"Back when I was your age, even a year felt like a long time to me."

The blond masterfully hid the tick mark that threatened to appear on his forehead. "I can imagine," he replied, deciding to cut off any chance of conversation right there by turning to look back out the window. It wasn't like he actually wanted to speak to this man anyways.

The moment soon arrived when passengers were finally allowed to begin offloading. The blond grabbed the duffel bag under his chair and stood up to his full height. He was very tall for a man who looked no older than eighteen years of age, standing nearly a head above the average Japanese male. When combining that with his blond hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders one would never even expect him to actually be of Japanese decent.

Technically speaking he wasn't of Japanese decent, but he couldn't go around telling people he was an Elemental now could he?

Reaching into the pair of black jeans he was wearing, the blond pulled out a touch screen phone, one of the newer products called an Android that he had gotten in America, and turned it on. The first thing he did was check the time. It was early in the day, about an hour or so until noon. He should have plenty of time to find an apartment or hotel before needing to find his publisher.

While his left hand, the one holding on to the Android began fiddling around the touch screen, opening up a music application he had downloaded the moment he had gotten it, his right hand set the duffel bag on the table and went into the orange long sleeve hoodie that he was wearing over an equally long sleeved black shirt. He pulled out a small set of earphones, the kind that went directly into the ear, placed one in each ear, then plugged it into the phone just as AC/DCs' Thunderstruck began playing.

Hefting his duffel bag over his shoulder in a lazy manner, the blond began his own departure from the airplane.

"Let's see just how much Japan has changed the in the last two hundred or so years..."

Thankfully, he was the last person on the plane and thus, no one was around to hear his muttered comment.

**XoX**

"Guh, man this place has changed so much," the blond male complained as he got off another tram, this one leading further into the city. It had taken a bit longer than he would have liked getting out of the airport. It seemed that Shinto Teito had been having problems with terrorists of some kind or something. Security at the airport had been much tighter than normal, and thanks to a new piece of invasive technology that the airport seemed to be testing, what would have normally been a one hour process at the most had ended up taking a grand total of five hours. Fortunately for him, the process, aside from being unbearably long, had gone off without a hitch, and he had been let free a lot more quickly than a lot of other people that had been trying to enter the capital.

It was to be expected of course, he had been roaming the world for a long time. Someone like him was very good at adapting to any and every circumstance. He wouldn't have lasted very long if he hadn't.

With a sigh of aggravation, the blond began walking once more. He had been walking and riding the interconnecting railway for the past two hours and still had yet to get a good feel for the place. "Man, it looks like they changed the entire layout of this city." Granted, it had been two hundred or so years since he had even been in Tokyo, or Shinto Teito as they were now calling it, but still...

"How I am going to find my publisher if I can't even find out where _I_ am?"

He looked around at the large skyscrapers, which seemed to tower over the city, with one large one in the center. It was a large clock tower style skyscraper, and had to be a newer addition because he had never seen it before. The streets were busy, with hundreds of cars moving along them, or stopped up in traffic. The people walking down the sidewalks were all crowded together and would make it impossible for anyone to walk against the flow. It was a lot busier then he had remembered last time he had been there.

"And in other breaking news, Hiroto Minaka, the President of the giant conglomerate MBI has bought up eighty percent of all Shinto Teito stalks..." Naruto looked up at the screen when he heard the announcement to see a man with white messy hair, glasses and a high-collared cape(?) of some kind sitting in a high backed chair. The man looked like he was trying to pose as some kind of king with the way he was seated; with his hands on the large arm rests on either side and his legs crossed as he sat straight up with an imperious look on his face.

"Phe, that guy looks like a complete douche-bag," Naruto muttered as he decided to ignore the rest of the news report, having deemed it as unimportant.

It's not like knowing who was trying to take over the city would help him find his publisher.

"A company that has enough power to buy out the capital of Japan, huh. Reminds me of that slime bag, Gato," Naruto mumbled with a frown. That wasn't a pleasant thought, especially since he hated being reminded of the past. But these days, just about everything made him think of his life before it all went to hell. That's simply the way things were, and he had long since learned to deal with it.

That didn't mean he had to necessarily like it, but his hatred for large conglomerate corporations went beyond the actual corporation itself. The biggest problem Naruto had with companies like MBI weren't, in fact, the companies, but that the people, the normal civilians and citizens, were perfectly willing to allow these large industrial business to do pretty much whatever the hell they wanted.

Like buying out an entire city for instance.

Hadn't the people learned what happened when large companies like that bought out entire cities? Had the people not learned from their ancestors mistakes in the past? Nothing good ever came from a large conglomerate corporation buying out the capital. MBI and Gato Corporation hadn't been the only companies to buy out cities like this, and all those other times such a thing had happened nothing good came from it. It seemed that humanities ability to ignore anything that did not affect them directly was still their strongest trait.

It made him sick.

His mind was brought briefly to what he knew of the large conglomerate. MBI, or Mid Bio Informatics, had sprung up relatively recently, with the last twenty years or so, yet had already claimed the spot at the top of the food chain when it came to leading edge technology. Despite being a new company, they were the largest pharmaceutical corporation in the entire world, and were apparently one of the richest if they could buy out more than seventy five percent of the capital of Japan.

An impressive feat to be sure. And one he couldn't help but be wary of. Whenever a large company bought out a city it was done for a purpose, large conglomerate companies didn't just buy out cities for no reason. There was always a reason, always. Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't for the life of him figure out what that reason might be.

In the end it didn't really matter so he put it out of his mind. He had washed his hands of humanity and it's stupidity the moment he had become aware of his cursed existence. What did he care if a bunch of humans were foolish enough to let a large company like MBI effectively take control of their lives and play with them like they were marionette's dancing to someone else's tune?

As he continued walking past the many people heading in the opposite direction of him, the blond pulled out several cards from his pocket. Each one was an ID car with his picture on it, but held different information about him. "Let's see now, who should I be this time. Namikaze Minato? No, I used that last time. Gamasatsu Jiraiya? No, I don't really feel like being that perv. How about, Nara Shikamaru? Naw, lazy ass isn't my style. Hmmm... Uzumaki Naruto. I haven't used that one in a while, at least a few centuries so it should be ok. Yeah, let's go with that, the original has always been my favorite anyways."

Pocketing the other ID cards Naruto placed the one he was planning on using in his wallet. "Now I just need to find that –" he was cut off when he accidentally bumped into one of the people around him when turning the corner, knocking them down. Fortunately for Naruto he was not only much bigger then most, especially people living in Japan, but also very powerful physically, he did not do anything more then move back a step. He shook his head, silently berating himself for not watching where he was going, then looked down to see who he had accidentally knocked over.

It was a young man with black hair and eyes who had been mumbling about 'failing twice' and 'entrance exams' or some such nonsense. Naruto sighed, while he may not like humanity that didn't mean he hated humans in general. Not every human was evil incarnate, just the vast majority of them. It would be rude not to at least make sure the kid was alright.

"Sorry about that," the blond said as he held his hand out to the kid. The other guy rubbed his backside before looking up. The blond blinked when he got a good look at the kids face – it was the kind of nondescript 'I've got nothing going for me in my life' face that some of the younger generation seemed to posses now a days – before breaking into the sheepish smile that he had spent most of his life perfecting. "You ok?"

"Er... no, no, it's alright, I should have watched where I was going," the teen said. Well, at least he got points for being polite. Some of the other people Naruto had bumped into had been complete douchebags, at least they had until the blond had shown them just why it was a bad idea to get on his bad side.

The human body was not made to bend in some of the ways he had forced other people's bodies to do.

The young man looked at the hand Naruto had offered before taking it and allowing the blond to pull him up.

"I suppose we'll just say we should both be more careful," the blond replied with a good natured chuckle. The young teen seemed to relax at his easy going attitude, and even smiled a bit. Sometimes it amazed Naruto how easy it was to manipulate others, even if it was doing something as simple as putting them at ease with a fake smile and a few words. "Anyways, good luck on your next entrance exams."

"What!? How did you know about my entrance exams!?" asked the kid in surprise.

The blond sweat dropped. "You were just talking out loud about failing your entrance exams twice before I ran into you."

"Oh..." the black haired kid looked embarrassed, Naruto figured it was about asking such an obvious question or somewhere along those lines. It wasn't like he cared though, and so he put the thought out of his mind.

"Anyways, take more care to watch your surroundings."

"Right."

"AH! Get out of the way please!"

Acting on instinct Naruto pushed the kid out of the way when he heard the shout, using enough strength that the boy was picked up off the ground and sent flying several feet back. The much younger teen landed on his rear end, much to Naruto's silent amusement. Hey, he was old, he had to find some ways to amuse himself. Looking up the blond had just enough time to see that the girl falling before him was brunette and had extremely large breasts before she smashed into his stomach with enough force to send him crashing into the ground and creating a decently sized crater.

"Ugh... what the... fuck...?" Naruto blinked as he saw a tight, toned and shapely ass clad in white panties. If this girl was some kind of angel, then she was the clumsiest angel he had ever met. "While I don't like getting smashed into the ground, I can't deny that this is a nice way to make up for falling on me."

The girl didn't seem to hear him because she just groaned.

Frowning, Naruto took a moment to wonder just where the hell this girl had come from, but quickly put it out of his mind. There were other, more important things to worry about. Like finding out if this girl was injured. He was just a good Samaritan like that.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Ow... I should have known that building was way to high to jump off of..." The girl mumbled as she crawled off of him. Now that Naruto got a better look at her he saw that she was a well-endowed young woman with short, brown hair and a well developed body figure. She was wearing an interesting set of clothing that looked like something he would expect from a manga. It consisted of a short red skirt and upper clothes that resemble the traditional clothing worn by the miko. She was also wearing a pair of red gloves that looked like they were used for battle. However, it was her chest that really got his attention.

_'Dear kami. I think those breasts are bigger then Baa-chan's and Samui-chan's!' _were the first thoughts of Naruto as he got his first up close glimpse of the large endowments the girl had. He had to wonder if breasts that size were even natural now a days.

The girl turned around and Naruto got to see a face that looked way too cute and innocent to be considered legal. It was a crime that such a cute face was on such a killer body. "Oh, you're the person who caught me, aren't you? Thank you very much," she said with a warm smile.

Naruto gave her an easy grin. Damn, this girl was an incredible beauty, he noted. "It was no trouble," he waved off her thanks, absently wondering how long it would take for him to seduce her. It had been a while since he'd slept with anyone, and even longer since he had slept with a woman as beautiful as her. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if he had actually slept with a woman as beautiful was this girl. At least, not since the demise of the Elemental Nations. "I would hate to think of what might have happened if you had actually hit the pavement coming down as hard as you were. Are you alright?"

"Uh yes, I think I'm alright," the girl said as she patted herself down. The blond eyed her hungrily as he watched how her movements caused her chest to bounce in delightful ways. Just as he was about to start working his charm on the girl, Naruto's sixth sense began blaring around the same time the girls seemed to.

"Watch out!" she shouted as she pushed herself onto him, just in time to avoid a blast of electricity. Naruto flipped them around as the flew slightly through the air, landing on his feet and catching Musubi in his arms, before setting her back on her feet a second later so he could prepare for their attackers.

_'I can definitely rule out the possibility that that was ordinary electricity,'_ Naruto thought with narrowed eyes. Aside from the fact that there wasn't a cloud in the sky from which any lightning could be formed, there were no broken power lines anyone in sight either. He also had to take into account that out of all the places the 'lightning' could have struck, it had tried to strike them. That meant someone had been aiming for either him, or...

He looked over at the girl who had fallen on him to see she too was standing up, an anxious look on her face as her eyes wandered up the side of a building. Naruto followed her gaze and looked up towards where she had to see two beautiful women – twins from the looks of them – in leather bondage costumes.

He promptly sweat dropped.

_'I think I did just step into some kind of manga. Dominatrix twins that can shoot lightning... great, I thought I stopped dealing with violent women after Sakura-chan...'_

"You can run all you want, but nothing will come of it," the one of the left said. She was wearing a dark purple leather suit, and Naruto absently noted that her breasts were the larger of the pair. Well, if nothing else that let him know they weren't quite identical twins, though they still looked remarkably similar.

"So just fight us and we'll get this over with quickly," the other one said. This one was wearing a red suit of the same make.

"I can't! At least, not right now!" the brunette that had run into him said, clenching her fists as she looked at the two with a mild glare. From the way she spoke to the pair, Naruto was able to glean that these two girls had been chasing the busty shrine maiden. He wasn't quite sure why, aside from the fact that the bondage twins apparently wanted to fight the brunette. Of course, that brought out a whole new line of questions. Why did these girls want to fight the one who had landed on him? Was there something going on in this town that he was unaware of and had just randomly stumbled across.

If so that would really suck since it was only his first day here.

"That's too bad, because we're not stopping until we defeat you." Electricity began to form on the two girls hands, light purple sparks that crackled as it shot off their hands in miniature bursts.

"Oh... this just sucks," Naruto muttered to himself. Though he remained nonchalant his mind was a whirlwind of activity. _'I can feel chakra flowing through them! But that shouldn't be possible. Humans have long since lost the ability to use chakra and that's definitely no jutsu...' _That more than anything was what had gotten his attention. It looked like those girls were using pure elemental manipulation in order to create that lightning, an extremely remarkable feat. Even during the time of the Shinobi several thousand years ago, the ability to shape and manipulate even a single element was an accomplishment only a few people numbering in the single digits had managed.

"Sorry, but I don't want to fight right now!" Naruto didn't have much more time to complete his thoughts because the girl who had fallen on him grabbed his hand and began running. Of course, running would be a relative term in this instance. When most people ran they normally didn't go much faster then a light jog, usually around five to eight miles per hour.

The girl that had grabbed his hand took off at such insane speeds that Naruto found his feet pulled off the ground and he was more or less flying behind the girl as the feeling of his arm being ripped off at the sockets came over him. He was actually so surprised by her speed that he didn't even bother to stop her as she rushed through the city like a bullet.

When they finally stopped Naruto rubbed his sore shoulder. "Oh wow, I don't think I've been dragged around town that fast since Anko-chan demanded I buy her dango." He looked over at the girl and smiled. "So, not that I mind being dragged behind such a beautiful woman, but care to share why you just decided to drag me with you?"

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" the girl apologized. "I don't really know why I dragged you along with me, I just sort of put your hand in mine and took off without even thinking. Please forgive me!"

"Haha, it's alright," Naruto said with a laugh. Truthfully it did kind of bother him, he had just been minding his own business when this girl had smashed into him, then took off with him after a pair of twins that looked like they belonged to an S&M group tried to fight her. Despite his slight irritation, Naruto found he couldn't muster up enough emotion to get truly angry. Maybe he was becoming apathetic? "Life was getting boring anyways, so I suppose I should be thanking you for giving me some form of excitement. By the way, my name Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

"And I'm Musubi," the girl said with a very formal bow. Placing her hands in front of her. This however, had the added effect of making her breasts push themselves together. Naruto found himself unconsciously licking his lips as he stared at the two melons on her, before shaking his head and snapping his attention to her face.

"Musubi, huh? That's a beautiful name," Naruto said with a grin, the more charming side he had developed when seducing women coming out to play. Perhaps this girl would be able to make up crashing into him in other ways...

The girl looked immensely happy by Naruto's compliment. She gave him a bright smile and bowed. "Why thank you! I think Naruto is a nice name as well."

"Well you would be the first one to eve think so," Naruto gave a small chuckle as he said this. "Even most people here in Japan think my names a little odd." Absently he wondered what the last name he used when he came into Japan was. It had been a long time since he had come to his birth home, at least five hundred or so years. Possible even longer. After a moment or two Naruto found out that he couldn't really recall when he had last been in Japan. Not that such a gap in his memory really bothered him. It's not like he actually cared about the last time he had been in Japan.

"Well I like it," Musubi said, smiling at him. "Thank you for what you did back there. It was extremely brave of you to to help me out."

"Ma, ma, there's no need to thank me. I didn't really do anything to be honest. But you're welcome all the same." Naruto looked at the girl for a second, collecting his thoughts. What would be the best approach towards seducing this girl, he wondered. Well, he supposed it would be good to ask her about those two she had been running from. He opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it closed when he saw the girl starting to fall over. "Uh oh," Naruto acted quickly, moving towards her and scooping her up in his arms.

The blond looked at the sleeping girl and sighed. Great, just great. Now not only could he not get on with the seducing, but he would feel guilty for taking advantage of a girl that appeared to need more help then he had initially suspected. "Well, now what are you going do to, Naruto?" He asked himself.

_'The first thing I need to do is find a place to stay, a hotel or something, at least for the night.'_ He could worry about getting a more permanent residence after tomorrow when he went apartment hunting. Right now taking care of Musubi was more important. Even at his most cynical he had never turned away someone in need before, and he wouldn't start now.

His decision made Naruto looked around to make sure no one was in sight, tensed his legs, and disappeared.

**XoX**

Musubi woke up the next day. Yawning a little she looked around to see that she was in a small hotel room. She was laying in a futon, and there was another futon next to hers that was ruffled and looked like someone had just gotten out of bed. She didn't feel like she was in any danger, but she was curious to know where she was and how she had gotten there.

As she was continuing her observations of the room, noting that it was very bare and only had the most basics one would expect to find in a room – lamp, dresser, closet – Naruto entered through a door on her left. Seeing her up the blond smiled and said, "good morning, Musubi-chan! Did you sleep well?"

"I did!" Musubi replied cheerfully. A confused look then crossed her face as she looked around. The room was unfamiliar to her, and she couldn't help but ask, "Um... where are we?"

"Just a hotel room I managed to secure for us for the night," Naruto said as he walked over to her and sat in seiza. He grimaced slightly as he used the very formal sitting position. It wasn't one he used often, especially since his most recent ventures were in America and Europe. Still, it would be best getting used to this position soon since he was now staying in Japan, these people practically lived breathed and ate formal. "I didn't want to spend hours searching for an apartment while you were unconscious."

"Thank you so much, Naruto-Sama!" Musubi gave him a smile of such emotions that actually began to lean back in surprise. The girl he had rescued wore her heart on her sleeve it seemed. Not necessarily a bad thing, though definitely not a good thing. It was a miracle she had survived this long without having been preyed upon by people looking to take advantage of her. Then again, she seem to have made up for that by getting involved in a fight with those lightning users so maybe it was just karma. "You really saved me back there!"

Shaking his head, Naruto did his best to ignore the girls look and covered his uneasiness up well with a chuckle at her enthusiasm – though he wondered about the '-sama' suffix – he hadn't met girl quite as gung-ho as she seemed to be in, well, ever. She sort of reminded him of himself when he was a young brat fresh out of the shinobi academy. Remembering the academy brought a small pang to Naruto's chest, but he ignored it for now in order to focus on the girl in front of him.

"Your welcome now..." He blinked for a moment, turning his head towards the door he came out of while Musubi looked at him curiously, wondering if something was wrong. A second later he smiled and said, "you must be hungry by now. Am I right?"

As if in answer to his words Musubi's stomach rumbled, that is, if having what sounded like a roaring dinosaur shake the room they were in could truly be considered a mere rumble. Naruto had heard the stomach of Akamichi's who made less noise than that.

Musubi's eyes grew really large as a puppy dog like look came to her face. It was quite easily the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Not even Ino had been able to make a face that pitiful. "Yes."

Naruto bit his lower lip to keep from laughing, though whether to laugh or whimper was unknown. _'I guess the infamous puppy dog eyes jutsu really is an instinctive technique all females know on instinct.'_

Standing up he gave the girl a grin and said, "I'm glad to see you're hungry, otherwise all that hard work I spent making breakfast would have just gone to waist."

It hadn't seemed possible, but if anything Musubi's eyes grew even wider and her mouth began to water, a small trail of drool leaking from the left side of her bottom lip. "Breakfast?" she asked in a voice that sounded like someone who had been dying of thirst just found a hidden oasis.

"That's right," the whiskered blond looked at her with some form of amusement. "Just wait right here and I'll bring you some food." With a jaunty whistle Naruto walked into the small kitchen and looked at the food that had been prepared. It was rather modest all things considered, consisting of several slices of french toast, two dozen or so pancakes, bacon, sausages and orange juice.

Well, at least it was a modest meal to Naruto – an Akamichi might also consider it modest – since he was sharing it with another person.

"I wonder if I should have made more," He sighed. "Then again, I couldn't get very many ingredients yesterday because I haven't been able to go to a bank and get my money so this was all I could afford." And he still didn't even know where his bank was so all he was left with was the money he had been able to exchange before coming to Japan. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about that, there were simply steps he would need to take before he could even consider finding his bank.

First on that list was feeding himself and Musubi. He put the food he made on two trays, picked them up and walked back into the room where his brunette... _'come to think of it, what is Musubi to me?'_ he wondered as he set the food down in front of said girl, who elicited a squeal of delight as she saw all of the food piled on it.

Musubi immediately began consuming the food at a pace that would have put Choji to shame. Having long since learned table manners from the various precious people he had known so long ago, the blond ate at a slower pace so that his mind could wander. _'I've only known her for a few hours tops, yet... I feel something for this girl. I suppose it could just be the by product of having not had very much human contact for a long time, living in solitude for god knows how long would do that to a guy. And yet... I can't help but feel it's not just that. There's something about her that makes me feel emotions I haven't felt for a long... long time.'_

And to think he had actually been planning on seducing this girl. Great, just great. Now he felt really guilty for even thinking about making her one of his many conquests.

It was just as his train of thought was ending that Musubi finished her breakfast. She looked at Naruto as her eyes once again got big, and this time tears seemed to be leaking out of the corner of them. Noticing this, the whiskered blond looked at her and tried his best to suppress a shudder.

"Yes?"

"Oh Naruto-Sama... thank you so much," she said in an overly emotional voice. "I owe you everything. Not only did you save me but you gave me food too."

Naruto sweat dropped as he looked at the girl. Once more she had that unnerving look on her face, a look of such respect and admiration that it bordered on unhealthy infatuation. He had never seen it on someone before, ever, and it made him more than just a little nervous.

The blond did his best to hide these thoughts as he smiled and waved off her thanks. "Don't mention, I was more then happy to help you. Personally, I believe that if you have the power to help someone in need, then you should. There's not much purpose for having the power to help others if you don't even use it, you know?" In retrospect, that had been his belief once, back when he was a foolish young man who dreamed of being Hokage. It was so easy to recall how he had wanted to be admired and respected back then. In short, he had wanted to be a hero.

It was almost funny how life seemed to enjoy trampling on dreams like that.

Musubi looked at Naruto, eyes wide in respect. "That has to be the most incredible thing I've ever heard anybody say."

"Uh... hehe, well, it's just something of a personal motto I live by," Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head as he gave a sheepish laugh. Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything. That look of adoration had increased, and he really wasn't quite sure he liked it.

"Hey, Naruto-Sama," Musubi said, making said blond blink.

"Yes?"

"I uh... I know I've already imposed on you quite a bit, but I have another favor I would like to ask you," she said, wringing her hands nervously in her lap. The movement startled him a bit. If he had pinned this girl right she was a pretty straight forward person and generally didn't care about things like propriety and what not. For her to suddenly start acting so shy must mean what she had to ask him was big.

Well, he had come this far so he might as well help her until she no longer needed it. In attempt to reassure the girl, Naruto gave her a kind smile. "Whatever you need help with just tell me and I shall do my utmost to help you out."

"Really!?" Musubi looked at him and smiled. "In that case, I was hoping I could stay here with you. You see, I don't have any place to stay so I was hoping you would let me at least stay the night."

"Of course I'll let you stay with me," Naruto replied as if the answer should have been obvious from the beginning. He didn't fully understand why he was willing to help this girl out so much. _'Well, that might not be one hundred percent true,'_ he thought to himself. The blond knew he had a superman complex the size of Asia, he rarely ever refused help to someone, and the few times he did were only because he felt malicious intent to harm or kill coming off of those people. This girl had no such intent about her. In fact, her thoughts and emotions were some of the purest he had ever felt. _'Could that be why? Or is there something more to my desire to help her?'_

Then he blinked as he remembered something. "Though I only rented this hotel room out for one night, so unfortunately we're going to need to find a more permanent place of residence. But once we find a place to live, you can stay with me as long as you want." If Naruto were honest with himself he would admit to being lonely. The thought of having such a beautiful and kind, if a bit naïve, girl spending time with him was nice.

"Thank you so much Naruto, you've saved me once again," Musubi said with a smile.

Naruto chuckled a little. "Think nothing of it. Though that does remind me, why were those girls..." he trailed of as Musubi got on her hands and knees and crawled over to him. His eyes found themselves focusing first on her face, a stunning and expressive face that held a look of such innocence it only added to her already attractive features. Then they slid down to her breast, large and dangling breast which Naruto was sure were quite possibly larger then Tsunade's. Finally, his eyes slid down her back, to the shapely rear and the mile long legs attached to it. He hadn't met a girl this attractive in a very long time.

He gulped.

_'Dear kami, I really am a pervert. Ero-sennin did say the way of the perv would eventually be too strong to resist, and I guess he was right. I wonder if this is a result of having continued his legacy as a means of providing extra cash.' _Or maybe it was due to the amount of sex he'd had during his long life. Strange, before now he had never felt like a pervert before, then again, that could just be because he looked at all the women he had slept with as nothing more than warm bodies to help keep his loneliness at bay for a single night. For some reason Musubi was different, he didn't know how, or even why this was so, but he now that he was here, in her presence, without the threat of getting shocked by twins capable of shooting lightning from their hands with a bondage fetish, the thought of Musubi being just another warm body seemed unfathomable to him.

How odd.

His eyes moved back to Musubi's face, which had closed the distance towards him with a light blush staining her cheeks. "You're such a wonderful person. You're so kind and giving," she said in a voice that could only be described as awe.

_'I wonder if you'd still be saying that if you knew that my hands are stained in so much blood I can no longer see them,'_ Naruto thought to himself. Throughout his long life he had killed many times, sometimes in self defense, sometimes in cold blood, sometimes he had even killed on accident when he had not realized his own strength compared to a normal humans. He had long since lost count of the number of lives he had personally slain, but it had to be somewhere in the millions by now. It was a depressing thought, and one he didn't want to contemplate.

"I just wish someone like you could be my Ashikabi."

"Hmmm?" Naruto blinked at the phrase. It sounded like a title of some kind, but he had never heard it before. "What's an Ashikabi?"

"The special person I'm supposed to find," Musubi said. She took one of his hands in both of her own, with Naruto letting her, having not sensed any ill intent and curious to know what she was talking about. "I've been looking for mine for so long. Even though we've never met, our Ashikabi is the one we are meant to serve. It's our job to guide them to the higher sky above."

As she said this Musubi placed his hand on her chest. Naruto was about to crack a joke at propriety, even though he was almost sure this girl was too naïve to understand, when they both felt something hit them.

_'What is this?'_ Naruto asked himself as his eyes widened as the strange feeling that had been with him since he first started talking to Musubi was magnified a hundred fold. _'I feel... warm. Secure, almost. I haven't felt like this since...'_ he shook his head and pulled his hand off of her. Breathing heavily he stood up shook his head, attempting to dispel the feeling. _'It was like her chakra had overlapped mine with positive emotions and intent. I've never felt something like that, ever.'_

"Anyways, since your done with breakfast why don't you go and get washed up. This place unfortunately doesn't have a bath, but it does have a shower. Then get dressed and meet me in the kitchen ok?"

"Okay!" Musubi said cheerfully as she ran into the bath room. However, despite her cheerful demeanor she was wondering about the same thing he was.

_'What was that heat I was feeling in my chest just now?'_

**XoX**

Naruto and Musubi found themselves walking along the road as they searched for a place to live. It was very difficult, as the blond had just found out that the banking company he used in this particular city had been bought out by M.B.I., and as he had no desire to expose himself to such a large company he would have to take more precautions when going to extract his money.

This created a problem with the fact that unless he had a source of income and enough cash on hand to make a down payment, no one was willing to give them a place to live. This issue was compounded with the fact that Naruto didn't have a job. Technically. He was a writer, having decided to continue his godfather's legacy. But because he used a pen name, and refused to let others know who the real author was – it would have caused problems since his books have been around for several millenia – he was unable to say he held a job.

"Haa..." Naruto sighed as he and Musubi walked out of another place that had refused to grant him an apartment due to his lack of a job. A part of him wanted to just bandy about some money to get himself a place to live, he'd done that before, hell, he remembered buying a mansion in Majorca just because he could. Unfortunately, Naruto knew he couldn't do that here. Not when a large corporation like MBI had just bought out the capital. They were no doubt keeping an eye on any unusual activity, and bribing someone to set him up with a place to live with large gaps of background information either missing or forged was definitely a noteworthy activity.

"Sorry it's taking so long to find a place, Musubi-chan," he continued as he looked over at the girl he was walking with.

"There's no need to apologize," Musubi said with a smile. She didn't seem to be bothered at all by their lack of success. If anything, Naruto got the feeling that she was rather happy, though what she was happy about was anyone's guess. "If anything I'm grateful to you for being with me and being willing to help me. I've spent all my time alone, trying to find my Akishabi that I haven't gotten to speak with too many people."

"In that case I'm glad your here as well," Naruto grinned at the girl, even as his mind gave a slight wince. This girl really was making him feel guilty for thinking of seducing her, and the worst part was she didn't even know it. "I've been alone for quite a while too, so having someone keep me company is nice. Especially when it's such a beautiful girl that I'm finding myself with." So much for not making at least a passing attempt at seducing. Perhaps it was habit.

"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" asked Musubi, pressing her hands to her cheeks as she smiled at him. It was a much different reaction then what he was used to. Most girls blushed, Musubi was just happy to receive a compliment.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't think it," Naruto replied with a shrug. They walked along for a few more second before Musubi grabbed his shirt to stop him. She pressed herself against him and the blond could feel her assets pushing themselves into his chest. Had he been a less experienced man he would have gulped.

"Naruto-Sama..."

He looked down at the girl and felt his hands begin to circle around her waist. Despite having just met her, the blond wasn't gay and having someone like Musubi pressing themselves into his side was having an effect that he couldn't help but respond to. Maybe he had been reading too much into this and he was about to get some play after all.

"Yes?"

Musubi looked up at him, her eyes once again wide and watery as she looked at him. For a moment Naruto thought something was wrong. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was alright when a loud, earth shaking rumble erupted from the woman's belly.

"I'm really hungry again."

**XoX**

It was an hour later that a despairing Naruto and a happy Musubi exited a small restaurant. After having nearly face faulted, something he would have done were it not for the fact that the brunette had still been in his arms at the time, he had taken her out to get something to eat...

...and promptly wished he hadn't.

"Ah! That was delicious!" Musubi said with a content and happy sigh. The excitable girl began to pat her now full belly, though you could never tell since it still looked as slim and slender as it had before she had eaten.

"I'm glad you liked it," Naruto sniffed, large tears pouring down his eyes as he held his now nearly empty wallet. _'I also hope that will keep you full for a good long while because I don't think I can pay for another eat-a-thon like that unless I can find that god forsaken bank,'_ he said to himself. He had always considered himself a healthy eater with a larger then normal appetite. It was just how things were thanks to the enormous size of his chakra reserves. He had to eat more to fill up on the energy he expended and his chakra increased his appetite to near inhuman levels.

However, this girl put him to shame. Hell, she could probably out eat an Akamichi with ease. When he took her out, Musubi had eaten ten entrees, two main courses, and a slice of triple chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Yeah, Choji had nothing on this girl.

_'And yet she doesn't have his girth. I wonder where she puts it all,'_ he cast an inconspicuous glance at the girls breasts, which jiggled each time she made even the slightest of movements. They were looking a tad larger then before she ate...

"Naruto-Sama, since you took me out to lunch and made me breakfast, why don't you allow me to make you dinner tonight?" said Musubi, snapping the blond out of his thoughts.

He looked over at her with a curious glance, his head tilting to the side as his mind registered her words. "Dinner?"

"Yeah, it will be great! I promise," she pumped her fists in the air with a large smile on her face. Naruto thought over her proposal. On the one hand, he wasn't sure how long he really wanted to be in this girls presence. She was making him feel strange, it wasn't necessarily a bad kind of strange, in fact it felt nice. At the same time he didn't really like it. The feeling she gave him, no matter how good, would only be a temporary reprieve from the negative emotions his life had become. It would be for the best if he didn't allow this girl to get too close.

And on the other hand he couldn't just leave the girl on her own. Musubi had already proven to be incapable of taking care of herself; not only had she gotten into a fight with two girls who could shoot lightning from their finger tips, she had pretty much run herself into the ground by going several days without food or sleep. Much as it sucked, his own moral compass, skewed as it was, wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he just let this girl go.

He sighed, what he wouldn't give to go back to simpler times to when he was just a Konoha Shinobi fighting an evil organization with a megalomaniac hoping to control the world by projecting an infinite illusion on everybody using the moon and the power of a creature of immense destruction and terror.

"I would love that, thank you," Naruto said. He couldn't help but smile at her childlike enthusiasm, it kind of reminded him of Rock Lee, without the creepy eyebrows and youth fetish. There was also the fact that Musubi was extremely hot – and Lee was extremely not – but that was so obvious the blond simply felt it was not worth mentioning, even in his mind.

"But before we do that, I'm going to need to get some cash at the bank. Why don't you head over to the grocery store and I'll meet you there?" The last thing he needed was someone who might recognize Musubi and report her to Hiroto. While he still did not know what was going on, or why those lightning users were chasing her, Naruto felt being cautious might be best. After all, MBI practically owned the city, and there had always been rumors of large companies committing experiments on people in order to create super soldiers.

The fact that Naruto had seen every single Resident Evil Movie and played all of the video games had nothing to do with his paranoia. Really.

Whether or not that was the case, and the conglomerate corporation that owned this city was experimenting on people was irrelevant. If those women did belong to MBI then prudence was definitely warranted in this instance.

"Okay!"

Naruto watched as Musubi ran off and quickly moved in the opposite direction. It took a bit of asking around, but eventually he found the bank he had been looking for, making him curse since after hearing the directions realized he had passed it at least twice yesterday. Still, had he found the bank the other day he might not have met that interesting girl, and while he wasn't sure he had any plans on staying with her since he didn't want to grow attached, he couldn't deny that in the short time since they met she had made his life interesting.

He took a sharp turn down an abandoned alley. After making sure he was alone, the blond brought his hands into a hand sign. No one but he would recognize the hand seal, one of several that only he used. The index and middle fingers from both of his hands were crossed, creating a T-shape. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu," he muttered. There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared, two Naruto's could be seen standing in pace of one.

The copy that the original had just created made three of it's own hand signs – inu, I, tori – each one based off of one of the twelve animals of the zodiac, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When that cleared the person standing before Naruto was a beautiful female with blond hair done up in two pony tails, blue eyes, and a figure similar to Musubi's.

"Here," Naruto said, handing his female counterpart a fake idea with her face and the name Yamanaka Ino on it. "Go in and get about twenty thousand yen at least, that should be enough to tide Musubi and myself over."

"Got it, boss," Naruko said in the light, heavenly female voice the blond had fashioned for his female self when he made the jutsu.

As the female version of himself took off Naruto sighed. "Even after so many years of hearing the female version of myself call me boss it's still a little creepy." His attention was snapped from his thoughts of his clone when the sound of explosions rocked the area.

Rushing outside of his alley Naruto's eyes narrowed when he saw Musubi running away from those lightning users, this time they were wearing sexy maid outfits. The blond had to shake his head at that. He truly had to wonder if he hadn't somehow stepped into some kind of manga because there was simply no way this type of thing could be normal.

_'Maybe those girls are otaku's?'_ The blond thought before shaking his head, bringing his thoughts back into focus. He didn't know why his companion was over in this area, unless she had been looking for him, nor how those two girls found his new friend. But he knew that he had to do something. Tensing his muscles Naruto pushed off the ground, the cement under him caved from the pressure and formed a small imprint of his foot as he left the spot. Speeding towards the two lightning users who were doing their utmost to fry Musubi with blast of electricity.

"Konoha Senpuu!" Naruto shouted as he spun his body around in a one hundred and eighty degree rotation. His left foot lashed out, catching one of the lightning users in the head with a round house kick. The woman let out a shout as she was sent sprawling to the ground.

"What the -!?" the other one shouted before Naruto smashed twin palms into her stomach. The woman let out a gasp of pain as she was sent flying backwards, landing on her flat on her back hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

Using the pairs downed state as a distraction, Naruto rushed over to Musubi, scooped her into his arms, and took off at great speeds.

"Damn him!" The woman that had gotten kicked in the head shouted. She sat up, rubbing the large bruise on the left side of her face, just barely visible under her hairline. "That really hurt! Just who the hell does this guy think he is!?"

"He's not a Sekirei I can tell that much," the other one said when she finally managed to catch her breath. She looked over at where the blond had taken off too, her eyes narrowing. "However, no human should be capable of reaching those speeds."

The girl holding her sore face just grunted. "Whatever, lets just find them before that girl claims him as her Ashikabi. I need to teach that fool a lesson for kicking me."

**XoX**

_'What's... happening to me?'_ Musubi looked up at Naruto as he carried her in his arms, running and dodging all the attempts the two lightning users made to hit them. He was doing a good job so far, evading the blasts of lightning as if he had been doing it all his life. Had Musubi been in the right state of mind she would have been awed by his display of speed and evasive maneuvering. As it was she was just barely hanging onto conscious thought as heat flared up all over her body. _'This feeling... I feel so hot. My body feels like it's on fire.'_

"Are you alright, Musubi?" asked Naruto, his eyes flicking over to her. Seeing those blue orbs looking at her in concern caused even more heat to burst from her chest. So much so that she couldn't even answer Naruto, who swore when one of the lightning blasts came close to hitting them.

"Damn it! I need to find a way to lose them," Naruto growled as he looked behind him to see the two still after him. _'I'm impressed they can keep up with me at this speed. I wonder if their channeling lightning through their body to increase their physical prowess like E did.' _He quickly shook his head, _'now's not the time to be thinking of new theories on the two chicks with strange powers. I need to lose them, but I can't use anymore speed in public. As it is I'm already pushing the boundaries of human capabilities. Then again, those two broke them with their strange light show so I guess it doesn't matter.'_

Naruto closed his eyes and reached into the wellspring of energy inside of his body. Feeling his chakra respond to his calling like an old friend, the whiskered blond began manipulating it, channeling it through his legs to strengthen them, and also to the bottom of his feet to increase his speed. The ground under him cracked as Naruto shot off like a human missile, leaving the two lightning users behind in the dust.

"Naruto-Sama..." Musubi mumbled, causing the blond to look down as he continued his running. The girls face was beat red and she was breathing much more heavily then she should be. Naruto's concern for her began to sky rocket as he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.

"Shit! Are you alright? You look like your burning up."

"I feel... I feel so hot," Musubi said, her breathing going heavy as she looked at him through half lidded eyes. She could feel her body responding to the blond in her arms, he was making her feel such heat, yet she didn't know why.

"Right, let's find some place where you can rest for now."

Looking around Naruto made a quick detour into an alleyway. He knelt down and set Musubi on the ground. He frowned as he looked her over, pressing a hand to her forehead and eliciting a startled gasp from her. _'How odd, while she's burning up I can tell she not sick. But then the question remains, why is she so...' _the blond blinked when a honey-like scent hit his nostrils. He would admit that it had been a while since he had been in the company of anyone for more then an hour to two, much less a women's. But there was no way he could not recognize the particular scent she was emitting.

_'Is she... aroused?'_ now that he got a closer look at her Naruto could see the signs of a woman who was feeling extremely horny. The half-lidded eyes, the flushed cheeks, the way she was heaving for breath and the smell of her juices as they drenched her panties. All were obvious signals of a female who was highly sexually aroused. Though he had never seen anyone so severely aroused it actually hampered their ability to function, Musubi looked almost like she was going into heat.

"Naruto-Sama..." Musubi fell into him, knocking the blond over and crawled on top of him until she was straddling his waist. Her panting had increased to the point where her breathing sounded harsh, as if she had run several thousand miles in less than a day. Her face was flushed a deep scarlet, her eyes were half-lidded, and her mouth was parted slightly as she stared at his lips. She moaned slightly when her crotch rubbed against his leg, and gave him a pleading look. "Please... help me... I feel so hot. My body feels like it's burning. I've never felt this way before..."

_'Does that mean she's a virgin?'_ wondered Naruto, looking at the girl whose face was making a slow pace towards his. _'Or is something else going on? Because I know this is not normal.'_

All thoughts fled Naruto's mind when Musubi placed her mouth over his. For a moment, all the blond could do was take in the feel of her soft lips as they pressed against his, it felt like a silk yukata had been slipped over his mouth. Despite Naruto's surprise, his hesitation only lasted for an instant before instincts kicked in and he began kissing back. It had not been so long since he had been with a women that he didn't know what do in this kind of situation. He applied more pressure against Musubi's soft and warm lips. His hands moved from behind him and holding him up to her waist.

He fell onto his back, taking Musubi with him as they continued to kiss. He felt her chakra flare dramatically and almost pulled back with a start when it latched onto his own signature. The only reason he didn't was because of his gut instincts. Whatever was happening, Naruto could feel it wasn't hurting him in any way. Instead he focused some of his attention on what was happening to his chakra, and came to a startling conclusion when he felt his chakra begin merging with hers.

Well, merging really wasn't the right word, but it was the only thing that seemed to fit. He could feel her chakra shifting slightly to better match his own, it expanded, increasing in size and growing nearly twice as powerful. Considering she had already had some decent reserves, around Tsunade's level, before hand, it was an impressive increase in power.

And then it happened. Like tree sap as it slowly ran down the side of tree he felt it creep up on him. Emotions. Numerous emotions and thoughts bombarded him, how happy he was to finally have an Ashikabi, how pleased he was that his Ashikabi was so kind hearted, how pleasant it felt to be kissing his Ashikabi, how much he loved his Ashikabi...

It took him several moments to realize that these were not his thoughts, they were the thoughts of the woman currently kissing him.

Musubi began glowing a light purple, the chakra forming around her in prism like rays of light. A symbol appeared on her back and began to project itself outwards in a physical manifestation of energy. The symbol was of a bird with a yin and yang circle under it and two tomoes on either side, making that four total. With the the yin and yang crest they formed a U with the tomoes under the bird. From the projected symbol ten wings spread out from her back, large, brilliant rays of light that shone in the cast aside the darkness of the alley so totally all anyone would see if they were to look was white.

They pushed against the confined walls of the small alley they were in, actually cracking the cement they were struggling against. Eventually, as if decided that the battle against the cement walls was pointless, the wings folded in on themselves to engulf him and Musubi in a protective embrace.

The light soon began to fade, the wings disappeared, the symbol made from energy vanished, and all that was left were Naruto and Musubi, still kissing in the alley. When they broke the kiss Musubi's and Naruto's eyes fluttered open and they stared at each other. Naruto's left hand came over and cupped the brunette's face in wonder, causing the girl to instinctively lean into his touch.

"What just happened?" asked Naruto, confused. He had never felt something like this, a connection so profound he could actually feel Musubi in an almost spiritual sense.

Musubi closed her eyes as she smiled at him in an expression that radiated sheer joy, the kind of which Naruto had never seen on another person before. It made his heart actually begin beating that much faster.

"You've just become my Ashikabi-Sama."

**XoX**

"I can't... believe... we lost them..." one of the girls huffed. The two of them were currently on their knees as they tried to regain their breath. Both had continued chasing after the strange human that had somehow just blasted away from them faster then either of them had ever thought possible. The pair had been stunned by the mans speed, but not enough to give up the chase. It was fortuitous for them that the man had left a trail in the form of foot indentations on the concrete. They had been able to follow that, only to reach an empty alleyway where the trail ended.

"Shut up... Hikari..." the other one panted. "I just... want to know how a mere... mere human can move so fast..."

"Who cares?" growled Hikari, finally regaining her breath. "Now that we've lost her again who knows how long it will take us to find her."

"It wouldn't matter even if you two did find her," a voice said behind them. Both of the female Sekirei whirled around to find themselves staring at a masked man with shock white hair and outfitted with a black coat and face mask.

"Homura!" Hikari growled, a fierce scowl lighting her face. "What do you want?"

"I just thought it would be a good idea to inform you that the girl now has an Ashikabi."

"Then... that boy winged her?" Hibiki asked in slight surprise, before releasing an angry growl. "Damn it! We had been so close this time!" The girl should have been easy pickings, aside from being only a recently released Sekirei, she was also of a higher number and therefore had less power than they did. They had chased the girl all throughout the city. Not surprising, number eighty eight had been faster than they were, being a physical type of Sekirei, but they were sure that she would have run out of juice eventually, all they would have had to do was keep chasing her.

And they would have gotten her too, if it weren't for that blond brat who kicked them.

"And you!" The more easily aggravated of the two continued as she pointed an angry finger at the black suited Sekirei. "You were watching us the whole time, weren't you?"

"It is my job to be the guardian for unwinged Sekirei," Homura replied in a nonchalant tone that pissed Hikari off. She had never liked this guy or his self righteous attitude. "You should know that by now. Perhaps I should teach you two a lesson."

"If it's a fight your looking for Homura then I'll give it to you!" the twin with the larger bust size shouted.

"Are you mad, Hibiki!?" hissed Hikari as she grabbed her sisters arm. "Do you remember what happened the last time we fought him?" Despite herself Hibiki gulped as flames encased the white haired Sekirei's hand.

"You're lucky that girl found her Ashikabi, as I have no interest in fights between winged Sekirei. So I'll let you off, for now," Homura said as the flames dispersed and he began walking away.

The two twins looked at each other as the white haired male left, both giving an internal sigh of relief.

**XoX**

Later that night Naruto found himself sitting at a small table in the same hotel room as before, since they had been unable to find an apartment with all the excitement that had happened today. As he sat there the blond took his time admiring Musubi as she cooked food wearing nothing more then a pair of panties and one of his shirts. It was truly a sight for the ages.

Her clothing had been ruined during the girls flight from the two lightning users before he had gotten to her. Not that he could find it in himself to complain, it had been a while since he had such a beautiful female in his presence like this. And even though she was not wearing his clothing because he had ripped apart during a night of passionate sex, it did not diminish how hot the girl looked in his clothing.

Musubi on the other hand was humming a happy tune, pleased to know that she had finally found her Ashikabi and such an amazing one at that. She couldn't help but think of how lucky she was, the blond was so kindhearted and strong. He had even protected her from those two other Serkirei, though she had no idea how he had been able to run so fast. Smiling at where her thoughts were taking her the brunette looked down at the food she was preparing.

Almost done.

"Dinner will be ready in just a little while," she informed Naruto before going back to her cooking.

"Alright," Naruto said in acknowledgment. "Thank you for doing this by the way."

"Oh don't worry about it, Naruto-Sama," Musubi looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. "You're my Ashikabi. I'm more then happy to do this for you."

As she went back to her cooking Naruto frowned. _'I'm still not even one hundred percent sure what this whole Sekirei, Ashikabi business is. From what I've seen they have abilities above that of what humans have now a days.' _He paused at that thought. Present day humans didn't have any powers whatsoever, the ability to use chakra had been long since lost. Whether by human evolution – or de-evolution as Naruto thought of it – the ability to channel and manipulate chakra was no longer available for humans, and had disappeared less then one-hundred years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Nowadays, people only had enough chakra to survive. Even civilians in his day and age had more chakra then people these days.

Shaking his head Naruto's thoughts got back on track. _'While I've only met three so far, none of them seem capable of defeating any of the stronger ninja in my day.' _He looked at Musubi and gave the girl a calculating gaze as he sized her up in the way he used to do when facing a strong opponent. _'Granted, she has potential. Her reserves are incredible, especially now that she was, what was the term, winged? With the right training, she could easily defeat a kage.'_

That was a scary thought. As far as raw power went, this girl now had more chakra than the Sandaime Raikage, a man who had been known for his incredibly large reserves of chakra and being capable of fighting the Hachibi, Gyūki, to a stand still. To make matters more intriguing, this girls power didn't seem to have been earned through training like a ninja's was. It was the power she was born with and now enhanced by his own chakra. That was what had Naruto thinking. Every shinobi had at one point been nothing more than a genin with very little power, as they grew up and continued to train, their skills, physical abilities, and chakra reserves all grew more powerful. If this girls raw power was natural, then she had a vast amount of potential. With the right kind of training Musubi could quite possible become even stronger than the most powerful Raikage the Elemental Nations had ever known.

Just then Naruto's cell phone began ringing. Pulling out his phone, one of the few touch screens that had been recently released to the market by verizon wireless(1), he flipped it open and pressed the accept call button. The screen blanked before the image of Minako appeared on it. Before the whiskered blond even had a chance to ask the man how the hell he received this number, the president of M.B.I. spoke up.

"Du duu duu duun! Congratulations young man, you've just become the Ashikabi for a Sekirei!"

"How the hell did you manage to get this number?" asked Naruto, interrupting whatever the man was about to say.

"Oh that, getting a number is rather easy for someone like me to do, Uzumaki Naruto-kun," Hanako said with a smile. Naruto narrowed his eyes with a look that could kill. However, the man appeared undeterred by the look as he continued. "I will admit, you are a very hard man to get a hold of. The number of times my line was rerouted to a different phone was quite impressive, and the fact that there is very little information on you is even more so. Though, I will admit to knowing a bit more about you then most... Namikaze Minato."

Naruto kept his poker face up, but on the inside his mind was a hurricane of activity. _'Minato was the __ID I used last century when I was in England. But I barely even used it and even then it was only in the smaller cities that I stopped by during my travels. How could he know that?'_

He didn't question the man, and wouldn't have been able to anyways as Musubi saw him on his phone and walked over to peer at it from over his shoulder so she could see who he was talking too.

"Professor!?" she said in surprise.

"Well hello number eighty-eight. How are you doing?"

Musubi gave a brilliant smile. "I'm fine, Professor."

"I take it you two know each other?" said Naruto, baiting for information.

"Oh yes, the Professor was my professor before I began searching for you," Musubi informed him.

"I see," Naruto said with a frown. The thought of Musubi being looked over by this guy made him ill, even though they were talking through a phone, he was getting bad vibes from this guy. That the man seemed to be constantly holding a smug look also didn't help. "So was you congratulating me the only reason you called? Or was there another one?"

"Of course there was another reason," the man said. "Now that you're an Ashikabi you have become part of a grand game. An epic competition and struggle between Sekirei who must battle in secret in order to stay with their Ashikabi. Do you understand this?"

Naruto's already prominent frown increased. "Just to make sure I'm getting this right, you're telling me that I've become involved in some kind of competition, a tournament, I guess, that involved Sekirei battling each other?" This sounded exactly like the kind of things he had long since tried to avoid.

"That's right!" the man crowed, seeming to be quite pleased that someone had caught on so quickly. "You really are quite intelligent, aren't you. Then again, for someone like you, you'd have to be I imagine."

Naruto scowled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course, of course," the man placated. Considering he was still wearing his large, condescending grin, he didn't seem to really care one way or the other. "I look forward to seeing what you do. Perhaps it will be you who brings about the New Age of the Gods."

Naruto snorted. Age of the Gods? What the hell was that? It looked to him like this man had been spending a little bit too much time playing World of Warcraft or one of those other video games where fantasy was the rule of the day.

"So if this is a competition can I assume that there is a 'prize' at the end?" Truthfully, Naruto didn't really care. He wasn't interested in competing in any tournament, nor did he care for whatever prize might be at the end. Material items meant nothing to him, and he though he didn't look it, he was sure that his bank account had more zero's than Minaka could even think of, so money meant next to nothing to him as well. In short, whatever prize was to be handed out didn't matter, he was just playing along at the moment to make the man think he was interested in what he had to say.

It was surprising how loose lipped people like Minaka tended to be.

"Oh yes, there is a very fabulous prize if I do say so myself," Minaka smiled indulgently, even though it was quite clear to Naruto that this was something he had been hoping to be asked. "The Ashikabi and Sekirei who wins will get a most fabulous prize and shall be allowed to ascend to the higher skies above together and usher in a new Age of the Gods."

Well that was a bust. It looked like this man was either craftier than he let on, or a delusional fool. Either way, it didn't look like he would be getting any information from Minaka any time soon.

"Ah yes, I forgot to mention." Naruto paused in his ruminations to glance back down at the screen where Minaka was leaning forward. "The Sekirei Plan is a highly confidential secret project. Should you attempt to inform anyone of it, then you will be dealt with most harshly. I look forward to seeing how you do in this grand game, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

The screen went blank and Naruto found himself staring at it for several seconds as his mind slowly digested everything he had just heard.

He had just gotten himself involved in some kind of competition, essentially some kind of battle royal, that involved the girl he had just winged and several other Sekirei like her. Sekirei were people who needed to find their Ashikabis who, according to Musubi, were the ones that Sekirei like herself were destined to serve, though if the kiss they had shared a few hours prior was anything to go on then their relationship was more than that of a master and his servant. In short, he had just run afoul of something he had not only long since tried to avoid, but also detested with every fiber of his being.

It would come as no surprise to any who knew of Naruto's past, but he hated it when people manipulated others for any reason.

With a growl, Naruto pocketed his phone as he finally came to terms with what had just happened and found he did not like it one bit.

"Are you ok, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi, growing concerned when she heard him growl.

Naruto looked over at the girl and felt his expression soften almost against his will. "Not really..." he said with a sigh. "I guess I just don't like the idea of you risking your life for the whims of someone else." That was only part of the reason, however, with a much larger part being that he had been trying to avoid this kind of thing. He didn't like involving himself in the worlds affairs. While he wouldn't deny someone in need his help, he didn't want to involve himself in something on a scale that could affect more than just one person, the fact that he was doing his best to stay of the radar notwithstanding.

"So... you're worried about me?" she asked, almost seeming shy.

"Of course I am," Naruto said, looking at her strangely. While Musubi probably wouldn't understand the look in it's entirety, it was the kind of expression someone had when they were both confused and resigned. With a sigh, the blond continued.

"This might sound odd, but I haven't had anybody to call a friend, or even a remote acquaintance for... a long time." Understatement of the century didn't even begin to describe this phrase. It had been an untold number of... years? Yes, let's go with years. It had been an untold number of years since Naruto had been remotely close to anybody. And he didn't count the untold number of one night stands he had been in as women he had been particularly close to.

Shaking his head, the blond banished thoughts of sex from his mind. He wasn't a pervert, but considering it was the closest he had allowed himself to be with another person, it was one of the few things in his life that was constant.

Continuing on, Naruto started once again where he had left off. "Yet in the span of a single day, you've managed to somehow become important to me." Perhaps it had something to do with this new bond they had. He could feel her, a warm, bright spot within his heart that was currently evoking more emotions from him than he had felt within the past millennial. The fact that all of them were positive, and seemed to counter act the darkness that had long festered within it only made them that much harder to ignore. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"Naruto-Sama," Musubi took one of his hands with a smile on her face. She pressed it against her breast, and the blond could feel her slightly hard nipple underneath the fabric. "I'm so happy to know you care about me so much. I knew I picked right when I chose you to be my Ashikabi."

"Musubi..."

"However, you don't need to worry about me," she continued with a soft smile on her face. "I will fight for you, I want to fight for you. And then you and I will ascend into the higher skies above together."

Naruto smiled at her. He didn't know what possessed him to do this, perhaps it was her words, or maybe his own instincts. In the end, it probably didn't matter.

His hand moved from her breast to her hips, it slid around her as his other hand came over and did the same, pulling the girl into a hug. Musubi instantly returned the hug. She was immensely pleased that she and her Ashikabi already seemed so close, and she loved the heat the blond's body seemed to radiate like a furnace. It warmed her, seeping into her very soul and comforting her in ways she had not even thought Ashikabi could do with their Sekirei. It was almost like he was pouring his love into their bond, like she could actually feel him there radiating his desire to protect her.

"If that's the case, if you really want to fight, then I will also fight with you," the words came out without him meaning to. He paused for a moment, considering them. In spite of having done his best to avoid trouble, Naruto found that he was being truthful. For some reason that was unfathomable to him, he felt that he was willing to fight for this girl, whom he had just met yesterday. How odd.

"You don't have to," Musubi started, shaking her head against his shoulder. "I can fight for the both of us."

"But I want to." Naruto pulled away from their embrace so he could look in her eyes. "If we are partners, then that means we are a team. I won't let you fight alone, and I will do all in my power to protect you."

Musubi's eyes got big and watery, giving her an almost comical appearance. "Your such a great person, Naruto-Sama."

"I don't know about being a great person," Naruto said sadly. "However, I will always protect the people close to me." The sound of boiling caught the blonds attention and he continued, saying, "I think the foods getting ready."

"Ah! Oh no! The food!" Musubi shot up and ran over to the stove, causing Naruto to chuckle. If nothing else, being with Musubi would be an interesting and fun experience.

**XoX**

Dinner was anything but a quiet affair. Musubi had created her 'special curry' which the blond had to admit was good. During that time Naruto, in an effort to learn everything he could about what he had gotten himself into started asking Musubi all kinds of questions, which she was all to happy to answer.

"All Sekirei have their own special abilities," Musubi said as Naruto asked her about the two they had run into. "Each of us are different, with our own abilities and powers."

"So those two we ran into were lightning types, I guess," Naruto said with a thoughtful look.

"That's right," Musubi nodded her head. "Sekirei's like them are able to use a certain element, they're what the professor calls simple types. And I'm a fist type."

"So you specialize in hand-to-hand combat then?" asked Naruto.

"Yes. I am stronger and have more energy then other Sekirei," Musubi said.

"I see. And I suppose I'm right in assuming that a Sekirei can't change their type?"

"That's right, it's impossible for any Sekirei to change their type. Because the type of power each of us have is a part of who we are." Naruto nodded at the explanation as dinner continued on. When they were both done, Naruto insisted on doing the washing since she cooked the meal. However, Musubi was stubborn and said that she wanted to clean the dishes for him. They had eventually settled on washing the dishes together, Naruto would clean them and Musubi would dry them. The brunette Sekirei seemed to like his idea the best, claiming it would be bring them closer together.

It was just as they were finishing up that a knock came to the door. With a frown Naruto walked over to the door and opened it. Standing in front of the doorway was a large man in a black suit with an MBI badge on his collar.

"Can I help you?" asked Naruto, tensing as his mind began working into overdrive. Had Minaka decided to remove him already? Perhaps the man had changed his mind about allowing him to take part in this 'Sekirei Plan' and decided to remove him. There were an infinite number of possibilities and theories that sprang through Naruto's head, each of them as preposterous as the last.

Naruto's limbs loosened as he prepared to possibly incapacitate the man before him should he try anything. However, all the man did was hand the blond the box he was carrying, then shut the door.

Naruto stood there for several seconds, blinking before he looked down at the box in his hands.

"I wonder what this is," the blond said as he moved back into the room Musubi was in and set it down. Kneeling by it Naruto opened the box and pulled out... "clothes?"

"Oh, they brought me my clothes!" Musubi said. Then she grabbed the hem of the shirt Naruto had given her and began lifting it off.

"Um... not that I'm complaining or anything," Naruto commented as he watched her take the shirt off, or to be more specific watched as the skin tight shirt she had been wearing was dragged across her breasts, which were released with a jiggle as they came loose from the shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra so the blond ended up getting an eyeful of her full-figured chest, a sight that took all of his considerable will not to be thrown back with a nosebleed. "But are you really this comfortable with changing in front of me?"

Musubi blinked at him, adopting a look of confusion that when combined with her large chest being bared to him created a look of innocent sex appeal that Naruto was sure would have killed lesser men via nosebleed. He doubted that even Jiraiya, the super pervert that he was, would be capable of surviving the look she gave him.

"Why would I would uncomfortable changing in front of you?" she asked. She seemed genuinely confused by his words, almost as if she had never even given them a thought.

"You know, to keep your modesty and all that," Naruto said, wondering if she was really so naïve that the idea of propriety and proper behavior among the opposite sex was lost on her. "Most of the time when two people just meet they don't go showing off their... private areas to others."

"Oh," the brunette looked genuinely surprised and Naruto had to resist face palming. It seemed this girl had no nudity taboos. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but considering how hard that would make it for him, not quite a good thing either. "I didn't realize that. So should I not change in front of you?"

Naruto had to think about his answer for a moment, truly think about it. On the one hand, Musubi was hot, as in really hot. On the other Musubi was also naïve. He felt guilty for simply thinking of trying to take advantage of her because of that, and having the girl strutting about in the buff would make it infinitely harder to resist.

"That's up to you," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "Personally, I don't care if you want to change in front of me. You're gorgeous and I'm certainly not going to deny that I would love watching you without your clothes on." Whether or not it made things harder for him, in the end Naruto was still a male. No hot blooded heterosexual male would be willing to pass up the chance to ogle such a beautiful young woman, unless they were one of those guys who were still in the 'embarrassing virgin phase' of their lives.

Naruto most assuredly was _not _an innocent virgin.

"However, even if you do want to expose yourself in front of me, I would appreciate it if you didn't show yourself like this to anyone else."

"So you like seeing Musubi naked?" asked Musubi, an odd smile on her face. It was decidingly innocent, with no sexual connotations to it, yet radiated an expression of pure joy that actually took Naruto by surprise.

Naruto sweat dropped at the extremely blunt words. Really, he had never met a woman who could actually say something so crass without flinching. Of course, given that this girl spoke in such a naïve tone of voice, he doubted that she even realized how off kilter her words sounded.

Despite the plane weirdness of the question, Naruto answered it anyways. "I would be a fool not to. As I told you before, you're a beautiful woman."

"Naruto-Sama!" Musubi shouted as she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around the blond in a hug as she tackled him to the floor. "I'm so happy that you like the way I look! You don't have to worry however, if Naruto-Sama wants it, Musubi will only show herself like this to him."

Naruto groaned as he felt himself responding to Musubi's bare-chested frame pressing itself against him. He could feel all of the blood rushing to his lower head as her breasts mashed up against his chest, he could even feel her nipples poking him as they moved and were dragged across the fabric of his shirt.

"Musubi," he said, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. "If you keep this up I'm afraid I'm going to lose control of myself."

Musubi blinked as sat up and looked at him, tilting her head to the side in an expression of confusion. "Lose... control of yourself?"

"You don't understand what I mean by that, do you?" he asked, getting her to shake her head no. Naruto sighed. "It's a figure of speech. It essentially means I'll start thinking with my second head."

"Second head? You have two heads? How come I can only see one?" Musubi asked as she began to look at his body to see where his second head was.

Naruto groaned as he realized that Musubi didn't seem to understand any sexual terms, meaning it was unlikely she even knew what sex was. He was not looking forward to that conversation. "Never mind," he said quickly. In the hopes she would drop the subject he changed topics, "so why don't you finish getting changed so we can go to bed."

Musubi smiled as she began getting changed into a large shirt that he got out for her to sleep in. "Ok!"


	2. The Start of Something New

**Disclaimer: Alright! Now is the time, I am calling out A****kurako Gokurakuin and Masashi** **Kishimoto to duel me in a tournament of epic proportions. The winner will receive the rights to both Naruto and Sekirei. And the loser will be forced to live my life.**

**Come on you two, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose so what do you say?**

**Chapter 1: The Start of Something New**

**XoX**

Musubi smiled, humming a happy tune as she lathered her nude body up with soap. It was early in the morning, the sun had just risen a few hours ago and despite how hectic and crazy yesterday had been she couldn't be happier.

Because she now had her Ashikabi. Naruto truly was everything she wished for in an Ashikabi. Not only was he kind, he was also very strong from what she had seen. And felt. She remembered how she had woken up this morning, lying in her futon with the blond, cuddled into his side with one of his arms wrapped around her waist. She remembered how good it felt to be in his arms, and the feel of his firm muscles as she pressed herself against him.

Truly there was nothing in this world better then being close to her Ashikabi.

Once she was finished putting soap on her wet body, Musubi used the moveable shower head to rinse herself off, letting the water droplets and filmy soap run down her form. When she was finished she went to get some shampoo for her hair, grabbing the bottle and unscrewing the lid before flipping it upside down and putting her hand under it. She frowned, however, when she squeezed the bottle and nothing came out.

"I can't believe we're out, I could have sworn we had some yesterday," she said to herself. "Oh well, I'll just ask Naruto-Sama where we have more."

Turning off the shower Musubi walked out of the bathroom, not bothering to cover herself up. Naruto-Sama had told her that he liked looking at her, and that was all she cared about. If he enjoyed seeing her, then she would gladly stay in the nude. Privately of course.

"Naruto-Sama, we're all out of shampoo," Musubi said as she walked into the kitchen still soaking wet. Said blond looked over from where he was making a breakfast of scrambled eggs. She smiled when she saw him admiring her form, for some reason seeing him look at her with those slightly clouded eyes sent pleasant sensations through her body, and caused more heat to well up in between her legs. She would have to ask him if he knew why she felt that way some time soon.

Naruto blinked as he looked over to see his Sekirei, dripping wet and completely naked walk into the room. His eyes noticed a small droplet of water on her bare skin and watched as it ran down the left side of her face, reaching her chin before dripping off. Because her bust were so big the water ended up hitting her left breast instead of the floor, where it proceeded to move down in a trail, off to the side and in between the valley of her breasts. He lost sight of it for a second before it came out under her bosom and continued along it's marry way, running over her flat stomach before reaching the apex of her crotch. Musubi was clean shaven, which was somewhat surprising because Naruto was sure the woman did not know how to use a razor. The small droplet of life giving liquid finished it's descend when it trailed over her inner thigh, moving down in an ever so trail down her toned, mile long legs and ended when when it trailed off of her small, dainty foot and onto the ground.

If he didn't already known she was naïve to the pleasure of the flesh, he would have sworn she was doing her best to kill him.

Her words then registered in his ears and he was just about to inform her that there was some shampoo under the cupboard in the bathroom, when the girl's left foot landed on the tile and she slipped due to her soaking the floor in water.

"Woah! Wah!" Musubi screamed out as she lost her balance and began falling over. Naruto rushed over to her in an attempt to catch her, however, he had forgot to account for the water Musubi had spilled on the floor when she began flailing about and ended up loosing his own footing. They both fell to the floor in a slight heap, Naruto falling on his back and Musubi falling on him. As a natural response, the blond's arms wrapped around the Sekirei so she wouldn't be jostled and injured by their fall.

"Are you alright, Musubi?" asked Naruto after he had managed to get over his surprise at being surprised. It was rare that he actually forgot to take something into account, but had to admit that it had been so long since he had been in any situation even remotely like this that he couldn't really be blamed.

"I... think so," Musubi said. She looked up slightly and saw Naruto looking at her with those concerned eyes again. It warmed her heart to see him looking at her like that. She gave him a smile that was bright enough to power Shinto Teito for a day. "Thank you for breaking my fall."

"It – don't worry about," Naruto started slightly, his eyes moving from her own, twin brown orbs filled with warmth and innocence, to her lips. They looked very kissable right now, with their light pink and glossy shine. He didn't think Musubi wore lip gloss, she didn't have any other kind of make up on so he had no reason to assume she had put on any form of lip gloss. Perhaps they just had a natural sheen to them?

Without even realizing it, Naruto started leaning in.

"Are you ok, Naruto-sama? Your face is all red."

And like a tub of ice being dumped onto him, Musubi's words stopped him cold. Shaking his head the blond tried to get up, an impossible task considering Musubi was still on him. Instead he ended up smacking his forehead into her's, eliciting an 'ow!' from the brunette Sekirei currently on top of him. Naruto himself found his own head smacking against the floor, bringing stars to his eyes. He lay there, groaning for what seemed like eternity, but in truth was only a split second, before his mind rebooted and he realized what he had almost done.

"I'm so sorry, Musubi," he apologized to the girl rubbing her head. Musubi stopped the motion to look at him curiously. She tilted her head to the side, as if doing so would let her get a better look at him. It looked almost like she were trying to solve some kind of jigsaw and he was the puzzle.

"Sorry for what?" she asked eventually, then her eyes lit up as she seemed to realize what he was talking about. At least, what she thought he was talking about. "Oh, don't worry about the hit your head just gave me. I've got a pretty hard head myself!" Musubi knuckled her own head with her left hand and poked her tongue out from between her lips. Naruto smiled for a second, but then shook his head.

"That wasn't what I was talking about," Naruto said with a shake of his head. Musubi stopped her current actions to look at him and Naruto, unmindful of the girl above him, continued speaking. "I-I almost kissed you. I mean, I know we did that in order for me to become your Ashikabi but..." he sighed. "But I shouldn't have done that."

"Eh?" Musubi's eyes once more became confused. "But why not?"

"Why not?" Naruto blinked. Was this girl really asking him something like that? "Well, because – I mean, we've only just met each other so it wouldn't be right for me to kiss you, right?" Sure, he had kissed women he had just met hours prior before, but all of those females had been one night stands, women he had seduced for the sole purpose of sleeping with them. He didn't want to do that to Musubi, even if she was the most attractive female he had seen up close in years, it just felt wrong.

_'Dammit,' _Naruto cursed to himself. _'How the hell is it that I've gone from trying to seduce a woman to thinking that the very act of seducing said woman was the most morally and ethically wrong thing I've ever thought about doing in my life?'_ Seriously, how screwed up was he that his way of thinking could be irreversibly changed within a single meeting?

Apparently pretty damn screwed up.

"Why does that matter?" once again, Musubi sounded confused. She looked at him with a quizzical gaze, her eyes roving his face as if searching for the answer to her own question on his person. They went back to his eyes a second later. "We might not be in a battle for me to use my Norito, but I don't see what that has to do with you almost kissing me?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but then frowned as one of the words Musubi had spoken caused him to pause. "Norito?" he tested the word out, and when he couldn't think of it's meaning, looked back up at Musubi. "What's that?"

"It's a special ability that we Sekirei have!" the girl said with an enthusiastic smile. "First, the Ashikabi has to kiss their Sekirei. Then the Sekirei recites their Norito. After that they can use their strongest attack!" She finished her impromptu lesson on Sekirei abilities with a nod of her head. Naruto frowned.

"So it's... it's like a power boost then?" he voiced, his tone sounding like he was asking a question. "By kissing I guess it's like when you first became my... Sekirei," god that sounded so weird to say out loud. Why was Musubi and everyone like her named after a bird? Couldn't they have been named after something cooler, like an orange velociraptor or something? "By kissing you, you gain a boost in power and can use your strongest attack after reciting your... Norito? Is that like some kind of chant or something?"

"Yes!" Musubi's head bobbed up and down emphatically. She looked almost like one of those bauble heads Naruto had seen standing on the dashboard of cars. "Whenever we kiss, it allows me to use my Norito."

"I see," Naruto frowned, then shook his head. "I suppose I can see why you wouldn't think much of kissing considering what you just told me. However, kisses are used for far more than just granting someone an increase in power. When shared between two people a kiss is also seen as a sign of affection."

"Sign of affection?" Musubi repeated, her eyes opened and she stared into his.

"Yes, when two people love each other, they often share kisses to show each other how much they love each other," Naruto said. This entire experience was becoming very surreal for the blond shinobi. How many people in their lives could ever claim to have had to teach a fully grown woman about kissing? He couldn't be sure, but the blond was almost positive no one else had ever had to do what he was doing just then.

"Oh, I get it!" Musubi smiled, her eyes lighting up as she finally seemed to understand Naruto's words. "If that's what you're worried about, then you don't need to worry at all!" She told him passionately. "Naruto-sama is my Ashikabi, I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't love you silly."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the last few words Musubi spoke. It seemed so strange to him, to hear her say that after they had just met barely even two days ago. He wanted to tell her that she couldn't love him, that it took a lot more time than a couple of days, or even a couple of months, before someone could possibly tell someone they loved them.

For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to be so cruel. Instead, all he managed to get out was a mumbled, "ah," before falling silent.

If he were honest, Naruto would admit he was more than a little uncomfortable with this whole affair, especially with Musubi now proclaiming her love for him after they had only known each other for a day. He had originally been intending to help the girl find her Ashikabi and than let that person deal with her. Now though, he was her Ashikabi, which meant he was essentially stuck with the girl. And while the idea of being stuck with someone as beautiful as Musubi was not unpleasant, he still wasn't sure he wanted this.

After all, one hundred years from now Musubi would most likely be dead, and then he would once again be left alone. Despite the morbid and defeatist thought, Naruto was unable to deny the girl. For whatever reason, much as he wanted to tell her no, to tell her that they couldn't have any kind of relationship, the blond found himself wanting to be with her just as much as she apparently wanted to be with him.

He decided to rack it up to him being extremely lonely rather than the possibility that he might actually feel something for this girl. It would only hurt him if he allowed himself to become too attached.

"Naruto-sama?" Hearing Musubi call his name, the blond looked up to see her staring at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when his Sekirei gave him a quick peck on the lips, not enough for him to feel more than a slight tug on his chakra, but enough for her wings to flare briefly, illuminating the room before fading once more.

"Yes, Musubi?" Naruto said almost on reflex. It was strange how he could still react on reflexes like those. Having spent so little time around people, he would have thought that those kind of reflexive responses would have been stamped out of him.

"I love you," she said, and there was such conviction in her voice that whatever protest Naruto might have had, might have thought, died a painful and gory death before it could even form. "I love you, so there is no need to worry about us just meeting or something like that. If Naruto-sama wants kisses, then all he has to do is kiss Musubi."

Apparently finished talking, Musubi brought her hands up to cup his face and pulled his mouth to hers. The kiss started out simple enough, and the brunette Sekirei couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of her Ashikabi's lips against her own. They were so soft, so warm, and like his eyes seemed to connect her to Naruto in ways she had not thought possible. However, as they continued to keeping their lips locked, Musubi felt the desire to for more, only she was unsure what exactly she should do.

Fortunately for her, Naruto had been around for a while, long enough to pick up on queues when a woman wanted something and figure out what they wanted, even when they didn't know what that was themselves.

Once again, chakra began to physically manifest into wings behind the brunette Sekirei as they kissed, the wings spreading out around the room. They conformed to the room itself, folding inwards as they pressed against the walls and ceiling. The two of them ignored it in favor of each other. Naruto licked Musubi's bottom lip, making the girl almost pull back in surprise at the contact. However, the blond had placed a hand behind her head, so she couldn't break away in surprise. He had already figured out that she didn't know much about normal relationships, nor the meaning of physical affection, but it was becoming even more obvious just how inefficient her knowledge on this subject truly was.

Being gentle and going slowly so he wouldn't freak her out, Naruto once again licked Musubi's lower lip. She still didn't have a clue on what to do, however, and the blond took a more drastic measure. He pushed his tongue in between her lips and licked her teeth. This time the brunette gasped as she felt his tongue, opening her mouth and giving the blond shinobi an opportunity to slip in.

While she was surprised at first, when Naruto began to caress her tongue with his own a moan escaped her throat at the pleasurable sensations he action brought. From there her own oral appendage seemed to almost move on it's own, meeting the blonds as they pushed against each other. As they continued their session, Musubi began gaining more confidence. She didn't have any experience, but she more then made up for it with a new found enthusiasm.

As Naruto marveled at how soft Musubi's lips felt, and how sweet she tasted, a part of him couldn't help but wonder. How long had it been since he had been with a woman? One year? Two? In retrospect, that wasn't a very long time, not for someone like him. However, it was long enough that when he was now presented with a perfectly willing female, Naruto found his mind and body slipping further and further into habit and hormones.

While their mouths were engaged in an age old dance, Naruto's hands wandered from rubbing up and down her torso, to her hips, then to her firm rear. He grasped her cheeks and began to kneed them with the hands of someone who had become an expert at the art of sex, making Musubi moan.

"Oh gods, Naruto-Sama, that feels so good," she managed to pant out in between kisses. It was impressive, despite hitting the twenty minute mark, neither one of them seemed ready to stop any time soon. The few times they had needed air, they would never truly break apart, instead giving each other intermittent pecks in between breaths to keep themselves from going cold, so to speak. "I don't know why but that feels really, really good."

Whereas the last time Musubi's words had been like dropping a bucket of ice on him, this time Naruto felt like someone had decided to drop him into the arctic circle in the middle of winter butt naked. He pulled his head back from their kisses and took several deep breaths to get his body under control. It didn't work very well, he would need a cold shower after this, but at least his mind was returning to him. And with the return of his mind, he felt another emotion, one that he was intimately familiar with in this day and age.

Regret.

"We should... we should probably stop," he said, cursing himself for nearly losing control of himself. He should be better than this, he WAS better than this. If nothing else, Naruto took great pride in his self control. He had not survived all these millennial by being impulsive and thinking with something other than his head.

Just what was it about this young woman that had caused him to lose himself like that?

"What? Why?" asked Musubi, her eyes growing big and watery. Her words brought Naruto's thoughts to a screeching halt and caused him to look at her. It was an action he would come to regret. "Did you not like it, Naruto-Sama?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the puppy dog eyes being directed at him. He had never been able to resist those eyes before and could already feel them breaking any resolve he may have had now. "No, I loved it," he said quickly. Once more reacting on instincts long thought forgotten, Naruto pressed his lips against hers in a quick peck of reassurance, then pressed his forehead against hers in order to insure they had skin contact.

He stared into her eyes, so wide and innocent, yet with a touch of hurt. It was almost unnerving, how his heart lurched when he saw that pain and realized he had put it there. He didn't want to see that look on her face, it wasn't natural his mind told him. Musubi was supposed to always be happy, always smiling and enjoying life. It was strange, he knew very little about her, yet somehow, somehow, he just knew instinctively that the look she had now was not natural for her.

"It has nothing to do with me not liking what we were doing," Naruto tried to explain. A part of him pointed out that he shouldn't need to explain himself, much as Musubi might say otherwise, they didn't know each other long enough to love the other. But that part was so small it might as well not exist. A mere wraith that whispered into the ear of one that could not hear it. The much larger part of him, which had suddenly sprung up out of no where, wanted, no, _needed _to give the woman still straddling him some kind of explanation. "But I feel it would be inappropriate for us to go any further right now, since we just met and I still don't much about you. Plus you don't know what sex is."

"Sex?" The look from before had vanished so quickly it was startling. No longer looking like someone had just killed her puppy in a satanic ritual, Musubi looked curious. Her head was tilted to the side, lips pursed slightly in thought as her warm brown orbs stared at him with unbridled curiosity. It was a look that set Naruto's blood racing, and once more he had to viciously beat back these newly acquired feelings with a savage vengeance.

Dear god, was anything she did not sexy?

As his mind was trying to come to terms with his newly reawakened libido, it managed to finally register what Musubi had said.

Cue the bucket of cold water.

Are you telling me you've never heard of sex before?" he asked almost nervously. It was bad enough that he had nearly lost control of himself in such an unsightly way, but to have almost starting something sexual in nature when this girl new nothing of sex made his blood run cold. Even if Musubi was perfectly willing, it was far to close to rape for him to be comfortable.

"Of course I've heard of sex!" Musubi declared, holding a fist a few inches above her head upon her declaration. Less then a second later a sheepish look crossed over her face as she once more knuckled her head and stuck out her tongue. "I just don't know what sex is."

If it weren't for the fact that Naruto was lying on the ground, he would have face-faulted. As things stood, he couldn't do that, so instead he just palmed his face in exasperation.

"I remember my adjustor telling me about it once, I think." Musubi looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression, the index finger of her left hand poking her lips. After a second she nodded once. "Yes, I definitely remember my adjustor trying to tell me about sex."

"Then how come you don't know what sex is?" asked Naruto, sounding slightly irritated. Honestly, this whole situation was beginning to border more on the ridiculous than the unreal.

"Ah, well," Musubi rubbed the back of her head as another sheepish look crossed her face. "Musubi was so excited when she learned that sex was something she would be eventually doing with her Ashikabi that she forgot to listen."

There were no words to describe what Naruto was feeling. He could have tried, but all that would have done was give him a head ache. There was something oddly familiar about this situation, perhaps not in the same context, or even the same subject, but Musubi's statement just now reminded him of someone he had known a long time ago but couldn't remember who.

It would come to him in time, and it would be a startling revelation when it did.

"So," before he even had the chance to contemplate anything else, an eager Musubi was in his face, so close her nose was touching his. "What's sex, Naruto-sama?"

"Urk."

Really, how did one respond to that?

"That's... erm, just another way of showing affection," Naruto tried to explain nervously, edging his face as far away from Musubi's as possible while doing so. Considering he was already laying down it was no where near far enough in his estimation. Worse still, whenever Naruto leaned back, Musubi leaned forward. Eventually, there was no more room for Naruto to move his head, seeing how it was pressed against the floor. "I'll tell you about it after we find an apartment to live in," he edged, hoping it would get the uncomfortably close girl to halt this line of questioning. "Right now, we have things to do today so we should get ready for the day."

"Ok," Musubi said, she was a little sad that they wouldn't continue. It was clear that she wasn't quite satisfied with his lack of explanation on sex, but was at least willing to defer that conversation to a later time. Hopefully by the time they found an apartment to live in, she will have forgotten this entire conversation had taken place.

"So there's some extra shampoo in the cupboard under the sink," Naruto said, thankful that they were no longer crossing uncharted territory. He could only pray that he never had to deal with something so awkward again. "I think that's what you were looking for before we got sidetracked."

"Oh, right," Musubi stood and began walking towards the bathroom as Naruto stood up and moved back over to the stove, thankful when he saw that the food had somehow not been burned during his and Musubi's twenty minute make out session.

"Naruto-Sama..." Musubi said, getting the blond's attention again. He forced his eyes to meet hers. He'd had more than enough sexual encounters of the Musubi kind to fuel fantasies hot enough to write a novel on this encounter alone. "Just to be sure, you did like it when I kissed you right?"

Naruto gave her a smile, he still wasn't sure about, well, this whole situation he found himself in, but his relationship with Musubi was something he was particularly concerned about. However, much as he may want to take things slow, or not take things anywhere at all, the blond found himself having trouble not responding in a positive fashion. "Yes, I liked kissing you."

"And I can kiss you more right?"

There was a pause, before Naruto sighed and gave a resigned smile. "When ever you want."

Musubi gave him a smile that literally lit up the entire room, and Naruto found that, despite the fact that he was concerned about whether or not this situation would come back to bite him in the ass, he couldn't find it in himself to regret this decision.

**XoX**

Naruto couldn't keep the smile off his face as he and Musubi walked out of the hotel and down one of the many streets towards the shopping district. His Sekirei was wearing her usual outfit, which she only had one pair of. That was the reason the blond had decided to take the brunette to the shopping district, while he got the feeling that Musubi was not like most females and likely wouldn't care if she had more clothes or not, he figured giving her more clothing wouldn't hurt. Especially if yesterday's incident was going to be a normal occurrence for her.

Besides, unlike most men who hated shopping with a female, Naruto had long since learned the value of it thanks to Ino. And Koyuki. And Temari. Tenten. Anko... he shivered when he remembered the one time he went shopping with the snake mistress. It had been both mind numbingly frightening and so erotic that the blond was both mentally scarred and so aroused that they nearly had sex in the changing room.

They probably would have too were it not for some idiot interrupting them.

He shivered again, remembering how the man had gotten Anko to sick her snakes on him. The poor guy had been dropped off at the hospital with the worst case of blue balls Tsunade had ever seen.

Ah, good times.

However, going out shopping for clothing wasn't the reason he was smiling. No, his reason was really just because of the brunette Sekirei who was holding his hand while they walked, an infectious smile on her face. He could literally feel her presence connected to his own chakra network. She was radiating a pure joy that came from being with him, the feeling he got from her was that she was happy just to be in his presence. Like so long as she had him, nothing else mattered.

It was surprisingly infectious, and Naruto simply found that he couldn't help but be happy when in the presence of such joy.

While he only had the basic knowledge on what Sekireis and Ashikabis were, he was beginning to suspect that some kind of bond had formed between them when they kissed. The way her chakra was latching onto his own made the theory plausible. He would need more information before he could truly be sure, but he was positive they had formed some kind of feedback loop that allowed for the flow of emotions to be exchanged between the two of them.

How else could he explain his sudden increase in emotions? Or the fact that in spite of having just met Musubi, he was already growing attached to her in ways he had not felt since the beginning of his life? In his mind, that was the only explanation for this strange phenomenon.

A part of him would admit that bothered him, a big part of him actually. That there could be something so powerful like this bond, that he could bond to another in such a way that it brought forth a well spring of emotions he had not felt in thousands of years, it was unnerving. And yet, for some reason, Naruto still couldn't find it in himself to complain at the moment, though he was sure that would change soon.

He looked over at the young woman holding his hand again and gave her a curious glance, _'it's so odd. I've spent so many years avoiding human contact as much as possible without living in the wilderness, and yet after just a single day with this girl I feel like I never want to leave her side.' _How was that possible? Was this another part of the bond they now shared? These questions ran through Naruto's head in quick succession. It was unfortunate, but he didn't have an answer. Even more unfortunate, he doubted Musubi would have the answers for him.

Thus he shunted those thoughts to the side for now. They wouldn't do him any good at the moment, and if he kept thinking about them Naruto was sure he would go insane.

Musubi noticed his gaze on her, for she turned to look at him and after noticing his smile decided to grace him with one as well. "I'm really excited we're going shopping, Naruto-Sama. I've never done that before."

"Really? So you didn't pick out the clothes you're wearing now?" asked Naruto.

"Oh no, the professor picked them out for me," Musubi said cheerfully. She blinked however, when a growl emanated from the blond's throat at the mention of that man. She looked at him to see a slightly angry look on his face and gave a worried frown. "Are you alright, Naruto-Sama? I didn't say something wrong, did I?"

"No, you didn't. Sorry to startled you, I just had something in my throat," Naruto lied, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn't want to let the girl know how much the thought of that man being near Musubi bothered him. Even after just one meeting, and not even in person, Minaka reminded Naruto of some of the most vicious tyrants he had ever met. Worse even, while men like Madara had been delusional bastards who wanted to take over the world, at least that man had ambition and a reason to do so. Even if his reason was stupid.

Minaka just seemed to enjoy playing with peoples lives like it was some kind of game. That more than anything else was what bothered him. He simply couldn't figure out the man's endgame. Was all this just some form of entertainment to the President of MBI? Was this really just a 'game', as the man had put it, that he had put together for his own amusement? Right now, that was all Naruto was seeing, the actions of a sick man who enjoyed toying with others.

However, he didn't want Musubi to know his thoughts. She was so innocent, he didn't want to taint her views of the world and the people in it with his own jaded eyes.

When he was sufficiently calm he gave the brunette a bright grin. "Let's go shopping."

"Ok!" Musubi cheered. The she blinked, "ah, I almost forgot." She stuck her hand in the obi that was keeping her miko like clothing together. She pulled out a card of some kind and smiled as she gave it to Naruto. "This card came with the clothes. We can use it to go shopping."

"MBI members card," Naruto read with a frown. "This is a fingerprint recognition card that acts like a credit card." That was some pretty high level tech for a simple credit card. He wasn't even sure how the fingerprint recognition thing would work. "It's got no money limit on it. Huh?"

"Isn't it great, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi with a smile. "Now we don't need to worry about money when we shop."

"Well, we didn't really need to worry about money anyways." He was rich after all, what was a few billion yen to him? "But it is nice that we won't have to spend our own cash at the stores we go to. We'll be able to use if for other, more important things."

As Musubi began pulling Naruto along with her, the blond's head snapped up as he felt a presence watching them. Looking to his left he saw a young woman, a very beautiful young woman whose breasts were even larger then Musubi's – which he had been sure was impossible – with dark purplish black hair, staring at them as they walked by. She was wearing a very short Chinese style dress with loose cross stitching along her shoulders, a pentagon shaped hole in the center that showed off some of her cleavage, and sleeves that were cut down the center halfway up her biceps, allowing the fabric to flare out behind her and billow in the wind. Her outfit was finished off by a pair of expensive looking sunglasses.

The woman lowered her shades slightly to reveal a pair of brown eyes. As they met Naruto's blue ones, the blond blinked a couple of times before shaking his head. Looking back at the woman he offered a smile and waved at her with his free hand, causing the woman's eyes to widen slightly in surprise.

Naruto and Musubi walked passed her and the dark haired woman took her glasses off fully and watched as the pair turned the corner. "That girl was a winged Sekirei... and that man, he's her Ashikabi but something feels different about him then the other humans I've met." Shaking her head she sighed and turned back to continue on her way. "Whatever, the Sekirei plan has nothing to do with me."

"Naruto-Sama," Musubi said, getting the blond's attention. When he looked at her she asked, "did you know that woman?"

"No," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "But she was looking at us so I figured it would be a nice gesture to wave at her. Now, on to the shopping district."

**XoX**

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry these clothes, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi, watching as her Ashikabi held a eight bags of clothing they had bought in his left hand. He didn't seem to be struggling with the load, but she still looked concerned about him carrying all of her clothing. It was hers after all. He shouldn't have to carry them. "I'm pretty strong, so I could carry those really easily."

They had just finished shopping and Naruto had gotten her an assortment of different clothing; they had bought several pairs of tight shorts that Musubi seemed to like. Bloomers, Naruto had recognized them as. He was surprised they had even sold those kinds of clothes, considering they were made for school girl gym classes. Musubi had liked them since they offered freedom of movement when fighting. Along with the bloomers they had bought several pairs of shorts of various lengths and cuts, a couple shirts, which included tank tops, tube tops, and any clothing that was more tight fitting, and couple of skirts that opened on the sides so they wouldn't hinder her movement. And while Musubi didn't know it, he had also gotten her a few dresses and Kimonos that he thought she would look nice in as a present.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a lady carry her own clothing?" asked Naruto, giving her a smile and a wink. The question was rhetorical, which became obvious as the blond continued, saying, "besides, I may not look it but I'm pretty strong myself."

"Muu~, I know that, Naruto-Sama," Musubi said with a slight pout. "But I also want to help you out, it's Musubi's duty as your Sekirei."

Naruto shook his head, "as your Ashikabi I believe it's my duty to help you when I can, not the other way around. After all, you're the one who's being forced to fight in this... game that that Minako guy forced on us." He still wasn't quite sure about this whole Sekirei Plan thing. He knew next to nothing about this 'game' still. All he could get was that it sounded like something out of that Mortal Combat video game he had played before. Yet even though the blond himself was not sure about his intentions for this game, he recognized that there would be others who were. There was no telling when he and Musubi would be drawn into a fight, and that meant, whether he liked it or not, he was as much a part of this game as anyone else.

With nary a sound, the blond shook his head and continued his previous train of thought. "Therefore, I should be the one helping you with whatever I can, even if it's only with little things like carrying your newly bought clothes."

Musubi's eyes grew big and watery as she felt her heart swell up in her chest. "I really do have the best Ashikabi around. Naruto-Sama, you're such an amazing person. So kind, and caring. You make me feel this warmth inside of my chest when you say things like that."

A sweat dropped formed on Naruto's head as he listened to Musubi's praise of him. He really wasn't sure why she got so worked up about his words, he had been making claims like that ever since he was twelve long, _long_ before she had ever been born. Then again, no one in this world, including her were around when he was twelve and thus they couldn't know that this was more or less how he had always been.

Even with time, it seemed that some things about him would never change.

"And in other breaking news, the strange overgrowth of plants at the Botanical Garden is currently under investigation by MBI's active cooperation."

Naruto and Musubi looked up at the screen when the news report came in.

"I wonder what happened in that garden to cause all those plants to grow," the blond said as an image of the Botanical Garden on the screen, which had such an insane amount of foliage growth that it looked like the Shodai Hokage had gotten trigger happy with his Mokuton ability.

"It could be another Sekirei," Musubi suggested, placing a finger to her lips as she looked at the screen curiously. "There's a lot of Sekirei's with unique powers out there, like those lightning users."

"So it's possible there's a Sekirei with Mokuton abilities?" mumbled Naruto, frowning in confusion.

"Mo.. ku... ton?" said Musubi, blinking as she tilted her head to the side as if doing so would help her figure out what the blond was talking about.

"Nothing, anyways, let's get find a place where we can stay," Naruto said, tugging on the hand she had clasped with his free one. "Come to think of it, maybe it would have been better if we went shopping _after_ securing an apartment. Meh, oh well."

**XoX**

Up above the two unsuspecting shoppers on a roof, Homura watched the two with a frown. "There's that new Ashikabi again, I shouldn't really care about winged Sekirei, but there's something off about that man she is bonded to." He watched as the blond said something that made the brunette Sekirei really happy, happy enough that she began kissing him. Homura blinked as the woman's powers flared, wings grew out of her back, only to disperse less then a second later as the kiss ended. "At least they seem to be getting along well."

As he continued watching the pair talk and laugh, his eyes widened as the blonds eyes landed on him. For a second his heart hammered in his chest. His left hand reached up to scratch his chest before he seemed to know what he was doing. It wasn't until the blond's eyes passed him over that he realized his actions and forced himself to stop, bringing his hand back down to his side. Looking back down again, he saw that the blond and number eighty-eight were on the move again.

He sighed in relief and released the breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding.

"Homura!"

Turning his head, the white haired Sekirei saw a young woman with long blond hair and blue eyes. She was outfitted in a black dress with a white under-dress, which showed off her cleavage. The woman was also wearing a choker on her neck, and had long brown boots with black stockings.

She was a very beautiful woman, with a lovely and mature figure. A beautiful, round face with full red cupid bow blips and a small nose. She had slender shoulders that and large breasts, which moved into a thin waist containing a perfectly flat stomach. Her hips flared out, defined and well proportioned, and she had a very lovely peach-shaped derriere that set the precedence for her gorgeous, mile long legs.

Were she not a Sekirei like him – and after his life – Homura might have considered trying to see if she was his Ashikabi.

"Tsukiumi."

"Today the two of us shall settle our dispute once and for all!" Tsukiumi said, pointing a finger at him. "Let us see who is stronger!"

"No thanks, I've got some business to take care of today so I'll have to take a rain check on that." Homura lit a fire on his finger and cast it into the ground, creating a large explosion that forced Tsukiumi to jump back and cover her face. "You should stop worry about fighting me and try to find an Ashikabi to serve."

"Wait! Come back, coward!" shouted Tsukiumi. However, when the fire from the explosion cleared, Homura was no where to be seen. "Unacceptable. Thy shall not accept it! Ashikabi are no better then common monkeys. Thy shall not let myself be debased by a man! Instead thy shall close his eyes to the world so that thy might keep my purity!"

**XoX**

"ACHOO!"

"Are you alright, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi as the blond pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his nose. "You're not catching a cold are you? If you are I could make you a warm bath when we get home and wash your back."

"I'm fine," Naruto smiled, the idea of taking a bath with this girl was pleasant. He didn't know if he had any intentions of doing something so intimate with Musubi yet, or ever, but he would be a fool to deny that the thought didn't invoke a bodily reaction that all males possessed when confronted with such an offer. "I think someone was just talking about me."

"Ara?" Musubi blinked, her expression going from worried to confused. "What does sneezing have to do with someone talking about you? Is this another one of those 'figure of speech' things you keep talking about. Because if so I'm not sure I understand it."

"Not quite," Naruto said. Frowning, he tried to think of the best way to inform his Sekirei of what should more or less be instinctive knowledge of linguistics. "When someone sneezes without an obvious cause, it is generally perceived as a sign that someone was talking about the sneezer at that very moment." He scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I don't remember when that particular belief came about, but it's been around for a long time."

"Oh, I think I understand now!" Musubi said with a smile, palming the fist of her left hand into her open right. She gave Naruto a look of awed adoration. It made the blond more than a little uncomfortable. "You're so smart, Naruto-sama."

"Erm... thanks, I guess," Naruto chuckled nervously as they began walking again. It probably had to once more do with the fact that he had spent so little time interacting with others these days, but hearing Musubi compliment him caused him more than a little embarrassment. It was so strange, when he had been a kid he would have lapped up the praise she was giving him like a man dying of thirst gulped down water. Now, now it just made him uncomfortable.

It happened as they were turning a corner. Naruto was still slightly embarrassed by his Sekirei's praise over something that, in all honesty, was pretty common knowledge. Because of that he didn't even notice the person walking in the opposite direction until they had run into each other.

With a resounding 'oof!' from the person he bumped into, Naruto stumbled back before managing to steady himself. Thankfully for him he had a strong grip on his bags, so they didn't go flying off. However, the books the girl that had run into him was carrying did.

"Oh, no," the girl said as she dropped to her knees and began to pick the books up. Both Naruto and Musubi decided to help her. Setting his own bags down, the blond dropped to his knees along with his Sekirei and they began grabbing the books, picking them up one by one.

While they did that, the blond shinobi got a good look at the girl, she had long red hair with side plaits and was outfitted in a white dress slits on her legs high enough to see her shapely rear, a rhombus cut out that revealed her cleavage and was also wearing detached sleeves that resembled a cheongsam and glasses. She was very pretty, on par with Musubi even, though she looked a little nerdy with her glasses. Still, Naruto almost felt like it was a part of her charm.

"Here you go," Naruto said as he handed the girl the books he and Musubi had collected.

"Are you alright?" asked Musubi.

"Thank you, and yes I am," the girl smiled at the pair, her eyes traveled to Musubi for a second, then landed back on Naruto. She studied him for a moment, long enough for the blond to realize that she was looking at him with far more intensity than she had Musubi. Before he could begin to get too nervous, however, the girl stood up and gave him one last smile. "Thanks again."

Naruto and Musubi watched as she walked past, both of them saw her Sekirei mark. "Huh, so she's another Sekirei," the blond said. He picked up the bags he had set down, making sure he had a secure grip on them as he did so.

"Looks like it," Musubi agreed with a slightly despondent gaze. She looked over at Naruto, more specifically the bags in his hand, then back over to the Sekirei as she disappeared around the corner. "It's too bad we're already doing something. I would have loved to fight her."

"I'm sure you would have," Naruto replied dryly. "However, right now we need to get these back to the hotel, then try and find a suitable place to live." He began walking up, forcing Musubi to follow him. "Let's go, Musubi-chan."

Musubi smiled as she caught up to him and walked alongside him. "Right."

**XoX**

It took several more hours before Naruto found a suitable place to live. While Naruto was not picky when it came to how he lived, there had been more then one occasion in which he had been forced to sleep in caves and jungles before, there were some things that made it hard for him to get an apartment.

The biggest reasons among those was that MBI owned almost all of the apartment complexes. Finding an apartment that was not owned by the large conglomerate corporation was even more difficult then finding a needle in a hay stack, and more along the lines of trying to find a specific grain of sand in the middle of the desert. Renting out a hotel was easy, all you had to do was give your name and some cash and presto, instant room. There was no need to give any extra information, no questions asked except for how long you planned on staying. It was normally very easy for him to get a hotel room and then disappear without anyone being the wiser.

Yet even then MBI had found him, which meant he needed to be even more cautious when finding a place to live.

Unfortunately all of the apartment complexes were not only owned by MBI but required detailed information that Naruto either wasn't willing to give, or simply didn't have. As far as the world was concerned, Uzumaki Naruto didn't exist, it was just a name on a fake ID that Naruto had spent a lot of money getting forged and the information being added into the appropriate channels so anyone looking for him would find a perfectly legit looking false lead. He had never stayed in any one place for long, his longest stay had been in England when he spent several years going to college for the hell of it, and that had been over forty years ago. He had no taxes because quite simply he didn't have a job. He was a wanderer, traveling from one place to the next with nothing more then the clothes on his back. The simple fact was, more then half of the information he was required to fill out was information that he didn't have and explaining why would have been impossible without blowing his cover.

Fortunately, the blond had managed to find a sign hung up on a fence in a residential area for a boarding house that had several rooms open for rent.

Looking at the typical two story Japanese house, Naruto felt slightly more at home then he would in a more modern apartment. No matter how long it had been since the Elemental Nations existed, the architecture that had somehow continued on through the ages always held the most appeal to him.

"Ah! It's such a nice looking house," Musubi said with a smile.

Naruto chuckled at the girls enthusiasm, _'I can always count on Musubi to be cheerful no matter what._' The girl was like a breath of fresh air, her naivety and good cheer had a way of setting him at ease despite them having just met.

Maybe she was beginning to grow on him after all.

"We still need to check the inside first, and we need to see if the landlord would accept us," he reminded her.

"Oh, right. Then let's go!" Musubi pumped her fists into the air before grabbing Naruto's hand and beginning to walk up to the door. The blond looked at the girl in amusement as she rapped her fist against the door three times, then began to wait.

The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a slender woman with long purple hair, tied with a white ribbon. She was wearing the traditional attire of a miko that consisted out of a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt and wooden sandals.

She was incredibly beautiful, not just her figure and face, but also the way she held herself seemed to enhance her already enchanting features. The woman before them held herself with a natural grace and elegance that not even the most expensive of geisha could hope to achieve. Even the most talented of dancers would have been unable to replicate the way she held herself. In fact, there were likely only a few people in the entire world who could hold themselves with even a modicum of the gracefulness this woman did. Naruto doubted most people would even recognize the way she held herself, other than to note that there was something different about her. The only reason he recognized the way she held herself because he had seen it many times in various woman throughout his life, though none had possessed it recently.

Hers was the grace of a warrior, born and bred on the battlefield.

The lavenderette looked at the pair of them for a few seconds, giving them each what the blond recognized as intense scrutiny. To the casual observer it would look like she was just looking at them, but Naruto could see the sharp glint she held within those purple orbs. They were looking at him and Musubi like one would study a potential threat.

The moment lasted for only a second before the woman seemed to deem that they were not a threat, and less then a second later she was giving them both a beautiful smile. "Hello, can I help you two?"

"We're looking for a place to live!" Musubi cheered before Naruto could even open his mouth, giving her free hand a fist pump into the air. The other one, the one holding onto Naruto's hand squirmed slightly in the blond's loose grip.

"Oh?" the woman said with an amused smile. She gracefully hid her mouth behind the sleeves of her kimono as a soft giggle escaped her lips. "I see, so I take it you two wish to become residence of Maison Izumo?"

"Yep." Naruto scratched his cheek as he grinned at his Sekirei's enthusiasm. Looking back at the purple haired female, he said, "I've been looking for a place to live, but have been having trouble getting one. Because I've only been in Tokyo for two days and haven't been able to get a job yet, most complexes won't let me stay there, even if I give them a down payment. We were hoping you would let us stay here."

It was a carefully crafted lie, a white lie to be sure, but still a lie. He could have probably found a decent apartment by now, but he refused to live anywhere where MBI could have a potential spy put in place. He still new very little about the Sekirei Plan, or the company itself as a whole, and until he did Naruto wanted to keep as far away from anything with possible MBI relations as possible.

That was the reason he had chosen to see if he could get himself and Musubi to become residence of Maison Izumo. He had noticed it on the sign for the boarding inn, how MBI cards were not a viable form of payment to live here. To Naruto that meant whoever owned the boarding in either had their own problems with MBI, or simply did not want to involve themselves in the large company. Either way it meant that Maison Izumo was unlikely to have any affiliation with the large pharmaceutical corporation.

The woman stared at the grinning blond for a moment before bowing her head lightly. "We do offer housing here for a monthly fee of fifty yen per room. However, I must ask, are the two of you in any kind of trouble that I should know of?"

Naruto and Musubi blinked, looked at each other, blinked again, then looked back at her. "I don't think so," the blond said carefully. "At least, not that I know of. We did have a run in with some girls a few days ago, but I don't think they'll bother us again." He paused, blinking in curiosity for a moment. "Would us being in some kind of trouble affect whether or not we're allowed to stay here?"

"Oh no, not at all," the woman replied with a kind smile. "My husband believed in never turning a person away, even if they were in some kind of trouble. I just wanted to know as a simple precaution."

"Your husband sounds like a good man," Naruto said. "Is he the landlord here?"

The woman shook her head, a sad smile crossing her face. "No, he was but my husband died a few years ago."

"Oh..." Naruto looked down in shame and rubbed his arm with his free hand. Great, now he felt like a jerk for bringing her husband up. "I'm terribly sorry, I had no desire to bring up past wounds."

"It's alright," the woman said with a slightly sad smile. "It's not like you could have known, so don't beat yourself up over it." Her personality brightened a moment later as she opened the door and led the pair into the house. "Now, I am the landlady, Asama Miya. We currently have two rooms available on the second floor. As I said before all payments are made in increments of fifty yen monthly. So long as you can pay you will be allowed to live here."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Musubi," the blond said by way of introduction, then gave the landlady a formal bow. "Please, look out for us."

"Pleased to meet you!" Musubi said with a cheery smile, completely disregarding any and all decorum.

Miya giggled at the other woman's enthusiasm. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance as well."

"As for your payments, they're fine," Naruto said with a smile as he looked at the paper walls and Tatami flooring that used to be typical of a Japan house. The place held a peaceful atmosphere that he could appreciate. "We can pay that easily, I was honestly expecting to pay more to live in such a nice place."

"Oh no," Miya said with a smile. "As I said, I would never turn someone who needed help away, and that includes if they have a money problem. Now then, there are a few rules that you must abide by if you are to live here. I don't approve of violence in this household, so I don't want any of you getting into any fights with the other people here."

"I think we can manage that," Naruto said.

Just then Musubi began sniffing as she caught the smell of a delectable scent. "What's that smell?" she asked, her mouth beginning to water.

Miya giggled. "I hope it's not terrible because I'm cooking dinner. In fact, you two are just in time because it will be done in just a few minutes." Almost as if in hearing the woman's words, Musubi's stomach let out it's earth rumbling growl, causing Naruto to sweat drop and Miya to giggle some more.

**XoX**

"Itadakimasu!"

Musubi stuck the first piece in her mouth, chewed it, and then swallowed. There was a slight pause as the girl in shrine maiden clothing seemed to be making an attempt at determining whether she liked the food or not. A moment later, it was clear that she did when a large smile came to her face while tears streamed down her eyes.

"This... this is so good!"

Naruto, Miya and the white haired man sitting with them all looked at the girl with various reactions as she took her first bite of food. Naruto merely shook his head, already used to the antics of his Sekirei. To his left, Miya hid her smiling mouth gracefully behind her kimono sleeve and giggled. Kagari just raised an eyebrow, only sparing the girl a brief moment of his attention before beginning to eat again.

As Musbi began eating more she absently spoke up again. "Ah! It's so delicious! This is one of the best meals ever!"

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Miya chided the girl as she used her chopsticks to take some food into her own mouth.

Musubi looked abashed, but didn't slow down the pace of her eating. She did stop once, however, just enough to say, "sorry," before she went back to her food.

"Mou, is it even better then mine, Musubi-chan?" asked Naruto, sticking his lips up in a pout as his eyes began to quiver. Musubi looked up at him inquiringly, her eyes blinking as her mind began registering his words. After a second or two she seemed to realize what he had said, and her eyes widened as she began waving her hands back and forth in a defensive manner as she tried to reassure him that his food was better than Miya's.

"No! Of course not! Naruto-Sama's cooking is the best, because Naruto-Sama's the one who made it for Musubi," Musubi said. She placed her hands over her heart and nodded. "Anything made by you, will always be Musubi's favorite. When I eat your cooking it's almost like I can feel your love in it, and that is what makes your cooking so wonderful."

Naruto's cheeks colored as he turned his head. Wow, this girl really knew how to lay it on thick. Were it not for the fact that he knew she was to naïve to know the kinds of reactions her words can cause, he would have thought she was trying to butter him up or something.

"I-I was only kidding," he said, scratching his cheek with an index finger. Musubi blinked several times as she tilted her head and looked at him curiously, while Miya covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. As the blond looked away from Musubi's intensely sincere stare, his eyes caught sight of the other occupant sitting with them. A young man that Naruto felt was perfectly matched the description of a Bishonen pretty boy. He had messy white hair, brown eyes, and that really lithe body type that most pretty boys had.

"Can I help you?" asked the man with a raised eyebrow, grimacing a bit as he absently scratched his chest.

"I don't think we were introduced yet." Naruto noticed the look on his face, and almost frowned, but managed to catch himself just in time. The blond got the feeling the expression the other male possessed wasn't necessarily because of him but something else. So he put on a smile and made to introduce himself. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"And I'm number eighty eight, Musubi!" said the brunette Sekirei. Were it not for the fact that doing so would have given even more away, Naruto would have face palmed. Didn't this girl understand the meaning of discretion? "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

The white haired man chuckled a little, seemingly unbothered by the naïve Sekirei's words. Perhaps he was ignoring them as one of the girl's quirks? "I'm Kagari, nice to meet you two."

Just then the sound of footsteps came from down the hall and a voice whined, "ah, I'm so hungry." Naruto looked up with everyone else to see yet another well-endowed young woman with long, dark brown hair. She had a pony tail on the left side of her hair and let the rest fall down behind her back. She had brown eyes eyes and like every other girl Naruto had met so far had a very developed figure.

She was also only wearing a pair of panties and a frilly pink shirt that showed off a lot of cleavage and had a small purple bow tied to the front.

"Oh, we have visitors," the woman said, looking at Naruto and Musubi.

"Uzume, how many times have I told you not to come out of your room dressed like that?" asked Kagari.

"Well, at least I'm in panties now," Uzume countered in a way that said she really didn't care if anyone saw her naked. It also let Naruto know that this girl had some kind of exhibitionist streak. She walked further in and sat down next to Kagari, where she began eating.

"Actually, Musubi-chan and I aren't visitors," Naruto said, causing Uzume to look up from her meal to stare at him. "We're your new housemates. I'm Naruto, and that's Musubi."

"Oh, a pleasure to meet you two then," Uzume said with a smile. "You'll find that this is a pretty nice place. The only problem is that this place is kind of beat up and worn down, which means only crazies and weirdos live here." She gave the two new tenants a wink, "so we're always looking for more normal tenants."

"Oh really?" asked Miya as an odd sense of dread and death filled the air. Naruto was almost positive he saw purple energy being emitted from the pleasantly smiling woman as she looked at Uzume who had begun to sweat under the woman's sweet yet dangerous smile.

"Uwah! Yeah, I mean, because this place has so much character we need a variety of types," Uzume corrected herself hastily. The feeling of dread vanished from the air and the brunette breathed a sigh of relief.

"Meh, normal is highly overrated in my opinion," Naruto said with a grin. Everyone looked over at him but he just shrugged. "Normal people are boring, they have no sense of fun and they're all the same. I shudder to think what this world would be like if every one were normal. Come to think of it, can someone even be considered normal? I mean, every one is different from each other, right? So the concept of normal doesn't really exist, because there's simply no basis to categorize someone as normal."

The rest of the people in the room looked at the blond like he had grown a second head. Musubi was looking at him curiously while scratching the back of her head in confusion, Kagari had raised an eyebrow, and Uzume just looked plain lost. The only person who wasn't confused and/or consternated was Miya.

"I agree with you," she said with a giggle. "Things wouldn't be as interesting if we didn't have so many different people in this world."

"I'm glad to see someone understands me," Naruto chuckled. Thankfully no one seemed to notice the hint of bitterness that flavored his laugh. Not that he had expected them to. In the long years of his life, Naruto had created hundreds of different personalities to use whenever they suited him. He could switch them at random, mixing and matching personality traits to suit his purposes. It was a skill he had acquired in order to blend into society, a necessity considering how populated the earth now was.

Dinner passed uneventfully after initial introductions were made. Conversation was sparse and erratic, with Naruto asking his new housemates some basic questions about themselves and answering them in turn.

"So your a world traveler?" asked Uzume as the blond told her and the others a little about himself. She seemed to be the most interested in learning more about him. Though Musubi was also paying close attention whenever the blond spoke about himself.

"That's right. Before coming here to Tokyo I lived in America," Naruto said after swallowing a mouth full of food. "And before that I lived in Europe."

"Man, that's so cool," Uzume said with a sigh. She looked a tad annoyed, though he could tell it wasn't at him but something else. "I've always wanted to travel."

"I'm sure you'll get the chance to eventually," Naruto told her. His words caused Uzume to smile, and seeing it, the blond couldn't help but smile in return.

As the food finally disappeared and everyone began to feel full from eating, Miya started to stand so she could take care of the dishes. However, before she could even move from her sitting position, Naruto stood up and began grabbing the dishes.

"Naruto-san, you really don't need to do this," Miya told the blond as he made to grab hers.

"You're right, I don't," Naruto agreed. "However, you made dinner, I think it's only right that someone else clean up so you can do something you enjoy more then cleaning dishes. Besides, I like being useful. I would hate to just pay for living here, yet be required to do nothing to help with the upkeep of the house."

Miya looked at him for several seconds, an unidentifiable expression on her face. After several seconds she closed her eyes and smiled. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Naruto grinned as he grabbed her plate and began moving towards the door. "Naruto-Sama, Musubi will help too!" Musubi said as she stood up and followed Naruto into the kitchen.

As the door behind them shut, Kagari leaned over towards Miya and whispered. "Are you sure about this? Letting those two stay here I mean? You don't even know them."

Miya looked from the door to Kagari before smiling. "I may not know them, but I don't think it really matters. When I look at the two of them I can see something wonderful forming. That man, Naruto, there's something special about him, more so then anyone I've ever met." She looked back at the door as Naruto and Musubi walked out.

"What do you see?" asked Kagari, looking from Miya to the Ashikabi and his Sekirei. Once more, his hand came up and began to absently scratch his chest.

"I see the ability to change fate."

Kagari looked at Miya in surprise, then spared a glance at the door as Naruto and Musubi came back inside the room after cleaning the dishes. He sat down and began speaking with Uzume and Musubi about the many places he had been to and Kagari had to admit there was nothing overly wrong that he could see about the guy. Naruto just seemed like your friendly, run-of-the-mill teenager, albiet, he looked a lot sturdier and well-built then most teenagers.

"Maybe your right. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. And I guess there's not much point in me protesting since it seems you've already made up your mind."

Kagari stood up soon after saying that and left the room. Miya watched the pair, Naruto sitting in a cross legged position, using one arm as support to keep himself upright, while the other was wrapped around Musubi who was leaning into his side. They were sitting down next to Uzume and the blond seemed to be telling them a story about his travels, something about how an aircraft he was on crashed just off the shore of New York due to an engine malfunction and they ended up having to swim to the statue of liberty to keep from freezing in the water.

"Naruto-san," she said to get his attention. "Where exactly are you two living right now?"

"Uh, we actually aren't living anywhere," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "I had rented out a hotel for two nights before we found the sign for this place."

"Oh... so you have to move in right away," Miya said, then she blinked. "Wait, where is all your stuff?"

"Well, aside from those bags we brought, I don't have much," Naruto said, pointing to the bags he had set off to the side of the room. "Those bags contain all of our clothes. Other then that we don't have much of anything. Since I traveled so much, I rarely had anything more then what's already on my back and whatever money I made during my travels."

"But Naruto, all that's in those bags are my – mmph," said blond placed his hand over Musubi's mouth before she could finish her sentence. The two other females in the room looked at the pair oddly, but Naruto ignored them for the moment.

"Shhh," Naruto whispered in her ear. "I know, but there are some things about me that I don't want anyone to know about yet. I'll show you where I keep all of my stuff later, but since I don't really know anyone else here I'm not ready to trust them with this. Okay?"

"Ok," Musubi's voice came out muffled. "Sorry."

Naruto smiled and kissed her cheek to let the Sekirei know he wasn't angry or anything. This had the effect of causing Uzume to smirk. "You two seem awfully close."

"Of course we are!" Musubi said proudly. "He's my ash – mmph mph blrrph!"

"She means I'm her boyfriend," Naruto said with a laugh that sounded disturbing similar to the ones his sensei Jiraiya used to give when he found himself in a brothel surrounded by beautiful women intent on stealing his money. Uzume looked at him strangely before shrugging his act off as just him being weird like everyone else in the house. Miya on the other hand had a smile on her face, as if she found the act of her new tenants amusing.

"Remember," Naruto whispered into Musubi's ear. "We're not supposed to tell anyone about the Sekirei plan, and while I don't actually care about what that man wants, I don't know enough about MBI to risk being chased after."

"Right, sorry," Musubi said apologetically. She looked down at the table in slight depression, and Naruto couldn't help but wince. Why did he feel so guilty about scolding this girl?

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said as he took his hand from her mouth and placed it in her own. Musubi looked down at their entwined hands, then back up at Naruto, blinking a few times before smiling and squeezing his hand.

If nothing else she was easy to please and distract.

"Well, since you two need to move in right away, I'm afraid I won't be able to clean the room for you," Miya said with an apologetic expression.

Naruto looked over at her and grinned. "Don't worry about it, I wouldn't want you to go through so much trouble just for us anyways. I'll clean the room tonight, not like I have many other things I can do right now. And sleep is overrated anyways."

Miya giggled at his enthusiasm. "Very well, why don't I show you to your room now?"

"That would be nice," Naruto said, standing up as Miya did.

Just as Musubi stood up she remembered something important and pressed the bottom of her fist into her hand. "I just remembered!" she said, loudly enough to gain the attention of everyone in the room. However, the brunette ignored them as she looked at Naruto. "So now that we've found a place to live, can you tell me what sex is like you promised?"

The room became silent as everyone's stare moved from Musubi to Naruto. The blond froze as he found himself the center of attention from his new and amused housemates; Miya had given what Naruto would later realize was her catch phrase, and Uzume had, after gawking for several seconds at the other brunette's audacity to ask such a question in public, gained a large grin on her face. Even Kagari seemed to be taking some form of twisted pleasure at seeing him uncomfortable.

"W-Well," Naruto's face gained a red hue as he wondered how he would get out of this situation. He had honestly hoped she had forgotten about that promise, because really, telling a fully grown woman about sex was not only awkward, but extremely embarrassing.

"What's this, you don't know what sex is?" asked Uzume, a sly look on her face.

"No, I don't," Musubi said, shaking her head. "Is it something bad? Naruto-Sama said it was a way to show affection, but we were pressed on time so he wouldn't tell me anything more then that."

Uzume looked from Naruto to Musubi before grinning. "Well, sex is –"

"Excuse me," Miya said with a smile as the feeling of death hovered in the air again. Naruto could not be sure if it was just him, but it looked like wisps of purple energy were leaking from the woman's being. "But you know I don't approve of such inappropriate and explicit behavior. That includes _talking_ about things that are inappropriate and explicit as well."

Uzume paled as she backed away from the frightening woman. "R-Right!"

The aura of dread vanished and Miya looked at a sweat dropping Naruto and a confused Musubi with a smile. "Now, why don't I show you two to your room."

**XoX**

"This is where you will be staying," Miya said. She swept her left arm around, as if to encompass the entirety of the room she was in.

Naruto smiled as he set the bags on the floor and looked around. The room wasn't really all that dirty, just a little dust that accumulated for the day. It was a fairly plain room, with a green tatami floor, white paper walls, a closet with a wooden door and two windows. It was simple but nice.

"Thank you," he said, turning to Miya and bowing. "I appreciate all you've done for Musubi-chan and I."

Miya giggled behind her hand. "There's no need to thank me. I was more then happy to set you up, and it will be nice to have more company around here. Anyways, I'll leave you two alone while you get settled in. Once you two are done, head downstairs and I'll have some tea prepared for you."

"Right, thank you," Naruto said while Musubi added her own exuberant thank you. Miya giggled some more before leaving the room. When the door closed behind her the blond waited until he heard her footsteps disappear, then turned to his Sekirei partner. "Musubi, what you are about to see here is something I have not shown to anyone else in a very long time. I am trusting you not tell _anyone_ else about what you see here. Do you understand?"

Musubi saw how serious her Ashikabi was about this, and with that in mind knew that what he was about to show her was big. Really there was no choice in her mind about what to do. "Of course, Naruto-Sama, I will never reveal your secret to anyone."

"Thank you," Naruto sighed as he held his hands in a single hand seal, confusing Musubi greatly, wondering why he was making such a weird hand sign. At least until she saw what happened next, then she became shocked.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu..." there was a puff of smoke and when it cleared several Naruto's were standing in the room instead of one. Almost as one they began moving, a few of them went through more hand seals and actually transformed into dusters and other cleaning utilities. Meanwhile the ones that didn't transform began to clean.

"Naruto-Sama! What is this! Are you a – mmph mmm."

"Please keep quiet," Naruto said softly as he smothered her mouth with his hand. Hopefully no one heard her shout, or at least would just think she tripped because he did not want to explain this to his housemates.

At least not yet... not until he was sure he could trust them.

"If someone hears you causing a big commotion they may come here to investigate." He looked at her intently. "I'll tell you everything you need to know, I promise." Musubi quickly nodded and Naruto took his hand off of her mouth.

Musubi watched as Naruto knelt down and unrolled a scroll, her mind a whirl with questions. _'I don't understand how he can be doing this. The professor always said that humans don't have special powers that Sekirei's do. Yet I know Naruto-Sama is human because he's my Ashikabi... so how? How does he have this power?'_

Now Musubi wasn't exactly the smartest tool in the shed, nor the sharpest kunai of a set. But even she could tell that what Naruto was doing was not normal for a human, or even a Sekirei for that matter. She had never even heard of a Sekirei that could make physical copies of itself and have said clones transform into cleaning objects.

She couldn't help but ask herself. Just who was Uzumaki Naruto?

Naruto finished unrolling the scroll and Musubi could see that it had kanji on it, though they looked slightly different then the kind she was taught to read when she was staying at the lab. He pressed his hands against it and like when the blond created those clones, she could feel the small drain on the blonds power, which until now she had thought was there exclusively for her to use as a power boost when they kissed. Apparently that was not the case, or at least not the case with Naruto.

_'I wonder, can other Ashikabi's do this? Or is this something only Naruto-Sama can do?'_ Musubi wondered as she watched the scroll emit a puff of smoke as several items appeared from within the scroll, several different pairs of clothes that were obviously for Naruto, a large air soft mattress with a red blanket that had a nine-tailed fox on it, a large, a worn book, and a picture frame. While the clones finished cleaning, dispelling in another puff of smoke when they finished, the real Naruto began setting up the mattress.

Looking around Musubi noticed his clothes lying on the ground and the bags with her clothing off to the side. Smiling, she decided to help Naruto and went over to the bags, picked them up and walked to the closet. Sliding the door open she stepped inside and began hanging up her clothes, humming a tune to herself. When she finished, the brunette Sekirei grabbed Naruto's clothes and did the same thing with his. By the time she was done, all of the clones had dispelled and the original Naruto was finished setting up the bed.

The blond shinobi looked at her and smiled as he patted the spot beside him on the bed. "Come here and I'll tell you what you want to know," he said. Musubi smiled as she bounded over to him and sat down. Out of a new growing habit and desire for intimate contact the whiskered marked blond grabbed his Sekirei's hand and idly began playing with her fingers.

"My people were a very special group of select individuals called shinobi," Naruto began. "Shinobi, better known as ninja in this day and age, were people that were taught how to harness the energy of the human body."

"Energy... of the human body?" said Musubi, blinking several times as she wondered what he meant. "I didn't even know humans have energy. Can they all use it like you do?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "While all humans have this energy, the ability to use it has long since been lost to everyone but me. Now a days humans only have enough to keep themselves alive. The name of this energy source is called chakra, which is comprised of a combination of the physical energy of the body which can be found in every cell, and spiritual energy which was gained through experience and learning new things. By utilizing a set of hand seals based on the twelve zodiac animals chakra can be channeled through the seals to create powerful techniques," Naruto answered her question.

"Then those copies you made was one of those techniques!" Musubi said in a moment of insight.

"Yes, that particular technique was the kage bunshin no jutsu, which evenly splits my chakra between myself and all of the clones I make. There are many other techniques however, some of them far more powerful then that one."

"So then... your people must be really strong warriors," Musubi said.

"They were," Naruto said with a sad smile.

Musubi gave him a beautiful smile. "I would really like to meet them."

"You can't," the blond told her, making Musubi look at him in confusion. He shook his head and said, "I'm the last shinobi left in this world. The rest of my kind have long since perished."

"Oh no!" Musubi placed a hand over her mouth. Looking at the blonds depressed face, she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself. How could she say something so callously? "Naruto-Sama, I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," Naruto said with a shrug. "They died a long time ago. However, as long as I'm still alive, I carry their dreams, and in a way they still live through me. I really miss them, but I won't let myself feel down about something that happened so long ago. I have to continue living my life as best I can. For them if not for myself."

Musubi smiled as she looked at the blond. He was so strong, much stronger then she had even thought he could be. She brought his hand over to her face and held it in both of hers. Closing her eyes she said, "I really am so very lucky to have you as my Ashikabi. I already knew you were thoughtful and kind, but to think your so strong." She opened her eyes and smiled as she pressed her lips against his hand. "Naruto-Sama, I am so happy to be your Sekirei."

_'This girl...'_ Naruto thought to himself as he stared at the young woman in surprise. _'Ever since I've met her I've felt like I'm back where I belong, like I've come home. She just seems to evoke all of these emotions in me naturally. She's become... precious to me, the first precious person I've had in over two thousand years..._ _It's been so long since I've had someone to love, I've forgotten what it felt like.'_

He was honestly surprised by the feeling. Not just because he was feeling it, but also because it had only taken a few days before it came over him. In less then two days this woman had become important to him, a precious person, one of the first he had had in a long time.

God there must be something wrong with him if he was getting so attached to another person so easily. He wasn't even sure if he could blame it on his lack of human contact or the bond he had formed with her. There was just something about Musubi that made him feel this strange sense of nostalgia and belonging that he hadn't felt with anyone else since the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Was this similar to his own ability? Naruto remembered people would often tell him that he had the ability to change the hearts of others, to make them believe in him. He remembered Tsunade was saying that he made people want to believe in him, to feel that if they put their hopes, their trusts and their dreams with him, then they would never go wrong.

He stopped his thoughts there, on those happy memories. That way he wouldn't remember the dark times that came after.

He wouldn't remember how he failed them.

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi's voice snapped Naruto out of his trance. He looked over to see her concerned expression. "Are you alright? You're crying."

Naruto sniffed a bit as he wipes at his eyes. He looked at his fingers, noticing the water droplets on them. Had he really gotten so emotional that he had started crying? Apparently so. Wiping at his eyes some more he realized that there was more wetness on them, small tracks of water that ran down his face.

"I guess I am," he said, blinking again when Musubi began wiping away the tears off his cheeks. He caught her hand in his own, his movements so fast they startled her.

"Naruto-Sama?" she asked.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered, kissing her palm. He let go of her hand and placed it over his shoulder. He scooted himself closer to her until his body was touching hers, wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into him. The blond placed a kiss on her lips, closing his eyes as wings spread out on Musubi's back and folded as they conformed to the ceiling.

Musubi didn't hesitate to return his kiss, applying more pressure to their connected lips. She opened her mouth and let her tongue moved into his, which had opened as if sensing her intention. Their tongues clashed, battling for dominance and Musubi enjoyed how it felt, the feeling of pleasure the blond gave her, the effects it had on her body, and the way her emotions for the man she was kissing went from a calm sea to a raging storm of desire; she enjoyed all of it.

They only stopped when the need for air became a necessity. The two looked at each other for several long seconds, before Naruto cracked a grin and Musubi smiled. Both of them broke out laughing, though there didn't seem to be any reason for it other then perhaps the happiness both felt when with each other.

"We should probably head down stairs now," Naruto said.

"Oh, right. Miya-san said something about tea!" Musubi exclaimed.

"Well, come on," Naruto stood up, grabbed Musubi's hand and helped her stand as well. "Let's get going."

"Yes, Naruto-Sama!"

**XoX**

Within a small room filled to the brim with computers and electronics, an unknown figure whose face remained hidden due to the fact that the only lighting in the room came from the equipment stared at the image of Naruto and Musubi. The only thing that could be seen of this person was their general outline, which was that of a woman, and the gleam of the glasses on her face. All the computers around this figure held images of Naruto and Musubi, and any information that this person had been able to pull up on him.

"So Sekirei number eighty-eight and her Ashikabi are now living in Izumo Inn," the figure said in a female voice. "It's too bad they moved in right away, now I'll have to wait until they leave to bug their room. Still, now that he's here I have a feeling that things are going to be interesting. Ufufufufu!"

**XoX**


	3. The Broken Sekirei

**A/N: Wow! So, first off I would like to thank everyone for reviewing this story. Honestly, I got way more reviews then I expected on my second chapter. And because so many people seemed to enjoy this story enough to leave a review, I went out of my way to get this next chapter out to you guys as fast as possible as a thank you.**

**Thank you all for your patronage!**

**Disclaimer: So I just finished watching the two seasons of Sekirei, and I have to admit that aside from Minato being a pussy, I rather like the series. But I mean really, why the hell is Minato such a god damned coward when it comes to women? He has a harem of beautiful women who will quite literally do anything for him, yet he hasn't done anything with them. Now, while I hold a great amount of respect for women, if I had a harem of beautiful busty babes like he did I would not be acting so damn hesitant with them.**

**Chapter 2: The Broken Sekirei**

**XoX**

The next morning Musubi woke up on the large air mattress in her's and Naruto's room. At least when put in perspective to the fact that she was at least on the air mattress and not the floor. In truth it would be more accurate to say that she was only half on the mattress, while the rest of her was on top of Naruto. She was pressed firmly against her ashikabi, her head resting on his chest, her breasts pressed against his torso. One of her arms had been thrown across his chest, her hand resting in the center of his chest, and one of her legs was leisurely stretched across his own.

She closed her eyes and took a moment to enjoy the relatively new sensations being with Naruto brought. His heart was beating steadily against her ear, a rhythmic pumping that made her feel calm and at peace with the world around her. Never in all her life had she even dared to dream that being with her Ashikabi could evoke such powerful feelings from her. She knew, of course, that her Ashikabi was the one person she would end up loving with all her heart, but even she had not known the true extent that love would extend to.

A part of her couldn't help but wonder if this was something all Sekirei felt when they were with their Ashikabi. Was this something solely unique to Naruto? Or were these sort of feelings common? It was a question without an answer, and Musubi, who was never one for caring much about such things, forgot all about her previous thoughts in favor of enjoying Naruto's presence.

The warmth Naruto was emitting was something to be cherished as well. His body was producing a natural heat that surpassed any of the heating devices she had used before while living in the laboratory at MBI. It felt like his soul was warming her up with it's love. And even though she had only just met him, Musubi somehow knew that this heat was just something of Naruto that had nothing to do with their bond. He was just a warm person, the heat he emitted was a reflection of his soul.

It was as she was coming down from the natural high caused by Naruto's presence that Musubi noticed something else that she had missed during her relishing, the hand that was stroking her hair, fingers messaging her scalp that caused her to sigh in content. She snuggled herself deeper into the warm body of the blond, once again thinking about how lucky she was to have the man laying beside her as her Ashikabi.

"Finally awake, Musubi-chan?" asked Naruto, his voice causing a rumble in his chest that reverberated through Musubi as well. Despite his voice being softer than she had heard it yesterday, there wasn't an ounce of sleepiness in his voice. It probably had to do with the fact that Naruto had been up for at least an hour already. He had been thinking about substituting himself with a pillow or a clone, but found that the more he thought about doing such, the less he actually wanted to leave the warm embrace he had woken up in.

Musubi looked up to see Naruto's blue eyes on her. Smiling, she greeted the blond in a voice that was just a tad sleepy, letting her Ashikabi know that she wasn't quite awake yet. "Naruto-Sama, good morning," she yawned at the end, stretching out the word morning as she sucked in a lungful of air.

"Good morning to you as well," the blond replied with an amused voice. His hand stopped it's idle stroking as the brunette fighter blinked at him in a dazed manner. "Did you have a good nights sleep?"

"Of course I did," Musubi said with what Naruto was beginning to realize was her signature smile. She placed her head against the blond's chest and again, closed her eyes, emitting a sigh of such content that even the def, dumb and ignorant wouldn't be able to mistake. "I was sleeping with you, Naruto-Sama. I like this, being with you in this way."

"A novelty experience then?" asked Naruto, his tone of voice letting her know he was amused. There was a touch of something else in his tone, which Musubi missed entirely. It was a tone that would let those in the know realize that for all Naruto's experience with women, his current situation was as new to him as it was to Musubi. For all his know how when it came to pleasing the opposite sex, for all his experience in seducing women, Naruto had never actually 'stayed' with said women after the deed was done. This was the first time he had slept with a female and not left in the middle of the night.

This was also the first time he had slept with a female and not had sex with them.

A novelty experience indeed.

Musubi didn't really know what novelty meant, but seemed to figure out that it must mean something good. "Mmhmm," she mumbled as she continued laying there. "This was the first time we slept together, Naruto-Sama."

"So it is," Naruto agreed. Despite himself he couldn't help but feel slightly amused by Musubi, the girl took extreme amounts of pleasure in the most mundane of things. Not that that was a bad thing. It was a part of her charm. "And while I would like to stay here with you, we need to begin the day."

"Mou, I wanted to be with you for a little bit longer," Musubi complained. She looked up at Naruto as her eyes became big and watery. The fact that she was using it so expertly to break the blond's resolve had to make one wonder whether she actually knew what she was doing, and was a lot more cunning then she acted. Or if she was just naïve and was acting out in harmless innocence.

Whatever the case may be Naruto's resolve crumbled as per usual under that gaze. "Well I... suppose we can stay here for a few more minutes. But we have more shopping to do today."

"We do?" Musubi looked around at the bare room. Not noticing anything out of place. "What do we need?"

Naruto sweat dropped at the question most people would assume was obvious. Then again hadn't this girl told him that she had essentially grown up in a lab? Maybe she really didn't know why they eeded to go shopping today. "Now that we have a place to live, we're just going to out and buy some creature comforts."

Looking back at the blond Musubi blinked. "Creature comforts?"

**XoX**

"Ah! Check out this couch, Naruto-Sama! It's so comfy!" Musubi shouted excitedly from where she was sitting on the couch. She and Naruto had left early after breakfast to go shopping for more accessories to make their room more comfortable. It was very fun as far as she was concerned, though for her anything was fun so long as she was with her Ashikabi.

So far they had gone to several stores and looked at things they felt they might need in their room. Naruto had told her that 'creature comforts' were simply items such as furniture, plants, posters and any other number of things that they would place within their room to make it more livable. He called the act 'giving the room more character'.

He had also explained what character meant when she asked him about that.

Naruto shook his head with an easy going smile on his face. Moving over to the love seat he sat down on it with her, if for no other reason then to humor the young woman who acted more like a child. Almost as soon as he sat down, his body sank into the plushy covering. "It is pretty nice," he agreed. "Do you want us to get this?"

"Can we?" asked Musubi, her eyes looking hopefully wide as she held he clasped her hands in front of her face. "Can we really?"

"If you want it," Naruto said. The smile that had been plastered onto his face since they left turned sly. "Though do keep in mind that we only have about twenty-five square feet of space available to us. Perhaps it would be best if we kept this seat in mind but continue shopping before we decide. You may find something else that serves the same function that you like more."

"Ok!" Musubi said, not having a problem with that. Even to her childish thoughts the blond's words made sense.

The pair continued walking through the store, with Musubi trying out every chair, couch and otherwise sittable piece of furniture they ran across. Thankfully she knew the difference between a couch and a dresser and thus, he didn't have to worry about her trying to sit on something that simply wasn't meant for sitting.

He did entertain the image of her doing that, however, and it was rather amusing to say the least.

Musubi had asked him what he had been laughing about.

Throughout the entire experience, Naruto found more strange feelings that he hadn't known himself to possess. This entire situation was one he had never been in before. Not just the shopping for household items with a female that he was now living with, but the shopping in general. Odd as it may seem Naruto had never shopped for things like furniture and household appliances. When he was younger and just moving into his first apartment that he had been given upon leaving the orphanage, Sarutobi had been the one who had done all of the shopping for him. Naruto had lived in that apartment for the rest of his time in Konoha, until it was turned into a large crater by Nagato, and by that point he couldn't go shopping anyways, since his apartment and every store their had been destroyed. And while he might have considered it after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he had been unable to do the same circumstances that had led him to being unable to form any meaningful bonds with others.

In the end, it had come down to a simply question to which the answer had been obvious. Why bother buying appliances like a couch and furniture when you weren't going to be living in any one place for more than a year or two?

Trip down memory lane aside, the shopping trip had, contrary to what some people might have thought, turned out to be not only an eventful time, but also very fun. Musubi, bless her soul, put so much enthusiasm into everything she did that Naruto couldn't help but smile and laugh along with her as she enjoyed herself. The girl truly was a breath of fresh air to someone like him, whose eyes had become jaded to the world and everything in it. Even having just met, Musubi had already brought more positive emotions into his life than anything he had seen, done, or met within the last several thousand years.

The shopping excursion itself lasted around two hours all told. In the end, they ended up buying a love seat of a different make that the short-haired brunette Sekirei decided she liked better. That wasn't the only thing they had bought, however, as Naruto ended up getting a small but high quality desk with several drawers on either side for files, a slotted board above the ground on the bottom where a computer would go, slide out keyboard table, and a place where he could set a printer if he wanted to, all of it painted in a glossy black color. Along with that he bought a comfortable wheeled leather computer chair to go along with the desk. He planned on buying the computer later on.

In return, he let Musubi pick out the rest of the appliances they would have in their room. She had been ecstatic and ended up getting several lamps, brushed steel gooseneck torchiere floorlamps; a couple of fake potted plants, light blue curtains for the windows, and a dresser drawer made out of an exotic dark wood with a varnished finish.

By the time the pair had finished shopping they must have been an odd sight. Naruto was carrying the loveseat above his head, using only a single hand. On top of it was the computer chair, and under his other arm was the box containing the desk. Musubi on the other hand was carrying the table over her head, on top of it was the box with the drawer in it and the plants, and had the lamps under the arm she wasn't using to hold up the table.

Naruto noticed the looks of shock and disbelief they were receiving and sighed, thankful that if nothing else, the desk and drawer were unmade in their boxes. Not only would the added dimension make all the items they bought infinitely harder to carry, it would have drawn even more attention then they did now.

_'So much for remaining inconspicuous,'_ he thought to himself. He looked over at Musubi and smiled. _'Still, I can't seem to find it in myself to truly complain.'_

Musubi didn't even notice the looks they received as they walked back home, or she did and just didn't understand. The latter case was more likely because her eyes were roving over the city as if it was the first time they had seen it. As her eyes continued moving, they landed on the glass window with a display in the front of the store. To be more specific, they landed on the television set they were advertising in the front window.

"Ah! A TV," she said, stopping in front of the display to look at the flat screen television. Had she not been carrying several hundred pounds of furniture, it was more then likely that she would have pressed her face against the glass like a kid looking into a candy store.

Naruto stopped as well when he noticed Musubi was no longer following him. Looking back he saw that she was staring at the TV, which he could hear was giving more news on the unnatural plant growth in the Botanical Garden. He chuckled as he walked back over to her, "I take it you like watching TV?"

"Yes," Musubi said enthusiastically, her head bobbing up and down in an exaggerated manner. It looked very comical, and Naruto had started to laugh before managing to turn it into a cough. The brunette fighter looked at him, tilting her head to side curiously, as if she was wondering whether his cough was because he was sick or some other reason. In the end, she shrugged and continued on with her previous train of thought. "I love watching TV, I can learn of all the things that happen in the outside world from it."

"Outside world?" Naruto said in a questioning tone. The way she said that, so matter of factly, bothered him. The words themselves sounded somewhat ominous, they were the kinds of words he would expect a prisoner to use to describe the world beyond his cell. For some reason, the term 'caged bird' came to his mind, but he banished the thought before it could take hold, and instead focused his attention on his Sekirei.

How appropriate was it that the word Sekirei was Japanese for a type of bird called a Wagtail?

"I mean the world that you live in," she said, her eyes moving from the television to him. She smiled that smile that only she could. For some reason, it unnerved Naruto right now, rather than soothed him like it normally did. "We were born on an island where we were adjusted."

Naruto's body stiffened. When Musubi used the term adjusted, his mind couldn't help but conjure up the image of the young woman before him, strapped to a table as faceless people in lab coats experimented on her. He would have blamed it on playing too many video games and watching too much tv, but he was far too busy dealing with the white hot rage that surged through his body at the thought of someone 'adjusting' Musubi. Thankfully, Naruto had a lot of experience when it came to masking his emotions, and thus managed to keep the anger out of his voice as he asked, "What exactly do you mean by adjusted?"

"Newborn Sekireis can't adjust to the outside world and can't control their powers," Musubi explained in a matter of fact tone. It almost sounded like she was giving a lecture, a thought which actually forced Naruto's anger away as he gave a tiny snort of amusement. He was glad that Musubi hadn't heard him as she continued talking. "An example would be every time we hugged. If I couldn't control myself, you would have been turned into a pancake by now."

The blond relaxed a little, though the thought of someone 'adjusting' as Musubi called it, another person sickened him, her explanation had gone a long way to soothing his nerves. He still didn't like the thought, but it sounded to him like the Sekirei's adjustments were necessary in order to allow them to fit into human society. While the humans of his time might have been capable of dealing with an unadjusted Sekirei, the ones in this day and age were notoriously weak. He had no doubt that an unadjusted Musubi really would have turned any human bar himself into a pancake if she hugged them.

Then his mind recalled her last statement and he gave a snort of amusement. "I'm a lot stronger then I look, Musubi-chan. You know that." In emphasis he tossed the loveseat a few inches above his hand and caught it again with ease to emphasis that fact. He winked at the girl and said, "I think I could have withstood your hugs just fine even if you couldn't control your powers."

Musubi giggled a little. "Well, maybe you could have, but most people wouldn't be able to survive a hug given by me if I couldn't control my power."

"So where is this island that your talking about?" asked Naruto innocuously enough. A part of his mind was already making plans to infiltrate the island so that he could learn as much as possible about Sekireis. Right now, he only knew the basics, and while that was fine for right now, if he wanted to plan his actions appropriately, he would need to know more about what he had gotten himself into.

"It's an island called Kamigura, and it's a secret of MBI. It's not even on the map either." Her eyes widened and she would have pressed a hand to her mouth were it not for the fact that she was carrying several hundred pounds worth of furniture, "oops! I wasn't supposed to say anything about that."

"So basically no one but the higher ups likely knows where this island is," Naruto said with a sigh. There went his plans of infiltrating the island to learn more about Sekirei and this 'Sekirei Plan' that the MBI head had spoken of. He put the thought into the back of his mind, storing it for a later time just in case the knowledge became relevant again. To distract himself from his thoughts, Naruto looked back at the television and smiled, "So do you want to buy this TV as well?"

Musubi eyes went wide as she squealed in delight. "Aah! Can I really?"

"Of course, but you'll be carrying that one."

"Yatta!"

**XoX**

They arrived at the Izumo Inn around two hours later. Stopping at the front door Naruto raised his free hand and knocked on it exactly three times. He waited for Miya or one of the other residents to answer the door, listening as Musubi shuffled impatiently behind him. It seemed she was eager to start decorating the room.

The door was soon answered, not by Miya, but by the other female residence. Uzume was standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of form fitting jeans that cut off at the knees and hugged her shapely hips like a second skin, and a tight fitting purple shirt with a yellow star in the center of her chest. The shirt was very stretched as it expanded across her bust, it looked almost like it might rip at the seems. Equally clear was the fact that she was not wearing a bra of any kind. Her outfit was finished with a basic pair of sandals.

She blinked at them, a dumb expression on her face as her eyes went from Musubi and the large stack of furniture she was carrying, to Naruto and his equally large stack of furniture. After several moments of her standing there looking like a lemon, she seemed to snap back into reality.

"Wow," she whistled as she glanced at the pair, though her eyes lingered thoughtfully on Naruto longer than they did Musubi. "You two are pretty strong aint'cha?"

"Of course!" Musubi cheered, and Naruto was sure that if it were not for the fact that she was carrying so many supplies she would have pumped her fist into the air. "That's because I'm a –"

"Musubi," Naruto cut the air headed Sekirei off before she could incriminate herself as a Sekirei and thus reveal her existence to someone who didn't know about the Sekirei Plan. Musubi looked at him curiously, her head tilting to the left as she tried to understand why he had cut her off. It took her several seconds, and a lot of non verbal cues that she couldn't understand, before she realized just why her Ashikabi had cut her off. Her eyes widened before, less then a second later, she giggled.

"Woops, sorry Naruto-sama. I almost forgot that you told Musubi to be discreet." She knuckled the side of her head and stuck her tongue out. "Te he!"

"Te he, she says," Naruto sighed and resisted the urge to face palm. How someone could be so scatter brained was beyond him. His Sekirei seemed to take the term 'loose lips sinks ship' to a whole new, otherworldly level. It was almost ridiculous, just how bad she was at keeping secrets. He was just glad that there had been no point in time where Musubi might be willing to talk about his powers.

Uzume looked back and forth between the pair for a while longer, then shook her head and grinned. "So is all this stuff for your room?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation. At the same time she moved out of the way and held the door open so that Naruto and Musubi could enter the boarding house.

"Yep," Naruto said as he made his way inside. It took a bit of work, because he was carrying the items he had bought over his head, he needed to stoop slightly and bent his arm at a forty five degree angle so it wouldn't smack against the wall above the doorway. Thankfully his natural grace, born and bred from years of living and his own surety with each movement he made, helped make the task easier. "I just came to Shinto Teito a few days ago so we don't have any furniture or anything for the room."

"I got'cha," Uzume was nodding as she walked backwards in front of the pair, her hands clasped behind her back. Then she blinked, "so than wait, does that mean the two of you just met? And your already moving in together?" The busty brunette's look turned sly as a grin sprang onto her face. "Damn bro, you work fast."

"What can I say," Naruto spoke in a pompous tone. It was too bad he was carrying so much crap around or he would have been able to pretend to dust off his shoulder. "When you've got it you've got it."

Uzume gawked opened mouthed at Naruto for a second, while Musubi stared at the two in confusion. A second later, the star wearing girl busted out in laughter, her hands coming around from behind her back to curling around her gut as she laughed. "You-You're certainly not lacking in confidence, are you?"

"Should I be?" asked Naruto, raising a single eyebrow at the girl.

"Not at all," Uzume assured him, taking one hand from her gut to wave it about her face as if attempting to ward off a fly. "It's just, wow, I mean, I really did not expect that." She began to regain her primary motor functions and straightened up, offering the blond another grin. "You know, I think I'm beginning to like you."

"Well," Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm glad to know how you feel about me. It really warms my heart to hear you say such things."

Uzume's grin widened as she nodded her head once. "As you should, it's not everyday someone finds themselves in my favor."

Naruto stifled a chuckle before deciding to switch topics. "I didn't see you for breakfast this morning. Were you out late last night again?"

"Ah, ah ha, yeah I was," Uzume rubbed the back of her head and laughed loudly. Naruto frowned, both the smile on her face and her laugh sounded forced. He would have asked her about it, but didn't want to be rude. It hadn't even been a full day since he had moved in, and while Uzume was an extremely likeable person, and he was sure from their interaction just now that they would get on famously, it didn't change the fact that he hardly knew her. It simply wouldn't be right to intrude on her private life.

Perhaps when they actually became friends he would ask her if there was something wrong.

"I didn't get in until, like, two this morning," Uzume continued, and Naruto's attention turned away from his thoughts to the girl in front of him.

"Wow, you must have been really busy last night, Uzume-san," Musubi said with the brightest of smiles. While the naïve Sekirei might have missed the grimace that the busty brunette gave at her words, Naruto was not one to miss such details. Once again, he stored the look and it's possible meanings in the back of his mind.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that," the star wearing Sekirei said, absently bringing her left hand to clutch her right elbow. It was a posture that Naruto recognized from someone who didn't want to discuss whatever topic the current conversation was about. "I actually just woke up a few seconds ago and was about to get a snack before you two came knocking on the door carrying what looks like an entire houses worth of furniture like they were pillows."

"Ah," Naruto nodded his head at her explanation, putting his observations of her character in the back of his mind for later perusal. "Well, don't let us keep you from your food." exchanging final pleasantries, Uzume left for the kitchens while Naruto and Musubi began making their way to the stairs. Just as they were about to try and figure out how they could make it up without losing some of the more loosely placed items, Miya came walking downstairs with a duster in hand.

"I thought I heard you to come in – oh my," Miya cut herself off mid sentence and brought a hand up to her mouth in mild surprise as she saw how much the pair was carrying. She made her way all the way downstairs and looked eyed the two large stacks of furniture they were carrying. "Look at all this stuff you guys bought."

"Heh, well, we pretty much had to buy all the essentials since neither of us have any furniture of our own," Naruto's eyes traveled up towards all of the stuff he was carrying above his head. He grimaced. "Though, I think we may have ended up getting a few more items than necessary."

The landlady gave him a warm smile that had a hint of amusement to it. "It does look like you two bought quite a bit," she admitted, her perennial smile still in place. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure your room will be a lot homelier with some of the things you bought, even if they aren't necessarily needed to live."

"True," Naruto said with a nod and a smile. "We managed to get a lot of nice furniture and appliances for our room. I think by the time we're done with setting everything up it will feel just like home."

"Well that's good," the purplette replied with her typical calm smile. She looked at the many furniture and items the pair were carrying with an amused expression. There was a slight gleam to her eyes, one that Naruto was surprised to recognize as something he had seen in his own eyes many times before the Fourth Great Shinobi War had broken out.

It was the mischievous and amused look he often had when something amused him, or he had played a successful prank.

He could only hope Miya wasn't the prankster type.

"I don't think I've seen anyone capable of lifting so many large and heavy objects at the same time. You two must be pretty strong."

"That's because I'm a fist type Sekirei!" Musubi replied in a cheerful voice before Naruto could tell her to keep her mouth shut. The blond had to remind himself he was carrying a lot of heavy furniture, otherwise he would have face palmed at the girl's inability to keep a secret. Hadn't he just got through doing his best to keep the girl from blurting that same secret out to Uzume? If this was how bad her memory was, then maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to reveal some of his abilities to the girl.

Miya however, just giggled. "You're so funny." It seemed she was willing to write the girls comments off as an odd quirk. At least, that's what it looked like to the untrained eye. Naruto knew better, but decided not to say anything. He had just become a tenant at Maison Izumo, and didn't want to jeopardize his place there. It was hard enough finding an apartment that wasn't owned by MBI, but he also happened to like the traditional looking Japanese house. So few places retained their architectural roots these days.

He was brought out of his revery when Miya then looked over at him with an amused eye. "And what about you? Are you a..." she giggled again, "fist type Sekirei as well?"

"Eh, no. I'm just awesome," Naruto said with a shrug, which caused the many items above his head to wobble. He cursed slightly, tilting his hand quickly and in various directions to correct the balance of weight in order to keep the objects from falling. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to pout when he heard Miya giggling again, this time at him.

"Well then, I'll leave you two to get started," she told the pair. "When you're done, why don't two come back downstairs for some tea?"

"Thank you."

"Ok!"

The pair made their way upstairs, a more difficult task then the door. Because of the size of the items they were carrying, they were forced to take them up one at a time. Once done with that they had to move them into their room. This again required more effort, as most of the items they had bought were too large to fit in through the doorway normally. Things like the table had to be turned on it's side in order to get through, while the loveseat had to be twisted at a forty-five degree angle. The pair worked for somewhere around fifteen to twenty minutes before they managed to get everything in the room.

"Alright!" Naruto said, taking a deep breath and releasing it before he clapped his hands together. "Getting everything set up and built is going to take some time, so let's get started. Musubi, why don't you begin by setting the couch where ever you want to sit when watching TV, then set up the table, the lamps and plants and put the curtains up. While you do that I'll build the dresser and the desk."

Musubi gave the blond a big smile. "I would be happy to, Naruto-Sama."

The pair worked for another two hours, with Musubi setting up the furniture and Naruto building the pieces that were in the boxes. However, despite the amount of work it took, both felt their efforts were well worth the outcome. By the time they had finished the room looked much more cozy, more like a well lived in home then a sterile room whose sole saving grace was that it wasn't white.

The desk had been placed in front of one of the windows, allowing whoever used it to look out at the horizon and the city beyond. Because the room was on the West side they would be able to watch the sunset from it. The drawer had been placed in a corner of the room on the same side as the desk, and was being used as a TV stand. Just a few feet from it was the loveseat, situated by the second window. The lamps they had bought were standing in three different places, one near the desk, another by the door and the last in the corner with the television. The two plants were located in the two corners of the room on the other side, while the bed was still in the center. As a finishing touch the blue curtains had been draped from the windows, adding what Naruto would consider a more feminine touch since he honestly would have never even thought of buying the curtains if Musubi hadn't wanted them. Though he was truthfully surprised she had thought of them, given that she didn't seem to know much about the outside world.

"What do you think, Musubi-chan?" asked Naruto as he looked at the woman beside him.

"It's perfect," Misubi said, beaming as she looked over the work she and her Ashikabi had done together. She looked over at him and her smile widened, reaching her eyes and conveying feelings of happiness and warmth. "Don't you think so too, Naruto-Sama?"

Naruto looked at the girl and smiled, something he had been doing a lot more often since the odd and slightly naïve Sekirei had come into his life. "Yes, it is."

Since they were done the pair walked back downstairs, where they ran into Kagari wearing a long overcoat as he put on his shoes. Both of them looked at each other before looking back at the white-haired man who was walking towards the door. "You heading out, Kagari?" asked Naruto, making the only other male living at Izumo Inn stop.

He looked back at the pair standing on the last few steps and grimaced a bit, bringing up a hand to scratch his chest, before smiling. "That's right, I've got a lot of work to do."

"Well you're leaving early today," Miya said as she walked down from the hallway. Naruto and Musubi both turned their attention to her, along with Kagari. She gave a small pout. "And I just made you dinner too."

"I'm sorry," Kagari apologized with a charming smile. "I hate missing your delicious meals. Could you please leave some on the stove for me when I get home?" He leaned down kissed the purplette's hand, making the woman giggle. "Take care," he said, waving to her and the other two as he left.

Miya waved good bye to Kagari before turning around to see Naruto and Musubi looking at her curiously. "In case you were wondering, Kagari works nights at a host club."

"Really?" Naruto said as he eyed the door that was just now closing. It clicked shut a few seconds later and the blond turned his attention back to Miya. "I can't say I'm surprised. He's got that bishonen look that a lot of women seem to be into now a days down pat." Were it not for the white hair and the fact that Kagari was a lot nicer, the guy would have reminded him of Sasuke. A shudder escaped the blond before he pulled himself together. "I'm betting he's pretty popular with the ladies."

"He is," Miya agreed. "He's apparently the most popular host over there, I think it's amazing." She looked back at Naruto and gave him a teasing wink, "though, you're not bad looking yourself, Naruto-san. If you want I bet you could speak with Kagari about getting a job there. I'm sure he would be more then happy to help you out."

"No thanks," Naruto said with a head shake. "I'm not really interested in possible one night stands anymore." Unbidden his eyes traveled over to look at Musubi. He would freely admit that during his time on this earth the blond had slept with numerous girls, so many in fact that he had lost count of the number of females he'd had sex with. How could he not? His refusal to get close to anyone had made it so that the most significant form of intimacy he could have was sex.

But sleeping with someone just for sex was baseless, and he had only ever done it when he had an itch that needed to be scratched. Unlike his former sensei, Jiraiya, such acts usually left him feeling hollow afterwords.

_'It's strange, now that I've found Musubi in my care, the idea of having sex simply for the sake of having sex feels... wrong somehow.'_ There it was again, that odd desire to be close to Musubi. He still couldn't pinpoint just where this desire came from, or how it came about so quickly. A part of him wanted to say that it was the moment he had winged her, their first kiss, but then he would be lying. The feelings had started before that, but he still couldn't figure out when.

A part of him was bothered by that fact, while another part, a part that had been growing since Musubi's winging, told him to simply enjoy what life had just offered him.

"Oh my," Miya giggled. "It sounds like someone's in love."

"I..." Naruto paused, trying to come up with a more plausible explanation than love. "It's not that. I just... don't see the point in sleeping with someone for carnal pleasure when I have a person I know cares about me right here. Right, Musubi?"

"Right!" Musubi said with a nod, it was clear to both Naruto and Miya that the girl wasn't even paying attention to their conversation. She was still looking at the door, a finger pressed to her lips and a quizzical expression on her face. "So, Kagari-san's a host?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "He basically gets paid to lavish attention on women, depending on the club it can be a pretty lucrative business."

"Has Naruto-Sama been a host before?" asked Musubi, looking over at him.

"I've been a host a fair few times during my travels," he admitted, a fair few being somewhere along the lines of five or six hundred, but they didn't need to know that. "Sometimes when I was strapped for cash, or just wanted some extra spending money and didn't want to wait until I was paid." He grinned at the brunette. "Why, interested in seeing what it would be like to have a good looking guy do all those things for you, hmm?"

"Yeah, especially if it's you," Musubi said, looking at him with her amber colored eyes. "I'd let you do anything to me."

Naruto opened his mouth, closed it, blinked, then opened it again. After doing this for several seconds he sighed. "You know there are so many sexual connotations and innuendos I could say to that, that I'm not even sure which ones to use." Inwardly he thought, _'and I know for a fact that Musubi-chan doesn't even realize what those innuendos would mean so saying them would be pointless.'_

Musubi blinked and tilted her head to the side as she looked at the blond curiously. "Huh?"

Naruto sighed as his point was proven with that one little word. Meanwhile Miya giggled at the pair, drawing their attention to her. She smiled at the brunette and said, "you look exhausted, would you like to take a bath before dinner."

"Yeah! I'd love that!" Musubi said, throwing her hands into the air in her enthusiasm. Naruto and Miya actually shared a look before both began laughing, much to the brunette Sekirei's confusion.

**XoX**

The bath house was on the first floor and was typical of a standard Japanese bath. Made with a light blue tiling that spread out across the floor and one-third of the walls, the rest was made of wood made of a lighter grain. There was a large window which filtered light through the room, illuminating the rectangular wooden bath. It was of a decent size, about large enough to comfortably fit four or five people, and had a wooden platform sticking out of it. Off to the left was a small square plank of wood where the shampoo and soap was, along with a bucket that was used for washing.

"Oh, wow. It looks fantastic," Musubi said with a brilliant smile. She looked at Naruto with a hopeful expression. "If you want to join I can wash your back." It was definitely her naivety talking again. The sexual connotations of a male and female taking a bath together were completely lost on the girl.

"Sure," Naruto said, agreeing with her even though he knew this. Whatever else could be said about the blond he was still a hot blooded male, and the offer of taking a bath with someone who was easily a ten on the hotness scale was not something he would pass up. "I haven't been in an actual bath like this for a long time, and it will be nice to relax. I'll even help you wash your back as well."

The smile that split Musubi's face at his words lit up the entire room.

The pair quickly shed their clothing, folding them neatly and finding an empty cubbyhole to put them in. Naruto looked over at Musubi and took a moment to admire her form. In his long life the blond had seen and been with many beautiful women, of those he had met it had always been the first women he had known that he felt were the most beautiful. There had simply been something about the kunoichi in his life that the civilian girls he slept with just couldn't compare to.

However, seeing Musubi as she stripped down, Naruto had to amend his statement. The girl had all the firm and lean muscle mass that a kunoichi had, along with the softness one would expect from a civilian super model. There was also the small, or large depending on your perspective, fact that the girl had some of the largest breasts he had ever seen in his life. He had to wonder if they were something unique to her, or if all Sekirei just had an abnormally large bosom. They were so large that even the slightest of movements caused them to shake and shudder in ways that left the blond's pants feeling incredibly tight. As things stood, he wasn't wearing pants anymore, and only the most supreme command of wills kept his body from giving into it's natural response.

Shaking the thought away Naruto finished taking off his own clothes and folded them in an empty cubbyhole. He walked into the room with Musubi and followed the girl as she made her way over to the small stool that stood off to the side of the steaming tub. Right next to it was a bucket and some soap and shampoo used for washing. Musubi gave Naruto a bright smile as she said, "why don't you sit down, Naruto-sama, and I'll start washing your back."

After a moments pause, Naruto replied with an affirmative 'sure' before sitting down on the designated stool. Musubi stooped down to grab the bucket, then went over to the tub and filled it with wate. When she returned, it was to pour the buckets contents of steaming liquid on her Ashikabi. As the warm water ran down his body, the sound of two hands rubbing together let him know that Musubi was lathering either soap of shampoo on her hands. He guessed it was the shampoo since the soap was in the form of a bar, and not the liquid body wash that most people use these days.

Moments later a pair of delicate and feminine fingers ran through his hair. Naruto stiffened under their touch for only a moment before letting his body relax. It wasn't long before the blond actually found himself enjoying the girls ministrations, the way her finger nails lightly scraped against his scalp, marveling at how deceptively soft her hands were. He knew from seeing her carry her stack of furniture that she was strong, so it was definitely a surprise when he found out that her hands held none of the calloused hardness that came from intense training and work.

Than again, she _had _lived in a lab up to this point, so maybe it wasn't so hard to believe.

He closed his eyes as the girl behind him once more got a bucket of water and used it to wash the shampoo out of his hair, then began washing his back. Deciding to do some washing himself, Naruto grabbed one of the extra bars of soap and began scrubbing his arms and chest. As he cleaned himself, he listened to Musubi's gentle humming and let his mind wander.

How long had it been since he had been with a woman like this? Had he ever actually bathed with a female before? It was hard to remember all of the things he had done sometimes, the centuries tended to blur together after a time. The only thing his mind ever deigned to remember were important events in history that he had lain witness to, and considering he went out of his way to avoid those moments, only a few of them really stuck out.

To be honest, the times that were clearest in his mind was back before his life had become the curse it was, when he had been nothing more than a shinobi of Konoha. Perhaps that was because the times back than were simpler, or maybe because those times held more meaning. After all, he held no attachment to the world or the people now living in it. These people, who were so ignorant of their ancestors past, of the hardships that had been faced so they could continue living in relative peace, they were not people he cared for. It had been a long time since Naruto ever actually cared about anyone aside from himself.

His introspection was brought to a halt as another bucket full of water was dumped on him.

"There," Musubi said in a proud tone, and while Naruto could not see it he could almost feel the smile on his Sekirei's face. "Your backs all clean, Naruto-sama."

Without even realizing it, a smile appeared on his face as the ghosts of his past receded into the back of his mind. Standing up, Naruto turned to face the woman he found himself bonded to. "Thanks, Musubi-chan. Would like me to wash your back now."

"Yes! Musubi would love that!" The excitable Sekirei shouted, reverting to the more childish form of speaking to herself in third person. She bounded over to the stool and plopped herself down. Naruto couldn't help but grin as he saw the girl squirming with a combination of excitement and impatience. Retrieving the empty bucket, Naruto copied Musubi's earlier actions and went over to the tub, scooping out a bucket full of water and pouring it over Musubi when he walked back over.

He began the process of washing Musubi's hair, dropping a nickel sized dollop of shampoo on his hands, rubbing them together until the soap had formed a thick foam, and then messaging the now foamy substance into Musubi's hair. His Sekirei let out a loud sigh and her posture slumped, letting him know just how relaxed his actions were making her. It was good to see that even though he was slightly out of his element here, some of the techniques he had learned when it came to pleasing women still applied.

The process of washing Musubi's hair, and then her back was surprisingly short, or perhaps he had just lost track of time. It was strangely comforting to help the girl wash herself. When he finished, Naruto stood up and took a single step back.

"Now that we're both cleaned up, why don't we enjoy some time relaxing in the tub, ne?" Musubi responded to his question in the way he was beginning to suspect was something of a trade mark for her, a loud squeal of affirmation as she threw her hands up in the air before she rushed over to the tub. Or at least tried to.

"Careful," Naruto said as Musubi slipped on the wet floor. She would have fallen were it not for him catching her. "There's no need to rush," he told her as he helped the girl steady herself. "The tub isn't going anywhere."

"Sorry, Naruto-sama," Musubi replied with an excited smile, not at all bothered by the fact that she had almost fell flat on her face. "I'm just so excited! The lab didn't have any baths. We just used showers."

"Ah, well, I can understand why you're excited then." And he could, the idea of actually being able to relax in a tub of warm water was definitely an enjoyable one. It was, in fact, one of the few things in life that Naruto was able to appreciate. "But that doesn't mean you should be reckless. You could have seriously hurt yourself."

"I'm sorry," Musubi moaned piteously. She gave him a pleading look. "Can we please go in the bath now."

"Alright, alright," Naruto relented, feeling he had reprimanded the girl enough. It was clear she was barely listening anyways, probably still too excited by thoughts of a warm bath to really pay to much attention.

Following words with actions, Naruto stepped into the steaming tub without a moments hesitation, Musubi right behind him. The water was hot, hot enough that the blond actually got slight burns as he sunk down in the water. However, the burning healed up a second later with no adverse effects, not even a red mark to signify that he had been burned.

"Hot!" Musubi hissed as she dipped her toe into the water. Naruto chuckled as he watched her get in much more slowly then he had, granted she didn't have his healing factor and she likely hadn't dealt with the kind of painful circumstances he had often found himself in when he was younger so her pain tolerance probably wasn't up to par with his own.

"Are you ok?" asked Naruto as Musubi dipped her toe in again before fully moving into the water.

"Yeah, the water was just hotter then I expected," Musubi said. She winced a little more as she lowered herself into the bath. However, as she immersed herself more fully into the hot water her body began to adapt. As a Sekirei she had a stronger tolerance then most humans, and her body healed much faster from wounds as well. She was genuinely surprised that Naruto didn't seem to have any trouble dealing with the hot water.

She looked over at her Ashikabi and smiled. Naruto was leaning against the tub with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. He looked really relaxed and completely at ease. Seeing him look so content made her heart soar.

Naruto felt her looking at him and opened his eyes to watch her in turn. He gave her a smile and said, "see anything you like, Musubi-chan?"

"Of course, Naruto-Sama. It's nice to see you so relaxed like this," Musubi said with a smile that was so innocent that if the blond didn't know any better he would have thought it wasn't real. He did sweat drop at her for not even getting the slight innuendo, but quickly realized that he shouldn't have expected anything less. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy." She pressed a hand to her chest, "I can actually feel your happiness right here, and it's beautiful."

_'For such a naïve girl she tends to make some really insightful comments,'_ the blond thought with an internal chuckle. He looked at the girl with a soft smile before a small frown came over him. Now that he was no longer admiring the girl, at least, no longer admiring her anymore than was natural, he noticed that her shoulders and back were a little tense. Too tense to be natural. Long experience with his own body and it's functions told him that she probably had several knots that had been built up in her body, most likely due to the fact that she had only just been released from the lab she had been living at and already been forced into running combat with those lightning twins before she met him.

"Come over here, Musubi-chan," he said, gesturing her over. The girl looked at him for a moment before smiling and doing as told. He directed her to sit between his legs with her back to him. With just a moments hesitation, Naruto placed his hands on her shoulder and began to utilize skills that had been cultivated by years of experience to bring Musubi incredible pleasure.

"Oooohhh..." the word was extended to incredible lengths as Musubi let loose a long breath. Her entire body seemed to slump in on itself as Naruto began kneading her muscles and removing some of the knots that were in her back. "That feels so good..."

"I'm glad you think so," Naruto said as he used his pointer and middle finger, along with some precise chakra control, to work out a particularly tight knot in Musubi's Thoracolumbar Fascia. "I noticed that you were pretty tense, you've got a lot of knots in your back, and that can hinder you while you're in a fight. This should help keep you limber."

"Ha..." It became clear to Naruto when Musubi released a long sigh of content that she was no longer listening. Shaking his head in mild amusement Naruto began to hum a soft tune he remembered learning during his life long journey. He couldn't remember where it was from, but supposed that didn't really matter.

_'When your as old as I am things like the who's, what's, where's, how's, when's and why's simply stop being an issue,'_ he thought to himself, a little sadly. _'Thinking of my age makes me wonder if becoming Musubi-chan's Ashikabi was a mistake. Will she live as long as me? Or will the ravages of time take her like it did everyone else?'_ That had always been his biggest fear and the reason he never got close to another person after the time of the Hidden Villages had passed. He simply didn't think he could survive the heartbreak of losing someone he loved.

Thinking of his past, and the precious people he lost caused Naruto to stop giving Musubi her message. Beginning to feel overcome by emotions and a fear he hadn't felt in a long time the blond wrapped his arms around the brunette Sekirei's waist and pulled her flush against him, confusing the girl greatly.

"Naruto-Sama?" she asked, turning her head to try and look at him. He was, unfortunately for her, resting his head against the center of her back, so she couldn't quite see him other then his spiky blond locks that spilled over her shoulder, but she considering their bond he wouldn't be surprised if she could feel his emotions.

Why? Why now? Why was he losing control over his emotions like this? He had gone thousands of years before now without ever once letting himself feel the true depths of his own despair or any sort of hopelessness. So why was it that he now felt so incredibly vulnerable? Was it the girl? Could her presence be invoking this emotion? He supposed it was possible, but the answer couldn't be that simple. Maybe it was his fear of how close she was getting to him. After all, hadn't he avoided forming attachments with others so he wouldn't hurt when they died? Yet in just two days, this girl had wormed her way into his heart, and now he was afraid, afraid of what might happen to him if, no, when, she died.

After all, the only thing that seemed to last forever in this world was him.

"Are you alright?" Musubi's question snapped Naruto out of his slight fugue, though he was still feeling unusually vulnerable. Perhaps that was why he said what he said next.

"Promise me you'll never leave me," Naruto whispered in a soft voice. Just hearing that tone in her Ashikabi's voice made Musubi feel terrible. The fact that she could feel the emptiness in the blond's heart, like a void that had been sucking out his soul for who knew how many years only made it worse. The person she now cherished most was suffering, and she didn't know why or how to truly help.

Shifting her body around in his grasp, Musubi set her legs over one of Naruto's as she moved until her profile was being presented to him. She looked into the blond's eyes, which were much more vulnerable then she was used to seeing in the past three days since they had met. Not really sure how to reassure him but wanting to do something, the brunette Sekirei cupped the blond's face with her hands and pulled him into a kiss.

Her wings flared out behind her as the power the blond held entered her body, the phantasmagorical wings of energy pushed the water away from her back, sending some of his splashing over the sides as the two great appendages of energy unfolded. She did her best to ignore it, along with the pleasure and heat it brought her as she focused on pouring all of her emotions into the kiss. In response, Naruto's arms tightened their hold around her waist, as if to keep her from disappearing.

When they broke the kiss Musubi gave Naruto a soft smile. "I will never leave you, Naruto-Sama," she told him in a completely sincere voice. "I will always stay by your side as your Sekirei, now and forever. Not even the professor will be able to take me from you."

"Musubi... thank you," Naruto said, feeling tears run from his eyes. He cursed himself for his weakness, this wasn't like him. He wasn't this weak. Or at least, he shouldn't be. But Musubi's words, no, her very presence struck a chord with him, brought him a small measure of comfort in a world that was no longer his. He had been alone for so long that the girls words simply made him feel more emotional then he would have otherwise.

"You don't need to thank me, Naruto-Sama," Musubi said with a soft smile. "I want to be with you. I was simply telling the truth."

"I know that," Naruto said. He closed his eyes and shook his head, willing both his tears and his weakness back into the darkest reaches of his mind where they would hopefully never see the light of day again. When he opened his blue orbs again, it was with a cheerful smile that held none of the vulnerability he had a few seconds ago. "Still, I appreciate it."

Musubi's smile, impossible as it seemed, brightened at his words. "Your welcome."

While Naruto and Musubi were having their small bonding moment, Uzume, who had been peeking from the doorway when she heard voices inside of the bath house, closed the door and sighed. "I guess I can wait until their done to take my bath," she said with a smile. "I wouldn't want to ruin their moment." After getting redressed she walked back out of the changing room and up the stairs to her own room.

**XoX**

It was early the next morning that Naruto woke up. For the second time in two days the blond found himself being roused from grogginess with an unfamiliar weight on him.

One might think it strange, but Uzumaki Naruto, despite being the kind of person who woke up before the crack of dawn, was not a morning person. During the early years of his childhood, and on through his genin days, Naruto had always had trouble waking up early in the morning. He'd even needed to go through an entire 'wake up' process just to get himself started. This usually consisted of him stumbling out of bed and into the kitchen, then staring at the fridge for a full fifteen minutes before opening it and beginning breakfast, which often times consisted of a piece of stale toast and some spoiled milk. After that he would get dressed and, by some miracle, would be awake and ready to start the day.

At the time, he hadn't known that it was just Kurama's incredible energy that had given him the kick start he needed to get going.

It hadn't been until his training trip with Jiraiya that Naruto had truly begun to appreciate getting up at the crack of dawn. Jiraiya, for all his faults and lecherous intent towards woman, had been a good teacher. As soon as the first few rays of light hit whatever clearing they had slept in that night, or shone in through the window, he would get the blond up so they could start their morning spar.

This wake up call most often included Naruto getting a gallon or so of freezing cold water dumped on him.

It had taken a while, and Naruo complained quite a bit during that time, but eventually the blond began getting up on his own without needing Jiraiya's special wake up call. After all, no one wanted to get a bucket of ice cold water dumped on them.

Despite the fact that Naruto's body was now naturally inclined to wake up before the sun had even begun to rise, a habit that he had simply never bothered getting rid of, it still took him several minutes before his mind properly rebooted. Sometimes he would just lay on his fuuton, or the bed of which ever hotel he was in, blinking as he let his brain restart.

Which was fine with him, it wasn't like he had anything to do nowadays. There was no need for training, all of his enemies were dead; it wasn't like he had anyone waiting for him, and even if he had he doubted they would be awake at the crack of fucking dawn. Truth be told, aside from habit, Naruto didn't know why he still bothered waking up so early. Perhaps it was a way to honor his fallen sensei. He didn't know, and a part of him didn't want to know for fear of where his thoughts might take him.

Surprisingly enough, Naruto was not quite as tired this morning as he usually was. He chalked this up to the fact that he hadn't had any nightmares last night, something that could only be a good thing in his book. It probably had something to do with the weight of the very warm pillow cuddled into his side.

The very warm pillow that made very slight movements as it breathed in and out, releasing cute snores with every breath.

Wait a minute.

Blinking, Naruto tilted his head down to see just what the 'pillow' snuggling against him was. The first thing he was greeted with was a head of brown hair. The second thing was the angelic face of the beautiful girl that was currently drooling on his chest, followed by a body that the goddess' themselves would be jealous of.

A body that was currently as bare as the day it was born. Naruto suppressed a groan as his mental faculties began coming online and cataloging many of the feelings he had not taken notice of in his half dead state. The very first of those things which just so happened to be the girls breasts as they pressed against his bare chest, the way her nipples rubbed against his skin with each breath she took. This was followed by the curves of the brunette's body, luscious and beautiful curves that were both toned from what looked like years of training (but what Naruto somehow instinctively knew she had just been born with) and soft in a way that would put any supermodel to shame. More aspects began making themselves known to the blond, like how her left leg had hooked itself over his legs, how she must have been rubbing against him some time during the night because he had a stain on his boxers that he knew from their position relative to his own sex organ was not of his own make, to the way her hand had some time during the middle of the night snaked it's way into his boxers and was grasping his tool in a firm grip.

That last one in particular caused him to nearly blow his load. Dear god, did this girl know what she was doing to him?

Doing his best to not let loose a very manly scream of surprise, a now very awake and heavily aroused Naruto did his best to extract himself from Musubi's grip. This proved to be a lot harder than he thought it would, as it seemed like the girl quite enjoyed holding him close. Each time he tried to pull her arms from around his chest, or shift her leg until it was no longer wrapped around his own, she would tighten her hold on him to a painful extent. Naruto actually found himself wincing when he heard several ribs crack painfully during one particularly hard squeeze.

Well, if he ever wanted to know what it would be like to be a teady bear for someone like Tsunade, this would probably be an accurate comparison. Honestly, how Jiraiya could possibly the idea of getting with that woman was fun was beyond him. If this was even half as bad as a Tsunade hug would be, then he didn't even wanted to know what the real deal would feel like. Thankfully, Musubi's bear hugs had the effect of calming his raging libido. If nothing else he could be thankful for that.

It took a number of minutes and some very careful maneuvering before Naruto managed to remove himself from Musubi's grip. It seemed that his Sekirei was quite content while she held onto him, and was loathe to let him out of her grasp. Whenever he tried to pry her arms off him, she would tighten her hold to unbearable levels in turn, often times letting out a noise of discontent at his attempts at removing himself from her. Really, the girl's hugs were quite painful.

He would have substituted himself with a clone, but considering it would likely pop the moment it entered the brunette Sekirei's bone crushing hug decided against it.

After finally managing to extract himself from Musubi's grasp the blond made his way downstairs. It was still very early in the morning, the sun was only just coming up, peaking out beyond the horizon and painting orange and purple streaks across the sky. No one else was awake yet as far as he could see while he walked through the house, even Miya seemed to be asleep, or at least still in her room. Thinking of the plans he wanted to do today the blond headed over for the kitchen.

The kitchen was fairly average, much like the rest of the house. It held a marble counter top, with several drawers and cupboards lining the bottom, and a few more cupboards above. There was a gas stove and oven combination, several appliances one would expect to find in a kitchen, a refrigerator, a microwave and a sink. There were several windows lining the walls, allowing light to filter into the room, and a table that could seat four people in the center.

With a slight smile the blond got to work. His first task was finding the pots and pans, then searching for the ingredients, eggs, flower, milk, bacon, broth, seasoning, butter, various assorted vegetables and some chicken. He separated the groceries into two piles, placed a pan on the stove and turned on the heat.

Naruto placed some butter on the pan, and while waiting for it to melt grabbed a bowl and began mixing the ingredients he had in the first pile into it. He wasn't sure how much flour he would need, but shrugged and placed four cups inside, then cracked six eggs, poured in some milk, added a pinch of sugar, a small amount of yeast, some baking powder, salt, butter, and several dozen blueberries he found in the fridge. He began stirring the food, mixing it until it was completely even with no chunky parts to it, then set it aside as he noticed the butter was beginning to melt in the pan and used a spatula to even it amongst the pans surface. When he was sure the pan was hot enough to cook something in he grabbed the bowl and began pouring in some of the batter.

Knowing it would take a few minutes for the first side to bake, Naruto began working on the second pile. His first step was creating more batter, though this was for a completely different purpose then pancakes. With the sort of expertise one would expect of a professional chef the blond shinobi began to mix and whisk ingredients into another bowl much faster then when he had with the first one. Once he was finished with his mixing he set the bowl aside and got back to the pancakes so he could let the dough set.

As he worked, humming a small tune to himself, another person who had just woken up quietly entered the room and began to watch the blond in idle curiosity.

**XoX**

Miya watched as the blond man went about the kitchen with the confidence of one who had been looking after themselves for a long time. She watched as he switched off between making the pancakes until all of the batter from the first bowl was gone. Then needing the dough from the second bowl on a wooden cutting board he had found in one of the cupboards, the surety of his movements letting her know that this was a task he had performed possibly hundreds of times in the past.

_'I wonder what he is making,'_ she wondered to herself as she watched him. Miya would admit to being a curious individual, especially when it came to an anomaly like Naruto. While she had not known the blond for very long, it was as she had told Kagari when the mysterious blond and Musubi had asked for a place to live, there was just something about the blond that drew her curiosity and told her he was a trust worthy individual. It was something that words alone could not ascribe to, the feeling she got when looking at Naruto.

New movement from the blond drew her attention away from her own thoughts. She was actually surprised when he began throwing the dough over his head, going through a complex series of stretches and twirls, before dispersing the dough through the air that pulled it out until it was taut enough that Miya was sure it would snap. It almost looked like it had become elastic as the blond waved it about, and the purplette watched as her houses newest tenant flipped, stretched, and intertwined the dough before it suddenly separated itself into numerous strands.

It was an extremely impressive feat to be sure. She had never seen someone make food in such a dramatic and skillful manner. Hopefully, she would have the opportunity to ask him if he could teach her how to do that. It might not be a useful skill, designed more for showboating than anything else from the looks of it, but she couldn't deny that the process he used looked, well, fun.

_'So he's making some kind of noodle dish,'_ she thought to herself as she continued watching. _'He's very talented, I don't think I've ever seen noodles being made that way before. Those moves looked almost like some kind of complicated dance, and I can tell from the way his muscles are built that he's not a chef by profession. He looks more like a fighter of some kind, but it's obvious he knows how to cook. Probably from his travels. But I wonder why I feel that there's so much more to him then just what he told us last night...'_

While it wasn't in her nature to question others, she couldn't help but be curious about he blond. For every answer she seemed to get about him, she received several more questions. Granted, she had only met him two nights ago, which could explain why she knew so little about him, it didn't change the fact that whenever he spoke, Miya got the feeling that he was using some form of double speak to say one and mean something else. It was the kind of talking one did when they didn't want to tell someone the truth, but at the same time didn't want to lie, so instead they told a half truth that would ensure no one could question them on the sincerity of their words. Uzume and Kagari might have missed that bit about their new tenant, but Miya had been around people who spoke like that before.

Despite this and the fact that the last person who spoke in a similar manner was someone she hated, Miya did not sense any ill intent from the blond. Indeed, it seemed more like he was hiding himself out of habit, rather than because he thought it was entertaining to watch the people around him get angry.

And she had to admit that the mystery she was positive surrounded Naruto brought an interesting element to the otherwise dull life that had been hers since her husband died.

It wasn't until she caught the scent of Miso soup when the blond began cooking that, that Miya recognized what he was making.

Deciding that she had watched him enough, and feeling just mildly embarrassed that she had watched him for so long, Miya decided to make her presence known. "I didn't know you could cook, Naruto-san," she said loud enough for him to hear. The blond turned his head to look at her and she was again mildly surprised when he didn't seem surprised to see her standing in the doorway. If anything, she got the distinct impression that he had known she was there all along and just waiting for her to announce herself.

How curious.

"Good morning, Miya-chan," he called out in a happy voice. The blond looked to be in a good mood today, and she couldn't keep the slight giggle from escaping her at his apparent new suffix for her. It seemed that since they were living together, her newest tenant had decided on a more affectionate term of suffix. The use of the suffix '-chan' is a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, '-chan' is used, but is not limited to, babies, young children, grandparents and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, any youthful woman, or even between friends. Considering she was none of those things, at least not yet, and on top of that she could technically be considered his superior since Maison Izumo belong to her, the use of that suffix would have normally been considered condescending and rude in this instance.

While such a situation may have earned him her ire had it been anyone else, Miya got the distinct impression that he used the less formal suffixes for everyone he knew. Thus, she decided to just let the instance go. Besides, if nothing else his use of attaching such a suffix on her was amusing.

Shaking the mundane thoughts of suffixes and Naruto's use of them away, the lavenderette eyed the food he was making with an interesting gaze, before turning her attention back towards the blond himself. "I was going to make breakfast, you know," Miya said with a mild pout. While she had not always been a very humorous individual – in fact some people she knew back in the day would call her downright scary – the purple-haired beauty did have her fun side, something that she thanked her late husband for. "You're stealing my job from me."

Naruto gave her an easy going grin, the look coming to his face so naturally that it was actually kind of surprising, and not just to Miya. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention. I was actually just planning on making some ramen for today and decided that I would make breakfast as well. Having moved around as much as I have, and having been making food for myself for many years, I'm a pretty good chef."

"I noticed, I was watching you," Miya admitted without a hint of her earlier embarrassment. It was a talent she possessed thanks to her earlier profession. It was not something she was particularly proud of, the things she had done in her earlier life, but it wasn't something she let bother her either. She just didn't let the thoughts bother her for too long.

"I know," Naruto chuckled at the mild amount of surprise she displayed upon his statement. "I have something of a sixth sense that let's me know when I'm being watched."

Miya accepted his answer, even though she knew there was more to it then that. If he had sensed her when she had entered the room, he must have incredible spatial awareness, a must have for people trained in combat.

It seemed her earlier estimation of Naruto was correct, and he was turning out to be a very interesting individual.

Deciding to change the subject as she was not quite sure Naruto would reveal anything truly relevant about himself if she asked right now, Miya focused on something else. She looked over at the broth he was making and couldn't help but ask, "so what did you need to make ramen for?"

"I plan on taking Musubi-chan out for a picnic," Naruto informed her. He frowned for a second, his eyes flickering uncertainly before he pressed on. "I... I haven't really had a chance to spend so much time with anyone else before meeting her, what with all the traveling I do. So I figured it would be nice to do something other... couples did."

Miya raised an eyebrow, both had his seeming reluctance to admit to having not spent much with with other people and his hesitance to admit he and Musubi were a couple. Did that mean he was still unsure about his relationship with the excitable Sekirei? It was possible, she supposed. After all, Naruto was human, even Takehito had taken his relationship with her far to slow for her tastes, and she was different than the other one hundred and seven Sekireis.

Putting her curiosity of the man's words aside, she focused on something a little less invasive. There would be a time to learn more about the man before her later. "So you made ramen for a picnic?" she asked, an amused smile playing on her face as she held the left sleeve of her kimono to hide her mouth.

"You can never go wrong with ramen," the blond defended his favorite noodle dish.

"How do you plan on keeping it warm?" she asked, and was only mildly surprised when he gave her a mysterious smile. She had actually been expecting it. Last night at dinner when Uzume had asked him how he had traveled to so many different countries despite only being nineteen Naruto had given her that same smile. Miya even had an idea on what he was about to say, a theory which was confirmed a second later.

"Oh, I have my ways," he said, chuckling again when she pouted at the expected response. Then he blinked, his eyes flickering for a moment as he seemed to realize something important. He looked at Miya again, this time with a sheepish smile, "speaking of picnics, do you know of any good parks I can go to for one? I haven't been in town very long, and that time was spent trying to find an apartment and clothes shopping for Musubi-chan."

"Of course," Miya said, taking on a thinking pose with a hand under her chin and her other hand holding up her elbow. "Normally, I would suggest the Botanical Garden. However, the undergrowth is still going strong, I hear it's gotten so bad that MBI might actually begin stepping in." There was a hint of distate when Miya mentioned MBI, something the blond took note of and placed in the back of his mind for later thought.

Naruto frowned for a moment but nodded. "So where else would you suggest?"

"Well, there's a small park about a mile east of the garden," she suggested. "It's small, but nice. I think you and Musubi-chan will love it."

"Then that's where we'll go!" Naruto cheered, causing Miya to giggle as the blond's enthusiasm reminded her of Musubi's. She wondered for a second if perhaps the excitable young woman he had bonded to was effecting him just as much as he likely was her. It wasn't something she had realized was possible, but then again, Naruto was an interesting character so perhaps what was impossible for most Ashikabis was quite possible for him. When he calmed down the shinobi looked over at her and asked, "do you want to come with us?"

"Oh my," Miya held a hand to her cheek as she put on a look of mild surprise. "Should I be worried about you asking a poor, widowed woman like myself on a date with another girl? I'm not going to have to fend off your lustful urges am I?"

"Lustful urges?" Naruto blinked at the term. "What are you...?" he trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind, I don't want to know." Now it was Miya's turn to giggle at the blond while he gave her a pout. With a shake of his head, the blond seemed to dispel his previous faux indignation and gave the lavenderette a look. "And I wasn't hitting on you, I was simply trying to be polite." He gave his head a sharp nod, as if to reaffirm himself of his thoughts just as much as Miya.

Teasing done with for the moment, Miya smiled in appreciation of the offer but shook her head. "I wouldn't want to intrude upon yours and Musubi-chan's date like that."

"You wouldn't impose," Naruto said adamantly. Miya blinked at the tone, but he continued before she could comment on it. "And I think Musubi-chan would love having another girl to talk to. Well, maybe, she doesn't seem to be your average female so it's hard to say." He paused, his eyes regarding her with a look of intense scrutiny. Miya felt her shoulders stiffen slightly at that look, a part of her wondering why she suddenly felt so vulnerable. "Then again, you don't seem to be your average woman either."

"Oh?" Miya shifted again, forcing her shoulders to relax as she adopted a look of idle curiosity. And she would admit to being curious, wondering just what it was that he saw in her. Another part, however, was thinking on whether or not she would have to kill him. "And just what makes you say that?"

"You're too graceful," he said, making her raise an eyebrow. He seemed to sense her confusion and decided to elaborate further by saying, "what I mean is your movements hold a grace that very few people can achieve. Only warriors of the highest caliber have the kind of movements you do, meaning you've been in more then a few life and death battles." The blond paused for a moment, blinking. "That, or you could just be a dancer. Talented dancers are pretty graceful too."

Though a sweat drop formed on her head at his last comment, the blonds first words actually caused a few alarms to go off in her head. That was a very keen observation, even more incredible was the fact that he had made it after having only met her two days ago. Being able to note details like that and make an accurate estimation about a person from them was a talent that few people had. Miya could do it, of course, but even than it took time before she was able to truly make such an accurate guess. A good example would be the first time she had met Naruto. She had known the moment she laid eyes on him that there was something different about the blond, something that drew her to him, made her want to trust him, reach out to him. She just couldn't for the life of her figure out what that was at the time, and even now a part of her was still having trouble determining just why she felt this way. Naruto on the other hand, seemed to have made an accurate estimation of her skills as a warrior within a short amount of time, and if her guess was right, had made those beliefs during their very first meeting.

The only thing she could conclude from this was that Naruto would require careful watching in the future.

Despite her shock, Miya managed to keep herself calm as she addressed the blond who was just putting the finishing touches on his food. "Knowing this you must have some experience in battle yourself."

"Too many," Naruto agreed, sighing as he suddenly seemed to age before her eyes. Not in the physical sense, but more in the spiritual sense. It was all in his eyes, they looked so tired, like he had lived for far too long and a part of him had given up and was just waiting to die. It was enough to shock whatever wariness Miya might hold towards Naruto out of her. Her hand twitched, and it was only her own superb reflexes that allowed her to keep the offending appendage from being placed on Naruto's shoulder.

She shook her head. Where had that come from? For a moment there she had been tempted to offer a man she had barely met the comfort of her presence. While it was not completely out of character for her to do, helping others out that is, she had never willingly touched another male before. Not before her husband had died and certainly not after. Yet that had been exactly what she had been about to do, it wasn't so much her arm moving against her will as it was her arm moving before she even realized it was moving. That more than anything was what shocked her.

Dragging her attention away from her surprise at her own 'almost' actions, she turned to look at Naruto. The look between now and the past half a second she had seem him showed a remarkable difference. In between the time she had watched him age before her eyes he had somehow managed to pull himself together through an act of sheer will. The moment of weakness from before gone as if it had never existed in the first place.

Almost unbidden, Miya felt her respect for the man rise several notches. What kind of strength must someone possess to pull themselves together like that? And what must he have suffered to even gain such a look in the first place? They were questions she didn't have an answer to. They were also questions she realized she had no business asking. Perhaps when they knew each other better, but not now.

For a second the two stared at each other, neither of them seemed to know what to do. Miya was sure that Naruto had not missed her reaction to his moment of weakness, a man that observative was more than capable to taking in great detail even when they themselves were in turmoil. It also looked like his own moment was keeping him from saying anything. Miya could understand where he was coming from, she currently felt the same way.

Fortunately for both of them, the tense moment was soon broken by someone else who knew nothing of the what had just transpired entering the room. Musubi continued walking further into the kitchen, her nose sniffing as she followed the scent of Naruto's cooking. She seemed completely unaware of the thick, knife cutting tension that permeated the two before her.

In fact, she didn't even seem to realize that there were two more people in the room.

"It smells so good in here," she mumbled sleepily, her stomach rumbling and a small amount of drool coming out of her mouth as she took in the scent. Her words and the rumbling of the black hole Musubi called a stomach broke the tension that had built up between Miya and Naruto. The two looked at each other, then at the brunette whose stomach rumbles had just rocked the house. A few seconds later, Miya gracefully hid her mouth behind the sleeve of her kimono.

"Ufufufufu."

Naruto was not far behind as he gave his own amused chuckles.

"He he."

As the two continued to laugh and/or giggle, Musubi glanced from one laughing face to the other in adorable confusion, her head slightly cocked to the left. "Ara?"

**XoX**

"Thank you so much for taking me out on a picnic, Naruto-Sama. I've never been on a picnic before," Musubi said as she held onto his arm with both of hers. Naruto did his best to ignore the feeling of the naïve woman's abnormally large bosom as his appendage was pressed in between the glorious mounds of her cleavage. Did this girl really not have a clue about what her actions did to him?

They had left an hour after breakfast, picnic basket in hand and journeyed to the park that Miya had given Naruto directions to. It had taken a while to get there, nearly two hours because they had decided to go for a more scenic route, wandering through the streets and exploring more of the city. Musubi hadn't complained thankfully. In fact, she seemed just as taken in with the sights as Naruto was, though their reasons for taking in the city were most probably vastly different from each other.

Having only been in the city for three days, Naruto had wanted to gain a measure of the city and create his own internal map so he wouldn't get lost. It also allowed for him to observe potential ambush sites and choke point that he could use to great effect if he decided to go with utilizing gorilla tactics against other Ashikabi and their Sekirei. Musubi on the other had been on the run from the S&M girls, along with who-knew-how-many other Sekirei that went after unwinged Sekirei from the moment she had been released from the lab to the day she had met him, which in truth had only been a grand total of two days. As things were, neither of them knew much about the city or it's layout beyond what they had already scene.

Naruto could have picked up a map, but felt it was better to get a feel for the place himself. Not just learn the routes he needed to get where he wanted to, but to take in the atmosphere as well. There was a lot to be said about getting a feel not just for the city itself but for the people in it. Learning how to feel the mood of those around him would help him know when something was wrong.

"You're welcome," the blond replied as they walked into the park. It was small, but nice, with a tiled pavement and several fenced off sections where the foliage was located. Most of the plant life consisted of large oak trees surrounded by several different types of flora. Naruto recognized a few of the flowers thanks to his green thumb. It wasn't well known, or known at all, but Naruto was very good at taking care of and raising plants.

Ino had become very interested in him after learning he had his own garden at home.

There was a bit of disappointment when Naruto realized that there was no grassy areas for them to sit, unlike most parks the sections of green were fenced off. That meant they would have to either find a bench to sit on, or use the hard pavement. It was annoying, but the pair made do by finding a secluded spot where they wouldn't be seen or bothered. Which was good because he didn't need every passerby with enough curiosity to kill all nine of a cats lives gawking at him and Musubi while they ate. As things stood, the excitable girl already had enough attention on her thanks to the ridiculously skimpy shrine maiden outfit and large breasts.

As Naruto spread the blanket out on a bench he looked up at the girl he had bonded to as an Ashikabi and smiled. "I'm glad that I'm able to help you experience something new."

"And I'm glad it's you I'm doing this with," Musubi said enthusiastically. The response was so typical of her that it caused the blond to smile.

They sat down and Naruto opened up the basket. There was a puff of smoke and the blond pulled out two steaming bowls of ramen. The moment the smell hit Musubi's nose her stomach rumbled and droll once more began leaking out of her mouth as her eyes glazed over while looking at the dish of noodly goodness. "That smells so good..."

Naruto grinned. "You're in for a real treat. This ramen is a secret recipe made by someone that had been very precious to me. She taught me how to make this, and I'm the only one outside of her family who was allowed to learn it. This is the best damn ramen you will ever taste in your life."

"So someone close to you taught you how to make this?" Musubi pulled her attention away from the bowl of ramen with a supreme force of effort to look at Naruto. After cocking her head to the side for a moment, she graced the blond with a smile. "I'd really like to meet her!"

"You can't," at the Sekirei's confused look Naruto offered a sad smile. "Like everyone else that had been in my life, she has long since past away." His words evoked a strangled gasp from the excitable Sekirei, it seemed that even Musubi knew what death was. A good thing too, Naruto didn't want to be forced into explaining the concept of death anymore than he did sex.

"I'm so sorry," Musubi said, her eyes watering as she looked down, suddenly finding an interest in staring at the blanket they were sitting on. It was like someone had flipped a switch, her entire posture screamed depression and regret. In short, if her previous looks had been of someone kicking her puppy, then this new look was of someone who had just watched an entire nursery of newborn babies getting slaughtered. "I'm supposed to be your Sekirei but I keep bringing up your painful past."

Naruto winced at the look. There was just something inherently wrong with the girl before him looking so desolate. It probably had something to do with the fact that it simply wasn't her natural expression, but more than that it was something that the blond shinobi knew in his heart was wrong. It felt like there was something inside of him, whispering in his ear and telling him that the look of utter sadness was not one that Musubi should have, and that he should do everything in his power to keep it from appearing on her face ever again.

"Hey," Naruto said softly, placing a hand under her chin and lifting up her head. He smiled at her, using his free hand to wipe away her tears. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not like I told you about my past, so you couldn't have known. To be honest, I've never told anyone about my past, it's something I've kept inside for a long time. But I don't mind telling you, and if you're going to be my Sekirei then it wouldn't be good to keep secrets from you. So no more tears, okay?"

Musubi sniffed, her eyes watering again but this time in that strange look of gratitude rather than depression and regret. "Ok. Thank you for not being mad at me, Naruto-Sama."

Naruto chuckled before he kissed her temple. "I don't think I could ever be mad at you. Now you should know, there are still many secrets that I have yet to tell, because to put it quite simply, I have more secrets then I could tell you in any single day, or even a year. However, eventually, you will know everything there is to know about me." He gave her a wink, "we've all our lives to learn more about each other, so there's no rush, right?" He studiously ignored his own internal wincing at the thought of 'all our lives'. Musubi might have all of her life to learn about him, but her life would less than a tenth of the number of years he had already lived. God, how much did that suck?

Whether by luck or design, Musubi did not even notice the blonds own turmoil. The brunette nodded her head with great enthusiasm, her heart warmed by his words. "Right!"

Glad for the girls incredibly dense attitude, Naruto was able to shift his thoughts away from his own cursed existence and onto something more pleasant. Much more pleasant. "Now let's eat before the ramen gets cold."

The picnic would be considered a great success after that by the two of them. Naruto found someone who managed to appreciate ramen as much as he did. It brought him a very large grin to his face when Musubi had literally begun to cry as she proclaimed his ramen to be one of the greatest foods she had ever eaten. It was definitely an ego booster considering he had never made ramen for anyone other then himself.

It was also good that someone else appreciated the food that the gods had gifted the Earth with.

Musubi on the other hand learned more about her Ashikabi. There was a lot more to Naruto then anyone could have first suspected. She knew the basics about him, and due to the strong bond they already shared the brunette Sekirei could claim some smattering of knowing how his emotions ran. But during this time she had learned that Naruto had a past that brought him great pain. She could only hope he would tell her more soon so that she might help heal the wound in his heart.

It was as they were eating that Naruto noticed it, a sight that caused him to frown. Now that he was no longer focusing all of his attention on Musubi and his own thoughts, his eyes were able to take in more of his surroundings. It was not that hard to spot her. Sitting on the bench a few feet away was a woman with short, light brown hair, and a sleepy expression on her face. She was wearing nothing more then a button up shirt, a pair of panties and a doctors coat that was stained with blood – her blood – Naruto assumed from the way it was staining her clothes. Beyond the blood stains the most noticeable thing about her was that she had a crimson Sekirei mark on her forehead instead of her back.

"Hey, Musubi-chan," Naruto said, getting the attention of the brunette happily munching away on her eighth bowl of ramen, easily keeping pace with him. The blond only took a moment or two to pat himself on the back for his insight, he had already known Musubi had a large appetite, and while not as big as hers Naruto ate quite a bit more than the average human himself. That the food he was eating was ramen meant his own appetite had essentially doubled.

That was a lot of ramen needed to feed two people, hence the reason he was glad he had made so much. Naruto doubted there would even be left overs by the time they were finished.

When she looked at him he pointed towards the woman he assumed was a Sekirei. "Why does she have her Sekirei crest on her forehead?"

Musubi looked over at the hurt looking female, blinking several times as she observed the other woman before putting an index finger to her lower lip and looking thoughtful. "I don't know. I've never seen a Sekirei with a mark on their forehead before." She looked slightly sheepish after that. "Though, I haven't met a lot of Sekirei's in the outside world." That's right, Musubi had only been in the outside world for four days now, two before she met him, and another two after they had met. That wasn't much time to really get much of a feel for the place, the fact that at least two of those days had been spent on the run notwithstanding.

"She looks so... lonely," Naruto whispered, once again a small pang of anguish shot through their bond and Musubi looked over at her Ashikabi to see compassionate blue eyes staring at the woman on the bench.

A smile crossed the Sekirei's face as she saw her Ashikabi's expression and felt his emotions through their bond. This was why he was her Ashikabi, buried under that expression that had both equal parts of amusement and a devil may care attitude was a person whose compassion compelled them to help others.

She looked over at the Sekirei that had grabbed Naruto's attention, then back to the blond himself. She nodded once, her decision made. Standing up she grabbed her Ashikabi's hand and held it in her own. The blond looked at their entwined appendages as he allowed the young woman to help him up. His eyes traveled from their hands to her face, his expression conveying confusion.

"We should help her," she determined with a smile so wide that her eyes were forced closed. Naruto stared at her for a few more seconds before a smile came unbidden to his own face as well. He shook his head, wondering if he would ever stop being surprised by his Sekirei.

"Yeah, let's go." Naruto let his own loose fingers tighten around Musubi's hand, bringing a smile to the face of the girl in the skimpy shrine maiden outfit. Together, the two walked over to the other Sekirei who didn't even seem to notice when they stopped in front of her. Now that he got a better look at her, Naruto could definitely see that she was wounded, while her face remained expressionless, her left hand was favoring her side and there was a large red patch there.

"Hey miss, are you ok? Do you need me to call a doctor?" The woman didn't seem to respond to his words. Indeed, it didn't even seem as if she had registered them, like she was dead to the world. Noticing this, Naruto crouched down in front of her so he could see her eyes. The woman looked at him for a second, blinked, then turned her eyes back down to look at something apparently only she could see.

At least that was what it looked like from the outside, Naruto knew otherwise.

"Hey," he said in a soft voice. "Are you ok? Do you want me to take escort you home or...?" he trailed off, wondering what he was supposed to do in this situation. She must be a Sekirei judging from the mark on her head, did that mean she had come from the labs? And if so had there been violence involved when she left? Perhaps she had gone rogue or one of the scientists had tried to take advantage of her.

"I have no home..." she said in a voice that was so broken that Musubi actually began shedding tears where she stood. Naruto grimaced at her words, so familiar to him that he couldn't help but let himself be taken to a time long since passed. "I am... broken... I'm... a failure..."

Without himself even realizing it water began to gather in Naruto's eyes, no matter how long he walked this earth, he was a sucker for sob stories of any kind. If anything his inability to listen to someone as they poured out there pain and soul had only gotten worse with time. Which really sucked for him because there were a lot of people who had it bad in this day and age. He generally hid that side of him by keeping his distance from everyone, but it had always been there, waiting for an opportunity to come out.

It seemed that moment had finally come.

He cupped the woman's face and lifted it so she was forced to make eye contact. "You are not a failure," he said, watching as the woman blinked at his proclamation. Naruto had the feeling that was the most emotion she had ever shown since whatever had happened to leave her in this state. While someone like Musubi would have never been capable of reading this woman's emotions, he could tell she was not only surprised by his words, but more then likely by the conviction in his voice. Hopefully, it would help her snap out of this stupor. "I don't know what idiot told you that, but you are most definitely no failure."

"But I can't be winged," she said, as if that answered everything. "A failure like me will never be able to find an Ashikabi. I'm useless... a discarded tool..."

"_My purpose is now gone, Zabuza-sama has no need for a broken tool. I need you to do me a favor, and kill me." _

He could hear the words of Haku, the person who had first started him on the path to true strength ring through his head at the light haired Sekirei's words. It had been Haku that told him about true strength, how it only came from protecting the things that were most important to you, those things that you held dear to your heart. Hearing those words, so similar yet so different from the person that told him what it meant to be strong caused a sharp pain to enter his chest. It was an almost physical pain that Naruto forcefully shunted to the side so he could focus on the woman before him.

_'I may not have been able to save you, Haku,'_ he thought to himself with gritted teeth. _'But I'll be damned if I let her end up in your position.' _He would not let this girl become like Haku, working for a person treated her as nothing more then a tool – even if Zabuza had not truly thought that he still acted as though he had until the end – that could easily be disposed of when it's purpose was finished. He would get this girl to understand that she was not broken, she was not a discarded tool.

"Just because you can't be winged doesn't mean you don't have worth," Naruto said adamantly, the conviction in his words once more making the woman blink. "A persons worth is not determined by something so menial. You have something that is special only to you, something no one else has but you, something that makes _you_ unique. That is what makes you special, and is what gives you worth."

"But I -"

"Come with us," Naruto said, once more surprising the woman whose opened mouth quickly snapped closed. "Come with us and I'll prove that you are worth something. I'll prove that you can shine just as well as any other Sekirei."

The woman looked at him for several seconds before speaking. "Ok..."

Naruto smiled. "I didn't get your name."

"Ah." The woman blinked, the only sign she had heard his words. "It's Akitsu..."

"Pleasure to meet you, Akitsu-chan."

**XoX**

It was only an hour later that the two were nearing Izumo Inn. Naruto was carrying a now sleeping Akitsu in his arms, said woman was either subconsciously affectionate, or just wanted the blond's body heat because she was currently snuggling herself into his chest. After agreeing to go with them, the blond had simply scooped her into his arms, surprising the woman greatly and began walking home. Thankfully she had not protested and seemed to have gotten used to it because at some point she had obviously become comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Naruto looked over at Musubi as they continued walking. The girl had a smile on her face and didn't seem to be bothered by him having another woman in his arms, though she could be faking it.

"Musubi-chan," he called, getting her attention. When she looked at him he continued, saying, "are you alright with this? Me being with another Sekirei, I mean?"

"Of course!" Musubi said with her standard bright smile. "Why wouldn't I be ok with it? The more Sekirei Naruto-sama has the better protected her is." Naruto sweat dropped but eventually laughed her words off as Musubi simply being Musubi. In many ways he envied the girl for her naivety. He had been a lot like her at one point, back when he had first started out on his path as a shinobi. Sometimes he often wished he could go back to being the simple boy whose only dream was of becoming Hokage.

He did have to wonder about her words, however. What did she mean by better protected? Were there people out there who would try to hurt him because he was an Ashikabi? Probably. It wouldn't surprise him if there were a few unscrupulous people like that. It was kind of off putting that she didn't think he could take care of himself, but considering she had only seen one of his abilities couldn't quite blame her. There would come a time when she would realize he was even more capable of a fighter than she was.

The pair arrived back at Izumo Inn and Musubi opened the door for Naruto, as he still had a sleeping Akitsu in his arms. Said blond offered her a smile and a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, before walking inside where he ran into Miya.

"Oh my, what's this?" Miya said as she walked over to them, her eyes going to the woman in Naruto's arms. The first thing her purple orbs flickered to was the mark on her forehead. Naruto took quick note of the recognition in the woman's eyes before they left Akitsu's forehead and looked into his. "Is this a friend of yours Naruto-san? She looks hurt."

"She is now," Naruto replied with a shrug. When Miya gave him a confused look he decided it may be wise if he elaborated, especially since she was the landlady and the one he had to get permission from to let Akitsu live with them. "Musubi-chan and I found her alone in the park, she looked so defeated and I – we, wanted to help her." He frowned as he looked down at the young woman. "She said she was broken, and that no one wanted her. I couldn't just leave her like that..." He gave the purple-haired woman a pleading look, "do you think it would be alright if she stayed here with us?"

Miya took several seconds to gather her reply, seemingly thinking deeply about his words. After a few seconds she smiled. "She seems to have had a hard life. You know it's my policy to never turn away someone in need, and from what you said she is very much in need of help. Of course she can stay."

"Thank you," Naruto graced the woman with a smile. It soon changed into a sly grin as he said, "if I wasn't sure you'd beat me half to death for it I could kiss you for that."

"Oh my," Miya placed her hands on her cheeks and effected a blush. "Aren't you bold, Naruto-san, saying you would do something so intimate to a widower like me. What would my dear late husband think?" Said blond just rolled his eyes, not even deigning to reply to her parting shot as he headed upstairs. Musubi made to follow but Miya held her up, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And how about you, Musubi-chan? Did you have a good time?"

"Oh yes," Musubi said with a nod, bobbing her head up and down enthusiastically. "I had a very good time with Naruto-Sama. He even fed me." She looked up the stairs where Naruto had disappeared to and smiled. "I'm so lucky to have such an amazing Ashikabi. He's so warm, and kind and dependable. I never imagined I could be so lucky."

"Musubi-chan!" Naruto called from upstairs. "I uh, I kinda need a little help getting the door open!"

"Oh, right! Sorry, I'll be right there!" Musubi bowed to Miya and quickly ran up the stairs.

Miya looked up after her before holding a hand to her mouth and giggling. "Such an interesting pair, those two are. I feel there going to bring a lot of good changes to this place."

Musubi finished climbing the stairs and walked over to the door to her's and Naruto's room. "Sorry about that," she apologized as she opened the door. "Miya-san wanted to talk to me about our time at the park."

"It's alright," Naruto replied reassuringly. "I kind of figured she would, and I don't mind you telling her about our time there. I was just hoping it could wait until we get Akitsu-chan in bed. I don't know what happened to her, but she could use some rest in a nice bed."

"I agree," Musubi said as Naruto walked into the room. He moved over to the air mattress and managed to show some dexterity with his feet by grasping the blanket between his toes. Pulling back the covers he knelt down and lowered Akitsu onto the bed, then pulled the covers up to her neck.

Already missing the warmth from his body, Akitsu stirred. Her eyes opened up a crack before widening ever so slightly as she took a look around the room. Her eyes landed on the blond, making her relax as she saw his ocean blue eyes looking at her in concern. "So... it wasn't a dream..."

"Did you want it to be?" asked Naruto, giving her a wink. When she shook her head 'no' he grinned. "Don't worry, this is no dream. From now on, you'll be with us, a new addition to our..." he paused, wondering about what the appropriate term for them was. After a second he decided to go with, "family."

Akitsu looked at him in confusion. "Family?"

"That's right," Naruto said, the impulsive nature of his youth coming out to play after several thousands years of inaction. "Musubi-chan wants a sister, and well, I'm not actually sure what we are yet but I think we'll be something more then brother and sister." Akitsu it seemed was not as naïve as Musubi because she caught onto his meaning fairly quickly, if the blush on her face was anything to go by.

"So... you'll take care of me?"

"That's right."

"You won't... abandon me?"

In response to her question Naruto leaned down until their noses were touching. Looking into her eyes he said, "I promise to never abandon you. No matter what happens I will always look after you, and cherish you as someone as beautiful as you deserves to be cherished. I swear this on my life as a shinobi."

_'Shinobi?'_ wondered Akitsu before her mind was swept away when Naruto kissed her. The woman's mind blanked completely, she had never expected to have someone want her like this, she was broken after all. Yet this man was kissing her, she could almost feel the emotions he was pouring into the act. Slowly, almost tentatively, she began to kiss back. Her arms came up and wrapped around the blond's neck and she could feel her entire body becoming almost unbearably hot.

Much like the last time Naruto kissed a Sekirei, he could feel his chakra being drained. However, where Musubi's seemed to continue sucking his chakra out until she gained her wings, with Akitsu it felt almost like something was blocking her from gaining the necessary chakra to do the same.

Concentrating on his chakra, Naruto followed it's path as it flowed through the woman's body, tracing it. He had not been able to do this when he had winged Musubi, being as startled as he was. But this time, the blond made sure to follow the path it took to it's conclusion.

When he did, a frown marred his face. While Naruto could not be certain due to how shocked he was by the situation last time, he would have bet his entire fortune on his chakra going to Musubi's back. That was, after all, where her crest was located. With Akitsu he could still feel his chakra flowing through her, but instead of stopping at her back where her crest would be and gathering there until she had enough to gain her wings, it stopped at her forehead and pushed against... something.

A need for air soon became relevant and Naruto pulled back with a gasp, greedily sucking in the much needed oxygen. He looked down at Akitsu and saw tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

"Hey now," he whispered, using his left hand to gently wipe the tears away. "What's with the tears?"

"Ah," Akitsu started, her despondent eyes dropping away from Naruto's questioning ones. "I was really hoping that I could truly be your Sekirei."

Naruto frowned. Placing the hand that was wiping tears under her chin, he pulled her face back towards his. "Let's not give up yet," he said, causing her eyes to turn to him. "I still have one more thing I want to try." And with that he pressed his lips back down against hers. This time, he did not just follow the flow of it as it traveled through the woman's pathways. He prepared, and waited, and when he felt his chakra hit that strange block that had been keeping his chakra from going any further, Naruto began actively channeling his chakra through her via the kiss. He sent a surge of his potent and powerful chakra into her, pushing it against the block. For a moment, nothing happened, and then, without warning, Naruto felt something give before the block broke and his chakra surged through Akitsu like his namesake.

**XoX**

Within M.B.I. headquarters alarms were going off and several workers were running around like headless chickens. The alarms were blaring and panic had set in. Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on, and of course, all of their actions were counteracting the actions of each other, making it impossible for them to get any of the answers they sought.

Fortunately for them, the cavalry had arrived.

Unfortunately for them, she was a hard ass that they all feared even more the Hiroto Minaka.

A slender women with grey hair and grey eyes walked into the room and began trying to return order to the place. She had a long scar over her left eye, and was wearing trousers, a black top and a white lab coat.

"Everybody calm down before I shove my foot so far up your asses that you won't be sitting for months!" she shouted as several workers typed away frantically on their computers in an attempt to gather as much data as possible about the current event that was causing the sirens to go off. She walked over to one of the work stations and looked at the data flowing, ignoring the way the man stiffened from her mere presence alone. "What have you found out?"

"It's Akitsu ma'am!" One of the workers shouted. "S-she's just been winged!"

"Impossible!" the woman said as she walked over to the computer and watched the feedback. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "This shouldn't be possible. I want all information you have on Akitsu and the Ashikabi who winged her, and I want it yesterday! Get to work!"

"Ma'am!"

Up on the top of the M.B.I headquarters, Hiroto Minaka watched the proceedings inside of the lab on his portable monitor with a grin. "Uzumaki Naruto, such an interesting and mysterious character you are. A figure from the past. Will you be the one who is destined to help these little birds spread their wings?"

**XoX**

There was an explosion of light where Akitsu's mark was, followed by an even more brilliant light from behind her. A large pair of angel wings burst from her back, great ethereal wings the same shade as ice. They conformed to the room as if they were a physical object, following the path of the floor as they moved around her back and curved upwards to wrap around the two of them in a protective embrace.

The room began to fog over, frost formed on the window and a layer of ice began creeping along the floor, walls, and ceiling. Naruto and Akitsu came back up for air, their released breaths coming out as large puffs of fog. Naruto looked at Akitsu's flushed face, his gaze traveling from her moist, pink lips to her forehead.

"Hey, your mark is gone," Naruto commented with a grin. "Looks like my theory was right."

Akitsu's eyes widened and her hand went to her forehead. "It's gone?" she whispered.

"Yep, and you've got wings," he looked at her and winked. "I guess your not so broken after all, eh?"

It was impossible for Akitsu to keep the tears from her eyes as she looked at Naruto. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." she said in a repeating mantra over and over again.

Naruto smiled, kissed her on the forehead and said, "get some rest, tomorrow you'll begin a new life with Musubi-chan and I."

"Yes, my Ashikabi-Sama," Akitsu said, closing her eyes as she let sleep take her. A small smile making it's way onto her face. Her last thoughts before sleep claimed her were on her Ashikabi and her hope that they would share a bright future together.

**XoX**

"**Anon The Faceless Bastard**

**Well looks like Minato is being replaced with fucking "Naruto Uzumaki" the OC Mary Sue."**

**Now, I'm not even going to say anything about this guy, because to be honest I find it more humorous then anything that someone who seems to dislike what I'm doing is actually willing to help me up my review count. However, I am curious:**

**Why do people like this feel the need to inform someone that they despise other people's work? I just can't wrap my mind around that. If I don't like someone's story, I'll just stop reading and that person will never even know I was looking at their story. It just seems kind of pointless to me to leave an anonymous review that really only helps me in the end.**


	4. The Green Girl

**A/N: Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support and reviews. It does my heart... and my ego ^_^ good that so many people seem to enjoy this story. **

**Disclaimer: Own Naruto and Sekirei? Yea, I wish I owned one of those. The unfortunate fact is I don't and while that is a very depressing thought and almost makes me want to brood like an Uchiha you don't need to worry about me. I'll get over it soon.**

**Now, why don't you all enjoy this chapter while I show everyone on the sparring mat my rage, since I can't take it out on Konohagakure because Sasuke already did that.**

**Chapter 3: The Green Girl**

**XoX**

_'Now that that girl and her Ashikabi are here I can't help but feel things are about to get hectic,'_ Kagari thought to himself as he began putting on the clothes he normally wore when going to his job at the gentlemen's club. He was wearing a pair of black slacks with sharp creases in them, a white long-sleeved button up shirt with a collar and a black jacket over that with a black tie. As someone who worked as a host at a night club it was required that he dress sharply. He would also admit, if only to himself, that he enjoyed looking stylish.

However, his mind was not on his work right now. As was the usual in the past few days his thoughts were focused on Izumo Inns newest tenants.

In truth there was no real difference to the Inn now that Naruto and Musubi were living with them. The house was a little rowdier, thanks in large Musubi's antics and enthusiastic personality. He had never met someone so... outgoing(?). Yes, outgoing in his life. Naruto on the other hand seemed to switch between personalities whenever he wanted. Sometimes he was just as loud as Musubi, others he was sarcastic and witty and still other times he was quiet and contemplative. It was confusing and Kagari still didn't know what about to make of the blond.

_'Miya seems to trust him for some reason, but I can't help but feel uneasy about his presence. There's something... not quite right with him.' _Kagari felt that was a small understatement. Aside from the blonds ability at switching personalities on the fly, he also seemed to be much more wary of the people around him. The white-haired man couldn't be sure, but he was almost positive that he had seen Naruto nearly attack some of the other tenants of the inn on several occasions the few times they managed to surprise him. It was as if he was reacting on instinct, like his body had been trained to respond to surprise with violence. It was highly unnerving.

Though he did remember the one time Uzume had jumped on him to surprise the blond, and been subsequently thrown across onto the table with a quiet chuckle.

It was as Kagari finished getting dressed, putting on his long coat, that his cell phone began to ring. Picking it up from it's place on the desk he looked at the caller ID, noting who was calling before flipping the phone open and pressing the accept button. He put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello, Takami, is there anything I can -"

He paused, listening to the person on the other line before his eyes widened. "You're joking?" Another pause. "You're not joking! Seriously? The scrapped number just got winged? I thought you said that was impossible!" He took another few seconds to listen to what the person on the other line was saying. "So who winged her?" After being given the name he practically shouted, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

"_Yes, that's exactly what I said,"_ came an annoyed female voice over the line. _"Is something the matter Homura?"_

"Takami, I know who your talking about," Kagari said seriously. He didn't resisted the urge he had to rub the bridge of his nose with his free hand in order to try and prevent the coming headache. He had not been at Maison Izumo when Naruto and Musubi had arrived home last night for their picnic, so he hadn't seen the scrapped number come in with the pair. He was actually glad that Takami had called in and informed him of this, otherwise he might have caused some serious problems and possibly even blown his cover.

His attention was taken away from his own thoughts when Takami's voice blasted his ear drums over the phone.

"_You do! Who is he? What can you tell me about him?"_

"Not much." Kagari shrugged, even though he knew Takami wouldn't be able to see it. "He's actually my new roommate at Izumo Inn."

"_Really? And does he also have number eighty-eight with him?"_

"Yes. But I don't know much about him other then that he's apparently been traveling the world for the last few years."

"_Which is pretty much all we have on him as well," _a sigh came over the line. It had been a while since he had heard Takami this disgruntled. _"Listen, I need to ask a favor of you. I hate doing this, but can you learn more about Uzumaki Naruto? He's an added variable we haven't accounted for, and Minaka has taken an unhealthy interest in him. I get the feeling that man knows more then he's letting on, but unfortunately nothing I can do will persuade him to tell me anything."_

"I'll do what I can, but I won't make any promises," Kagari said, snorting when he heard the last part about Minaka. He almost pitied the blond if that man had taken an interest in him. Naruto, while very friendly and seemingly open was surprisingly tight lipped about his past. He would tell you a lot of stories about his travels, but whenever anyone brought up the subject of his origins he would clam up quicker then you could say Sekirei. Finding out anything about him that would actually prove relevant to what Takami wanted would be difficult, if not outright impossible.

"_That's all I can ask for."_

Kagari sighed as he hung up the phone, the news Takami had brought him was... unsettling. He had known from the moment he met Naruto that there was something different about him, but he had never expected the blond to be capable of doing what should be impossible. Nobody knew why the broken number was unable to be winged, except for maybe Minaka. Kagari wouldn't be surprised if the bastard had something to do with her inability to be winged. However, all of the professors at the laboratory had deemed the possibility of her being winged a hopeless case.

Except apparently it wasn't as hopeless as they had thought.

He looked at the clock in his room, sitting on the night stand next to his bed.

5:16 pm.

Leaving the room Kagari made his way downstairs, towards the front door where he stopped and began putting on his shoes.

He would deal with this new information later. Right now, he had to go to work.

**XoX**

It was a few hours before Akitsu woke up again. The past few hours had been the most fitful sleep she'd had since she became a scrapped number. Stirring from her sleep, the light-haired beauty slowly sat up and looked around the new room she found herself in, and for a moment couldn't help but wonder where she was. It took her a while before she could figure it out, then she remembered what had transpired before she fell asleep; Naruto finding her and taking her home, and her subsequent winging at his hands. Were she the kind of person, Sekirei, who displayed her emotions on her sleeves, she would have probably started crying tears of joy by now.

As she was not that kind of person, all she did was blink and take in her surroundings as the most imperceptible of smiles crossed her face. While she kept it well hidden, a part of her, a big part, was rejoicing at the fact that she had truly found an Ashikabi, that she was no longer a scrapped number. Had Akitsu been the kind of person to think about such things more deeply, she may have wondered how it had been possible for the blond to have winged her, but as things stood she really didn't care one way or the other. All that mattered to her was that she had her Ashikabi.

A noise to her left drew her attention away from her thoughts. She couldn't quite put a name to the sound, but if she had to say anything Akitsu would say it sounded like flesh hitting flesh. Not quite familiar to her, but familiar enough that she could at least recognize it for what it was. Other noises accompanied it, talking, explosions, and various other sound effects that she could not put a name to. Deciding she'd had enough of staring at the ceiling, Akitsu let her curiosity get the better of her. She turned her head and soon found herself staring at the handsome blond who had winged her. He and Musubi, his other Sekirei, were sitting on a loveseat several feet away, watching some kind of cartoon about a bunch of high school girls wearing strange magatama earrings fighting each other and getting their clothes ripped off. Naruto had his arm wrapped around the other Sekirei's shoulder and Musubi was leaning against him. They looked comfortable, and Akitsu wondered if her Ashikabi would hold her like that as well.

Her thoughts were dispersed when she heard the blond speak. "I'm glad to see your awake," he said, his head turning so her could look at her. Though her cool and aloof look remained, she was surprised he had known she was awake. Had she given some indication that she had woken up? As far as she could tell she had not made so much as a peep since her return to the land of the living. The blond seemed to sense this because he favored her with a smile.

"If you're wondering how I knew you were awake," he started, and the words would have caught her attention had he not already held it. "It's because of that mark now on your back."

"Ah." Akitsu paused, her head slowly turning to see if she could see the mark that he was talking about. She couldn't, however, seeing as it was on her back. Thus she turned back to look at Naruto, a look of very mild confusion on her face. "Mark?"

"Your Sekirei crest," was his answer. Akitsu's eyes widened, at least insomuch as her eyes could widen. It was more like a slight opening of her half lidded eyes, nothing at all like Musubi's own expressive widening of the eyes.

That's right, Naruto had winged her and so she now bore his mark. Still, her lips turned down slightly. That didn't explain how he knew she was awake. As far as she knew, the Sekirei crest that a Sekirei gained upon being winged did nothing more than bond the Sekirei to their Ashikabi. At least that's what all Sekirei had been told. Akitsu would admit to not knowing as much about the Sekirei crest as others of her kind since she was, had been, a scrapped number. Was there more to the crest than she knew?

The noise abruptly being cut off alerted Akitsu to the fact that Naruto had turned off the tv. She turned her head to look at the blond again just as Musubi made to whine about the television getting shut off. "I was hoping we could finish watching that together, Naruto-Sama."

Naruto chuckled at her before saying, "don't worry, I have it being recorded so all three of us can watch it later tonight." That seemed to satisfy the girl because she gave a nod and shouted 'ok' causing the blond to grin a little before continuing. "Now that Akitsu-chan's awake, I was hoping you could take her down to the bath house and help her wash up."

"Do you want to join us, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi, a hopeful smile on her face. "I can wash your back again like last time."

"Not this time," Naruto said, causing Musubi to look down in disappointed. He gave an amused shake of his head before pressing his lips to her temple. The act caused the girl in skimpy shrine maiden clothing to do a near one eighty in her disposition, going from depressed to happy in a second. It seemed that Naruto was already capable of telling his Sekirei's mood and offering the appropriate stimuli to keep her happy. Akitsu wondered if he would be able to do that with her. "None of that now. I was actually hoping you and Akitsu-chan could use this time as a female-bonding moment. You know, so you two can get to know each other as women without having a male around."

"Does having a male around change things?" asked Musubi, her facial expression showing everyone that she didn't understand what the blond meant. It was an adorable look, the way her nose and eyes scrunched up in thought and general confusion. "Wouldn't it be better if we all took a bath together and bonded. Oh!" The girl suddenly smashing her left fist into her right palm almost startled Akitsu, even if she didn't let anyone else know that. "Is this another one of those 'discretion' things you talked about?" Her face went from understanding to confused as she released her hands hold over her fist and brought an index finger to her lips. "But wait, that doesn't make any sense because we already bathed together. Mou, this is all so confusing."

Naruto snorted in mild amusement before shaking his head. "No, Musubi-chan, this has nothing to do with discretion." It was more like modesty, but since he couldn't find it in himself to actually care about her being modest it had no bearing on his reasons for her sharing a bath with just Akitsu and not him. "You may not realize it, but having a male bathing with one or more females is actually somewhat unusual," he explained patiently. "It doesn't usually happen for one reason or another." Again, it was a matter of propriety, but he hadn't cared about such things for a long time. "More than that, however, there are times when girls normally want to talk about things that men simply don't like to talk about, or don't understand. Also, from what I know of the bonds formed between Sekirei and Ashikabi, you two are as good as sisters. So I want you to be as close to her as you are to me."

"I think understand," Musubi said after a few moments of thought, her eyes drifting from her Ashikabi to Akitsu who was still looking on curiously. Naruto smiled at her for getting where he was going so quickly, however, the woman's next words nearly made him face fault. "So should I kiss Akitsu-chan like I do you as well? But it wouldn't be the same, would it? I mean, I wouldn't gain any wings from kissing her."

Akitsu blinked as she listened into the conversation and heard Musubi's last few comments. She herself was not what one would called an expert in relationships of any kind, hell, she couldn't even be called a novice since like most Sekirei she would only have one relationship and that was with her Ashikabi. Worse for her, she had been a scrapped number just a few hours ago. Akitsu had been told every since she had become a scrapped number that she would never find her Ashikabi, so she had not even bothered to look. If it weren't for Naruto she would most likely still be sitting on that cold bench, alone, without an Ashikabi. However, while Akitsu knew next to nothing about relationships, even she thought the question her sister Sekirei had asked was strange.

"No, no, you shouldn't kiss her," Naruto said, then blinked and amended. "Unless she wants you to, but that's an entirely different kettle of fish we're not going into right now."

"Kettle of fish?" Musubi asked, clearly confused about what fish had to do with what they were discussing.

Naruto ignored the girls confusion for now as he continued on his point of topic, "what I meant when I said I want you to be as close to her as you were to me, I was talking about forming a bond with her. I would like for the two of you to be as close as sisters. To want to watch each others backs and always be willing to help each other."

"Oh! I understand now," Musubi said with a bright smile, once more slamming her fist into the palm of her open hand. "We'll be like siblings!"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Naruto didn't mention the fact that they pretty much _were _siblings. After all, they were both Sekirei, and there were only one hundred and eight of them. "Now, do you think you would showing Akitsu to the bath house and helping wash her back?"

"Of course!" Musubi threw her hands up into the air, emphasizing her enthusiasm to a great degree. Naruto gave her an indulgent smile as he kissed her on the cheek. Standing up, he walked over to Akitsu, who had watched the entire exchange in curiosity. He knelt down next to her and kissed her on the cheek as well. The light-haired Sekirei looked at him for a second, then looked away with a mild blush staining her cheeks.

It felt so odd to have someone showing her affection. Odd, but not unpleasant. Naruto's actions to her thus far had invoked feelings of warmth to spread through Akitsu's body, and she loved how it felt.

She could easily get used to the feeling.

Standing up once again he gave the two a grin. "I'll see you two after your bath."

"Ok! Bye, Naruto-Sama!" Musubi replied cheerfully as she walked over to Akitsu. Smiling happily at the other woman she grabbed the ice users hands and pulled her to her feet. Akitsu only had enough time to blink before the excitable girl was dragging her out of the room. "Come on, let's hurry up so I can show you the bath, you're going to love it."

"Ah," Akitsu started. "Wait."

Musubi, of course, did not wait. It wasn't long before Akitsu was dragged out the door by the naïve girl, leaving Naruto alone in the room and watching them as they departed. After staring at the just closing door for a few seconds, the blond gave a profound sigh of relief.

He would admit, if only to himself, that while the past few days had been hectic, for lack of a better word, he had enjoyed them. Finding himself bonded to someone like Musubi and now Akitsu was not the chore he originally thought it would be. Naruto enjoyed loved being able to show affection for someone he actually felt affectionate towards, he truly did. But right now he was running towards his limit. It hadn't been that long since he'd arrived in Shinto Teito, and from the very first day he had gotten here it had been one mess after another. He needed time to himself, to sort everything out and bring his own overwhelmed emotions under control.

More than that he needed some space from his Sekirei, particularly Musubi. It was as he said, he did enjoy being with her, and enjoyed showing her physical affection even more. It had been a long time since he'd been able to do that with someone he actually saw as more than just a body to keep him warm for the night. But just because he was enjoying the more emotional aspects that came from a relationship with Musubi didn't mean his mind or heart were quite prepared to handle this sudden intrusion into his life. Akitsu's inclusion had only complicated matters.

To top all that off, there was this bond he had now formed with not just Musubi, but now Akitsu as well. Naruto could not be sure, he had never felt something like this before, had never even heard of something like this before, but he was positive that this bond was the cause of most of his emotional problems. Whatever the winging had been designed to do he was sure that it was not quite the same as the bond he and his two Sekirei had gained from the winging. At the very least he was sure that the bond on his side was vastly different from what most Ashikabi could expect. He needed to take a step back so he could figure out what it was about this bond that made him feel so... emotional, that made him respond to his Sekirei with more affection in the past two days than he had shown for the last several thousand years. He needed to know, and the only way he could see himself putting things into perspective was if he was alone.

**XoX**

Musubi smiled and stretched out her arms as she and Akitsu entered the bath house with nothing but towels wrapped around their bodies. "This is so nice. I always love taking a hot bath. It's just too bad Naruto-Sama didn't want to join us, I really like being able to wash his back." She looked over at Akitsu who had been silent for a while. In fact, she hadn't spoken the entire time they had been walking from their room to the bath house. "Would you like me to wash your back?"

"Ah..." Akitsu blinked as her mind registered the question. She seemed to think it over for several seconds, her head tilting left, then right, before nodding shyly. "Ok."

"Great!" Musubi smiled as grabbed Akitsu's hand once more and pulled her over to the stool where she sat the snow woman down. The first thing she did was fill a bucket of water and pour it onto Akitsu's still form. The light-haired Sekirei stiffened for a moment, but soon relaxed when Musubi's now soapy hands began to rub and wash her back.

"This is so relaxing, just being able to wash away your troubles with a hot bath. The next time we come in here, we'll have to go in with Naruto-Sama. He's really good at washing backs, when he does it I feel all tingly and hot." Musubi paused for a moment, and it looked like she was about to bring her index finger to her lower lip when she seemed to realize her hand was still soapy. She went back to washing Akitsu a second later and continued. "It's really weird, nothing at all like I usually feel when I'm with Naruto-sama, but I guess that's just another part of being in love."

Akitsu blinked at the naïve girls words, paying them only enough attention to pick out the gist of them before deciding more than half of what she had just heard was something she didn't need to know. Wanting to get away from the topic Musubi had brought up inadvertently, she decided to focus on the first point in the conversation the brunette fighter had spoken of. "Ah," a pause. "Our Ashikabi-Sama... what's he like?"

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi blinked, pausing in her washing to think about what she wanted to say about Naruto. After a few seconds she smiled a beautiful smile that lit up the entire room. Or it would have if the room wasn't fogged over with steam. "He's the best Ashikabi anyone could ever ask for. He's so kind and caring. I always get this warm feeling in my heart when he looks at me. I'm sure you'll love being his Sekirei as much as I do."

"Ah," Akitsu once more paused, her voice barely above the volume of a whisper. "I think so to."

Just then the door slid open and revealed Uzume. "Oh, Musubi how are you?" she asked with a smile, before she blinked at seeing Akitsu as well. "Who is this?"

"This is Akitsu-chan!" Musubi said. "She's Naruto-Sama's new..." The brunette snapped her mouth shut as she remembered that the Sekirei project was supposed to be a secret, and her Ashikabi had asked her not to say anything about it, and she didn't want to disappoint him. A surprising thing considering she had just told Miya she was a fist-type Sekirei just a few hours ago and would have told Uzume had it not been for Naruto himself.

Of course, now the question was what should she call Akitsu? If she wasn't allowed to say the woman was Naruto's new Sekirei than what was she allowed to call her? Musubi still wasn't aware of some of the more basic functions of human interaction, things like the proper term to use when talking about someone who they had more or less just met was one thing among many that she still didn't understand.

Wow, who knew learning discretion could be so hard.

"Friend," Musubi decided on. She paused again, before nodding once. Yes, friend sounded like a good word to use. Congratulating herself on her quick thinking, Musubi began speaking with more confidence. "We found her alone in a park, and she didn't have anywhere to go, so we're letting her live with us. It's going to be great!"

Uzume merely smiled at the animated girl as she grabbed a bucket, filled it up with water and sat down on the stool where she proceeded to begin the process of cleaning herself up. "I guess I'm happy for you then. But aren't you concerned?" she asked.

Musubi blinked and tilted her head, an obviously inquiring expression. "Concerned?"

"Yeah, you know. About how another girl's going to be living with your boyfriend," Uzume continued. Akitsu looked up at Uzume when she said said boyfriend, then looked away with a blush, but Musubi remained confused about why she should be concerned. Undeterred the newest tub member continued. "I mean, now you'll have to be careful about showing too much physical affection, if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what you mean," Musubi said in a confused voice. "Naruto-Sama has no problem showing us both physical affection. He likes my kisses and I'm sure he'll like Akitsu's too."

By now Akitsu's face had taken on a fire truck red color, making impossible to be played off as her face being flushed from the heat of the bath, should a person have bothered taking note of it. Strangely enough, aside from the blush her face was still as expressionless as could be. Uzume on the other hand was looking at Musubi strangely. "So you don't mind that your boyfriend is two-timing you?" she asked.

"Two timing?" Musubi repeated in a questioning tone. "Is that like discretion? Because I think I'm finally getting that one down."

Uzume face-palmed at the girls gullible and unsuspecting behavior. She opened her mouth again before her eyes landed on the other girl, or more specifically the winged crest on her back. Her eyes widening the busty young woman turned back to Musubi she said, "Wait a minute. Are you two both Sekirei's?"

"How did you know?" asked Musubi, pouting a a bit that Uzume had somehow managed to figure out that she and Akitsu were Sekirei's. And she had just gone through all that trouble actually remembering that she wasn't allowed to tell the other girl about the Sekirei Plan. So much for discretion.

"Because I've got one of those too," Uzume said, turning around and lifting her hair to reveal her own Sekirei crest, the mark attracting Musubi's eyes like a moth to a flame. "Check it out." Because she had turned around she never saw Musubi's eyes widen, nor the girls face blossom into a smile.

She also completely missed when the girl cracked her knuckles and prepared for battle.

**XoX**

Naruto looked around the backyard of the house, his mind going to work on what he could do with the space. The yard was of a decent size, about half the size of the house, if he were to guess. The grass cropping up from the ground was a lively green, and there were a very small flower garden surrounding one side of the fence, the one directly opposite the shoji screen doors that led back into the house proper. He knew Miya probably wouldn't allow him to change it too much, but he was hoping she would at least allow him to build a garden, or something of the sort.

_'I could also use this place to help Musubi train,'_ the blond thought with a sigh. He really didn't want her, or anyone else to fight. Truth be told Naruto didn't like fighting anymore. When he was younger he had enjoyed it, at least the sparring aspects of combat, where two opponents could fight without any ill will or hard feelings afterwords. Now he wasn't even sure if he would enjoy that much. Unfortunately, right now there wasn't much he could do about stopping that, he knew nothing of the Sekirei plan other then what he was told. It also didn't take a genius to figure out that other Ashikabi would force their Sekirei to fight his. The best thing he could do was ensure his girls were prepared and ready for anything.

His girls. God that sounded so unusual. After living alone for so long the idea that he now had two girlfriends, for lack of a better term, was not only surprising but incredibly awkward, at least for him. A part of it Naruto knew, had to do with the fact that he was simply not used to the emotional attachment involved with physical intimacy anymore. For the thousands of years he had been alive since the Fourth Great Shinobi War sex had been just that, sex. The act of two people, a man and a woman consummating in order to achieve physical pleasure. Sure, there may have been one or two incidences where he had made the mistake of getting attached to the female in question, but those had been near the beginning of his long life, and he had learned not to make that mistake again after suffering through more heart break.

At least that's what he had thought. Now, however, he had two girls, who he was not quite sure what to make of, that were, for lack of a better term, bonded with him. Not the bonds he himself had proclaimed to cherish back when he had been a foolish youth. No, the bonds he now had were literal bonds that had been forged through what could amount to a very mild version of a tantric ritual. And they were strong ones too. Even now, Naruto could feel the two girls he had bound himself to, pinpricks of emotions that he recognized as not his within himself; Musubi's happiness and joy, and Akitsu's more solemn yet hopeful presence. They were both singing to him inside of his soul, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. It seemed that, even separating himself from their presence did not diminish the strength of the bond.

That was troubling, he had been hoping that by distancing himself from them he would be able to think without their emotions affecting him. It was hard, dealing with these newfound emotions that were not his. Musubi's joy and enthusiasm at just being in his presence had made it impossible for him to feel anything but joy at being in her presence in return. More than anything else, that disturbed him. How could a bond between two people be so profound that it affected his own emotional paradigm? Was this what it meant to be an Ashikabi?

Naruto growled, and with a violent shake his head dispelled the thoughts quite forcefully. They weren't helping him right now. He had too little information about Sekirei to form even a basic theory, much less a workable hypothesis on the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi and why it was affecting him so much.

Needing something, anything, to keep his mind off his thoughts of bonds, Sekireis, and Ashikabis, Naruto took the last few steps down the small stairway leading out into the yard and looked around. Aside from the shrubbery located on the opposite side of the in, the yard only had a single tree, which stood off to the side, large and unobtrusive like a silent guardian standing ever vigilant over the inn.

He walked over to it, and placed his hand on it to help him sit down where he planned to meditate and immerse himself in the natural energy of the world. It was one of the few things that had never failed to help him achieve some measure of peace within himself, to let him know that he was not alone. While he might be the only being on this large earth that would never die, he could be assured that the planet around him would stay as well, till Armageddon came and the world was burned into cinders, till all was consumed in oblivion. If nothing else, Naruto could rest assured in the knowledge that the earth would be here for as long as he was.

However, before he could even think to start meditating there was a flash of green light that came from the spot his hand touched. The light spread out and before he knew it the tree was gone, and in it's place was young girl around maybe nine or ten years old. She was had yellow hair, green eyes and was wearing a off white one piece gown with a ribbon on the back. Her eyes were wide and frightened, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a small pang in his heart as he looked at her.

"_Please help me..." _she said. Naruto opened his mouth to ask her about why she needed help, and just what it was that she needed his help with. However, there was another flash of light and the girl had disappeared with the tree taking her place, once more standing it's silent vigil.

_'What was that?' _Naruto wondered to himself.Frowning, the blond sat down, leaning his back against the tree as he crossed his legs and tried to figure out what that new experience had been about. In his long life he'd never had something like that happen to him. He would have chalked it up to a dream, but considering he was not only still awake, but also in complete control over his own mental processes ruled that out. It was like the girl had reached into his subconscious mind and used her powers to call out to him.

Was this girl perhaps a Sekirei? Perhaps there was more to Sekireis than he had thought thus far. Granted, he knew next to nothing about Sekireis in general, aside from the small amount of information Musubi and Akitsu gave, which was very little in retrospect. Damn, it was so frustrating to find himself in a situation like this, where there was not only a lot going on behind the scenes that he was unaware of, but also where he couldn't even correct that problem by gaining the information he required. That was at least a part of the reason he refused to involve himself in human affairs. Too much backstabbing and political dealing, especially in this day and age, that he just didn't care for.

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little worried for the girl as well, the look on her face when she pleaded with him to help her was just one of those expressions that people like him – who no matter how disillusioned they had become with life still harbor a deep seated need to help others – made him want to find her and rescue her from whatever it was she was afraid of.

_'I wonder if I could find her using Sennin Mōdo,'_ he frowned as he turned the thought over in his head. _'Judging from the mere fact that she was able to reach out to me using some strange power through the trees, I believe it's safe to assume she's a Sekirei. I know for a fact that I can feel them when they use chakra, or whatever their equivalent is since it's close enough to chakra that the feeling is identical from what I remember of when other ninja would use jutsu. Would Sennin Mōdo allow me to sense her? Of course, I'd still have the problem of picking her out of the other Sekirei's since I didn't get a feel for her signature...'_

His thoughts and issues on the little girl and her plead for him to help her were derailed when one of the windows to the second story of Izumo Inn was shattered and Uzume came flying out in nothing more then a bath towel. She flipped around and landed on the fence with the grace of a fighter and Naruto sighed when her towel slipped off, revealing her breasts to the world. _'Ero-Sennin would be having a field day with this...' _thinking of how the old pervert would have reacted to the situation the blond now found himself in brought a sad smile to his face.

Thoughts on his old sensei brought with it plans that would make Jiraiya proud. Naruto had just been handed prime Icha Icha material, and it would be going into the new book he was making. He hadn't come up with a name for it yet, but figured it would come in time.

Uzume noticed him looking at her and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I think I already know the answer but I just have to ask. Are you Musubi's Ashikabi?"

"Yes, I am," Naruto answered, not at all showing his surprise that the girl already knew the term used to describe the partner to Sekireis in this 'game' as Minaka called it. It seemed that this girl was already aware of the Sekirei Plan, which meant she was either a Sekirei herself, or an Ashikabi.

Given the size of her chest and the fact that he had yet to meet a woman as attractive as her and Musubi who was not a Sekirei, Naruto was going with his first choice.

He stood up and walked away from the tree, forcing his mind to the task at hand instead of the little girl who needed his help. It bothered him. Oh boy did it bother him. Whether because she was a Sekirei or some other reason, a part of him was tempted to run off, find that little girl and rescue her, even as the cynical side of him that had grown over the years told him it wasn't his problem and he shouldn't even bother. Despite his thoughts and desires there really wasn't much he could do for her right at this very moment, so it was a mute point.

"I take it she's the reason your jumping out of the window in nothing more then a bath towel?" Naruto let his eyes gaze at the busty young woman, taking in her form. She easily rivaled Musubi in the bust department, and had the same lithe waist and toned thighs and hips that his Sekirei had. In fact, were it not for the general difference in facial structure, eye color, and her hair, Uzume could have been Musubi's sister.

It was a damn shame she was a Sekirei and most likely already had an Ashikabi.

"Yeah, listen, I don't want to fight anyone and that includes her." Uzume jumped down and ran to his side. Wrapping her arms around his neck Uzume pressed herself against him, her large bust pressing into his back and allowing Naruto to feel her nipples as they were rubbed across his skin. She gave the blond a sultry, pleading look and asked, "can you please make her stop?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before grinning a grin so wide his eyes closed into slits and made him look like a fox.. "No need to go all seductress on me. I'll make her stop." He saw Uzume give him a sheepish grin, her hand coming to the back of her head and rubbing the back of it. "So if Musubi-chan is trying to fight you can I assume that you're a Sekirei then?"

Before Uzume could answer, Musubi appeared by the shattered remains of the window. She peered out, her head tilting as she searched for something, _'or more like someone,'_ Naruto thought to himself as he glanced at Uzume. It didn't take long for Musubi to look down at the backyard and finally notice them. When she did her face set itself in a surprisingly stern expression.

"Hey! You let go of Naruto-Sama right now!" The excitable girl shouted. Whether or not Uzume heeded her words seemed to be a moot point with the fist fighter, for not a moment after she spoke she he jumped out of the window and landed on the ground a few feet from the other Sekirei and Naruto. Uzume hid herself behind Naruto, while Akitsu, who had just followed them from the hall of the bath house, also jumped out of the window.

"Akitsu-chan, what's going on?" he asked, hoping this his light haired Sekirei would be the one to inform him of just how this situation had come about.

"Ah." A pause. "We have just found out that Uzume-san is a Sekirei," Akitsu said in her slow, monotone voice. Naruto was beginning to assume that was a normal tone for her and frankly, it reminded him of Gaara. "Musubi-san decided that it would be a good idea for them to do battle. She stated her name and number as the rules dictate when challenging another Sekirei. However, Uzume-san didn't want to fight and took off."

"Musubi-chan, is this true?" asked Naruto as he looked over at the girl with a stern expression. "Did you pick a fight with someone who didn't want to fight?"

"Yes," Musubi said, before blinking at him. Seeing the serious look on his face and the tone in his voice she looked down at the ground, her left foot kicking at some of the dirt as she took on the expression of a child who had just had their hands caught in the cookie jar. "Did I do wrong again?"

Naruto scratched at his chin before sighing. He unwound Uzume's arms from around his neck and walked over to Musubi, lifting her head before kissing on the nose. The girl under his gaze blinked at the action, tilting her head to the left curiously. "You didn't do anything wrong per say," the blond said carefully, trying to find out the best way to get through to this girl. "But you can't just go around picking fights with people that don't want to fight, even if they are other Sekireis."

"But we were always taught to fight each other when we ran into another Sekirei," Musubi said in a tone that was more questioning than anything else. It was quite clear to all those gathered that she was confused by Naruto's statement,

Frowning, Naruto asked, "who taught you that?"

"The professor of course."

"Figures," Naruto muttered with a slight growl. There was seriously something messed up with Minaka and the whole Sekirei plan if this was what it created. Worse for Naruto was that he couldn't see a reason for it yet. Was this just the whims of a madman hoping to entertain himself, or was there a more diabolical purpose that he was unaware of? Whatever the case was, there was something inherently wrong with a girl who believed that they had to fight whenever another of their kind was near.

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi asked, her face taking on a concerned expression, no doubt wondering if she had said something wrong.

"Musubi-chan, I want you to listen to what I have to say," he said, then paused. Naruto turned to Akitsu and gave her the same serious look he had given Musubi. "You too, Akitsu-chan. This is something I feel you, no, all Sekireis should hear. Fighting for the sake of fighting is pointless, baseless and should never be condoned by _anyone_ no matter the circumstances. There is only one reason someone should ever fight, and that is to protect."

"Ah," Akitsu paused, her head tilting to the side as she absorbed Naruto's words. "To protect?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded as he began informing his two Sekirei and the one that he was not bonded to about his beliefs. It had been a long time since he had ever truly thought of the reasons he used to fight. The simple fact was that Naruto didn't fight anymore, had not been in battle for thousands of years. The few times in the past when someone had tried to kill him had been few and far between, and most of those incidences had been during before the Renaissance period in Europe, near the time of the Middle Ages when he had been wandering the broken down remains of the Roman Empire. And at none of those times had the blond ever been in what he would call a serious fight. Sure, he had killed, he had killed quite a few people during that time. Men who had been foolish enough to think him an easy target because he never carried any visible weaponry and never had anybody guarding him. But even if a few of the people attacking him had some skill in combat, it was simply no match for his chakra enhanced capabilities.

The fact of the matter remained, no human in this day and age was capable of matching even the weakest of ninja during his time.

"Naruto-sama?" Blinking, Naruto startled when he saw Musubi looking at him so close that her nose was nearly touching his. He jerked back in surprise, then shook his head as he realized that he had once more gotten caught up in his own thoughts.

It had been happening surprisingly often lately.

"The only time fighting can ever be justified is when you are protecting something important to you," he continued on with his previous train of thought, the one he had been intending on imparting onto the three before him. "Whether that something is a person, a place, an object, or even an ideal. Protecting that which you hold close to your heart, the things that are precious to you, is the only time combat can be justified. And it's the only time when your true strength will come out."

"What do you mean by true strength?" asked Uzume, getting just as into his words as his Sekirei were. There was something about the way Naruto spoke, the way he talked about his beliefs with such conviction and passion that it was hard not to get caught up in his words. Maybe it was the tone in his voice, the way it possessed such passion, such an unbending will and belief that he was right. Or it could have been his eyes, intense orbs of the purest cerulean that seemed to be smoldering in flames that told her to listen to the blonds words. She didn't know, and a part of her didn't even care.

Whatever the case was, Uzume found herself listening to the blond as he spoke.

"True strength only comes when you are protecting something that is precious to you," Naruto restated. It was so strange, speaking about a belief he had, well, not quite abandoned, but had given up hope on. He had no precious people, there was nothing in this life that he cared for any longer. With the people he loved dead, his ideals shattered, and his curse making it so that moving onto the next life was impossible, Naruto had stopped following those beliefs. Not because he didn't want to follow them, but because he was no longer able to find that 'precious something' that he could protect with all his might.

At least, that was how it had been before now. Perhaps, just maybe, things were beginning to change. Only time would tell.

Even as these thoughts flowed through him, Naruto remained undistracted unlike his small lapse a few moments ago. His will was currently honed to a fine point as he continued with his speech. "When you have something that you hold so dear to your heart that you would be willing to risk your life to protect it, that is when your true strength comes out." The blond paused here, as if in thought. Then he shrugged his shoulders and continued. "There have even been documented cases that support this theory, women who's children have been in trouble and they performed great feats of strength to save them. I remember one time hearing about a woman whose baby was stuck in a car that had been flipped upside down, and she had actually lifted the car and righted it, despite the fact that such a feat of prowess should be physically impossible."

Naruto actually had a theory on that. He assumed that the adrenaline and fear that came from having their children in a life and death situation forced them to temporarily access their reserves to perform these feats of strength. It was quick enough that their chakra did not get drained enough to kill them, and was really the only way they would be able to do something like lifting a several ton car.

"Naruto-Sama," Musubi sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "That was so beautiful. From now on, I will follow your words and fight only to protect the thing that is most dear to my heart. I will protect Naruto-Sama with my dying breath." Naruto shifted slightly, uncomfortable upon hearing her words. Though Musubi had said it before, multiple times, his mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that this girl apparently loved him. The bond flowing between him and her only made dealing with this particular revelation that much worse.

"You won't be protecting anybody being so indecently exposed," came the voice of Miya. Naruto and the others all turned their heads to see the woman walking out of the house and down to the gravel of the small courtyard. She gave Akitsu, Musubi, and Uzume _the look__, _that dangerous look that all woman learn at some point in their lives and speaks of inflicting great pain on the recipient of that look. Normally it was a look that wives directed at their husbands, or mothers at their sons.

Naruto was just glad it wasn't directed at him.

Once again that aura of dread appeared around her, the very air was thick with malicious intent as the area around the lavenderette seemed to darken as if there was a small solar eclipse happening just around Miya and nowhere else. Then it happened. Even Naruto could not suppress a small shudder when it appeared, a hannya mask, the kind used in Japanese Noh theatre to represent a jealous female demon or serpent. It crawled out from behind Miya's deceptively delicate frame, a mask of hatred that seemed to pierce your very soul. The fact that she had a pleasant smile on her face just made the look that much more creepy. "You three shouldn't be exposing yourselves in such a manner, I expect all of you to get dressed. Understood?"

Akitsu, Musubi, and Uzume all hid behind Naruto, crowding around his back as they held onto him and each other for comfort in the face of such malevolence. The blond turned his head and looked at the three with a raised eyebrow. Able to see no more than the top of their heads, he turned back to look at Miya whose hannya mask was still hanging out behind her.

"Don't worry about a thing, Miya-chan! I'll make sure they put some clothes on," he reassured her with a smile. While the mask itself was scary, no doubts about that, Naruto had experienced far worse. Orochimaru's killing intent when he was a genin had been worse than that. Still, one couldn't help but admire her technique, and it would definitely be a useful skill when he apparently wanted to reinforce his will on someone else and not saturate them with his own impressive killing intent.

Miya blinked at Naruto, surprised that he seemed completely unaffected by her hannya mask and malicious aura. It was very slight, only a small stiffening of the spine that anyone other than someone like Naruto would miss. It was just one more piece of evidence that the kind landlady who had taken him and Musubi in was far more than met the eye.

"See to it that they do," she said in a voice that was somehow both cheerful and solemn. Giving one more glance to the three girls hiding behind Naruto, the hannya mask disappeared and she turned around to walk back inside. As she left she looked back and smiled, "oh, and dinner will be ready soon."

As she left, all three Sekireis looked out from behind the blonds back. "Man, Miya-san can be so scary," Uzume said from where she was peeking out from behind Naruto. "Don't you think she's creepy when she's mad?"

"I suppose to some she might be," Naruto murmured, more to himself than Uzume. He rubbed his chin in thought. "I wonder if that technique of hers can somehow be replicated or if it's a trait unique to her."

"W-Wait!" Uzume cried, surprise lacing her voice. "You don't mean to tell me you're actually thinking of learning to make that – that thing!"

"Well," Naruto smiled as he looked over at her. "Perhaps not something similar but not the same. I got to keep some originality after all."

Uzume wasn't sure whether to face fault or shiver at the thought of someone wanting to actually learn Miya's fearsome technique. In the end, she did both.

**XoX**

_Naruto frowned as he looked around the area he now found himself in. Everywhere he looked the blond could only see trees, trees, and more trees... with the occasional plant of course. It looked like he was in some kind of jungle, even the air was moist and sticky, much like one would expect in jungles found in South America. Worse still, even with his enhanced vision he could still only see a few feet in front of him._

_He heard an echo through the forest, someone was crying, and they sounded young. He began to walk, hoping to find the source of the crying. As he moved, a part of him tried to figure out just how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was going to bed with Musubi and Akitsu. Did that mean this was a dream? If so it was the most realistic dream he had ever had. He could feel his lungs pumping oxygen in and out of his body with each breath he took, the feel of his sandaled feet crunching the rocks and gravel of the forest floor, even his hands were tingling with the added pressure as he was forced to move branches from his path._

_Yeah, this was nothing at all likes those dreams where he had been getting chased by giant bowls of ramen hell bent on revenge for having eaten their bretheren._

_Putting those thoughts in the back of his mind, Naruto ventured deeper into the jungle, eventually finding the source of the crying in the form of the young girl he had seen the other day. She was perched up on a branch, crouched down with her face buried in the tree. Her entire body was shaking from the crying she was doing, and Naruto was worried that the little girl might lose her balance and end up falling if she didn't get down from their soon._

"_Hello there little one," Naruto said kindly. His words seemed to bring the girl out of her crying state, at least they attracted her attention. Bright green eyes with the innocence of youth peered down at him partially hidden by a frame of messy blond hair while the lower half of her face remained hidden behind the branches. Naruto gave the girl a warm smile and held out his hands. "Come on, why don't you jump down from there and Onii-chan will catch you."_

_The little girls eyes seemed to light up with hope at the word 'Onii-chan'. She looked from the blond to the tree branch, than back to him. After a few seconds, she scuttled to her feet and Naruto worried that she might end up falling. He was thankful when she didn't and instead managed to safely jump down towards him. Like a feather the little girl fell into his arms, and Naruto pulled her close until he had one arm secured around her legs and the other her back._

"_There you go," Naruto said, giving the girl a grin. "So what's your name?"_

"_K-Kusano," the girl said in a shy voice._

"_Kusano, huh? That's a cute name," Naruto gave the girl a kind smile. Kusano gave him her own shy smile even as a small blush lit her face and the blond continued. "So what's wrong, Ku-chan? Why have you called me?"_

"_It-it's all Kusano's fault," Kusano said, sniffing. "Kusano was being bad and selfish and wanted to go outside." Naruto almost frowned at the words. What she had told him was only useful if he had some context to go on._

"_So what happened?" he asked softly, Naruto didn't want to force to the girl to relive what seemed to be painful memories. At the same time he needed to know more if he was going to figure out what was happening and how he might be able to help. Kusano opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get a word in her body began to glow._

_As if an invisible hand had grabbed onto her, she was pulled away from Naruto, her eyes widening as one of her hands desperately shot out to latch onto him. Naruto reciprocated the gesture out of insinct, but the moment their hands touched, his own went right through hers."No! Onii-chan! Help me, Onii-chan!" She called out, even as her body began to fade._

"_Don't worry, Ku-chan! I'll come find you!" Naruto said just as the girl disappeared, leaving him alone in the strange jungle._

"Ku-chan," Naruto mumbled as began to stir, his mind once more returning to the land of the conscious. Even as he awoke, he could still feel the girl in his arms. She was a lot heavier than he had expected her to be. She also seemed to be a lot bigger than he had remembered when holding her in the forest. Even though his arms were spread apart, he could feel the weight in both of them as he lay on his bed.

Wait. Weight in both of them?

Cracking his eyes open just a peek, Naruto tried to figure out just why it was that he was feeling the weight of two people, people who were much larger and heavier than a nine year old little girl, in both of his arms. He paused for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room, then tilted his head slightly so he was looking down.

"So that's why my arms feel like something was sleeping on them," he mumbled out in a low tone. The reason for this statement, of course, was because something _was _sleeping on his arms. Two somethings in fact.

Currently sleeping with him on the air mattress was both Musubi and Akitsu, who were snuggling into him on either side. Rather than feel any measure of surprise, shock, or embarrassment that most normal men who looked to be his age would probably feel at seeing two stunning beauties snuggled into his body, all Naruto felt was a slight stirring of long suppressed emotions. He couldn't help but enjoy the warmth that came from both their own body heat and the feelings they emitted over the bond, which Naruto noticed now included Akitsu. It was in all honesty the first time he had slept with two women at once and was therefore a novel experience for the whiskered blond.

Wearing absolutely nothing, Musubi was sleeping in the same position she had the last few times they had slept together. Her head resting on his shoulder while her breasts were pressing themselves against his chest. Some time during the night her hand must have sought his because she was currently grasping his left hand in her own, and had brought it dangerously close to her chest. One leg was thrown over his and was actually slightly rubbing against what the blond recognize as his morning wood.

On his other side Akitsu was, if possible, even closer to him then Musubi was. Unlike his fighting-type Sekirei, she was wearing one of his large shirts as sleepwear, though he was not surprised when to feel that she was not wearing underwear. Akitsu was odd like that. Her entire body had quite literally conformed around his, keeping as little distance between them as possible, almost like she was trying to make sure he wouldn't leave her. One arm was snaked around his waist, hugging him to her, or her to him, it was hard to tell, while her face was buried in the crook of his neck. He could even feel her cool breath against his neck, sending shivers down his spine. Her other arm had slid itself under his body, and Naruto had to wonder how long it would take for that particular appendage to regain feeling.

He must have had a case of wandering hands that night as well, because his right hand was not only resting against Akitsu's firm derriere. The fact that she was not wearing panties meant that he was cupping her ass cheek directly. Despite the position he was in Naruto was not embarrassed, while this was, oddly enough, only the second time he had ever slept with a girl – two in this instance – and not had sex, and actually woken up with the intention of seeing said girl – or girls – again, he had long since become immune to most situations where he might have been embarrassed when he was younger.

His hand slid up Akitsu's tush, more out of respect for her than any fear of reprisals, and placed itself on her hip instead. While he removed his hand from what could be considered by most women to be 'forbidden territory' Naruto let his mind wander back to the dream he had. That girl, Kusano was in trouble. He was now sure that she was the one responsible for the Botanical Garden's overgrowth of plants. He was also positive that she was in some kind of danger, though from what was hard to figure out. She was definitely a Sekirei, so perhaps MBI would be after her. He was not sure what happened, but from Musubi's words all Sekirei lived within the labs of MBI while they were being adjusted. Did that mean Kusano was still being adjusted and had escaped? Or had something else happened? And if so what?

As he was left to his thoughts, his right hand absently stroking Akitsu's side, said Sekirei and Musubi began to wake up.

"Hiyah..." without opening her eyes, Musubi sat up and stretched her arms up over her head as she let out a cute yawn. The sound of her back and arms popping resounded throughout the room before she let one of her arms fall back down to her sides while the other went up to her eyes and began rubbing the sleep out of them. On his other side Akitsu used her left arm as support to push herself up. Despite being nearly impeccable and statuesque during the day, it was clear that his newest Sekirei was not a morning person. Aside from her hair being in general disarray, sticking up at odd angles all over the place, her eyes were droopy, more so than usual, had a lot of accumulated gunk in them, and were slightly red. The ice user blinked several times, her free hand moving up to being the arduous process of rubbing the sleep out of them as her mouth opened in a wide yawn.

"Good morning, Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan," Naruto greeted the pair as he watched them. Once more, he couldn't help but feel... something, as he watched the two of them while they went through their own processes to wake up. Just what that something was he didn't know, and truth be told, a part of him was afraid to know.

"Naruto-Sama, good morning," Musubi said with a sleepy smile. She leaned down and kissed him directly on the lips, taking great pleasure from the feelings sharing such an affectionate gesture with her Ashikabi gave her as her wings flared out behind her. Naruto managed to keep himself from stiffening at her affectionate gesture, and even returned the kiss. Yet even as he went through the motions, a part of him tried to fight the feelings this one small action evoked.

When she broke the kiss Naruto turned to look at Akitsu, who was blushing a little in embarrassment. He paused for a moment, unsure if he should truly continue. However, he had given Musubi a kiss, and it wouldn't quite be fair if she got one and he didn't allow his newest Sekirei the same chance at receiving his affection, however forced it was. "Akitsu-chan, would you like a kiss too?"

"Ah." There was her customary pause. Even though Akitsu's face didn't change much, Naruto thought he could detect a hopeful look entering her eyes. "Can I?" Naruto managed to keep his smile sincere before leaning up and claiming her lips with his own. The snow woman stiffened for a moment, then relaxed as she gently pressed her lips against the blonds. The light-haired woman's wings flared as she gave a soft and demure moan into the kiss. Ending it, the blond gave her one more peck on the lips before he remembered his dream.

"Hey, Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan, I have a question," he started cautiously. So far neither of them had really been able to provide much in the way of information. Musubi didn't seem to know anything beyond fighting, and Akitsu was just not that talkative. Still, right now they were the only source of information on Sekirei that he had.

"What do you want to know?" asked Musubi, pleased to know that Naruto needed her for something.

"Ah." Akitsu gave a slow nod. "I will help if I can."

"Ok. Last night I had a dream," Naruto started. Once again, his body seemed to respond without his mind giving input, pulling both Musubi and Akitsu towards him so he could wrap them both in his arms while their heads rested on his chest. He told himself that it was just so he could get comfortable while telling his story and that there was no other reason for his actions. "I was wandering through a forest, when I ran into a little girl who was crying. I don't understand her circumstances, but she said it was all her fault because she wanted to go outside. I assume she's talking about why she was in the forest. Anyways, she told me to find her and help her. The thing is, I think she's a Sekirei, but I don't know for sure. Can Sekireis call out to people through dreams like that?"

"Oh, I think I heard something about this!" Musubi said, nearly bouncing up and down in her enthusiasm. She probably would have to if she weren't currently snuggled into Naruto's side. The blond and Akitsu looked over at her and she smiled. "I've heard from the professor who regulated me that when a Sekirei reacts to her Ashikabi but can't find them, she'll often reach him in his dreams."

"So she's definitely a Sekirei then, and she's reacting to me," Naruto muttered even as he gave the naïve girl a strange look. So she could remember hearing about how a Sekirei might try to reach a person they are reacting to in their dreams, but she couldn't remember her adjustor giving her an important lecture on sex? How messed up was that.

Naruto shook his head. He didn't want to know, he really didn't. Getting back to the topic at hand he asked, "what do you think I should do?"

"What do you mean? If she's reacting to you then you have to find her," Musubi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it was as far as Sekireis went. He still didn't know enough about Sekirei to judge what the norm was when it came to them. Hell, he still didn't even know what a Sekirei was beyond that they were apparently some kind of super humans with the ability to use chakra that MBI let loose. "She's meant to be your Sekirei."

"And do you feel the same way, Akitsu-chan?" asked Naruto as he looked at the light haired beauty.

"Ah." Akitsu blinked at him and Naruto got the impression that the woman was carefully considering his question. After a few seconds she gave him a slow nod. "I think you should find her." He gave a nod at her words, already having guessed her unspoken thoughts. Not even twenty-four hours ago, Akitsu had been, in her words, broken. She had been alone and in the depths of her own despair. If anyone knew how this little girl was feeling, it would be her.

"Also," Naruto was startled when Akitsu began speaking again. Both he and Musubi looked over at the ice user as she cocked her head to the side. "Before I... escaped from the lab, I heard rumors about Ashikabi who forcibly winged Sekirei."

"So she's possibly in danger of being forcibly winged? Is that what you're saying?"

"Ah." Akitsu paused, then relaxed and nodded. "Yes."

"In that case we'll need to find this girl soon." Naruto frowned at the thought of someone forcing a Sekirei to be winged. From what he understood, a Sekirei's Ashikabi was someone who reacted with them, he assumed it had something to do with them having compatible chakra signatures, or maybe there was some kind of emotional element involved. He couldn't be too sure, but he assumed that certain Sekirei only reacted with certain Ashikabi. The thought that a Sekirei could be winged by someone they did not react to had never crossed his mind. He had simply not contemplated it as being possible.

Now that he thought about though, perhaps it made some sense that anybody who was capable of being an Ashikabi could wing any Sekirei. There was obviously something special about Ashikabis that made them different from normal humans, otherwise the ability to become an Ashikabi would not be such a big deal. But what was that difference? What made an Ashikabi special compared to a normal human? Was it there chakra? Perhaps they had more than the average human, enough at least for the purpose of winging Sekirei. After all, he had felt the drain on his own reserves, and it was a decent bit bigger than what most humans were capable of producing. The amount of chakra both Akitsu and Musubi had taken from him would have killed a normal human. From that standpoint, his theory was workable, but he would need a lot more information before he could be certain of whether or not his hypothesis was correct.

Bringing his mind away from his new possible discovery on Ashikabis, Naruto thought about the information Akitsu had given him. He did not know how she had acquired that information, and was honestly surprised she had even remembered it. Maybe she had simply deemed the knowledge that someone out there was forcibly winging Sekirei to be more important than remembering to put on underwear.

With his mind now focused on this new idea, Naruto found that he was not surprised in the least. Disgusted? Yes. The idea that someone would force a Sekirei to bond with them was one that repulsed Naruto. From what he understood so far about the bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi, it was a very intimate thing, almost sacred. It formed a literal bond between the two that kept up at all times. Even now Naruto could still feel Akitsu and Musubi in the back of his mind, their presence comforting him in ways he did not even realize was possible. By forcibly winging a Sekirei, the Ashikabi in question was, in essence, trampling on that bond. They were declaring it worthless and less important than their own needs. It was a selfish, heartless, and cruel thing to do to another human being.

It was just another reason Naruto had become so disenfranchised with humanity. That human beings were not only capable of what seemed to be essentially enslaving another being to them, but also perfectly willing to do such a thing was beyond reprehensible, and just gave Naruto one more reason to hate humanity. After all of the fighting he and others had done for their freedom, after all of the hardship, pain, blood, loss, and tears, it seemed that humans still refused to understand each other.

Sometimes Naruto regret not letting Tobi enslave the world using the moon to cast an eternal issusion. At least than Naruto would not be forced to watch as humans continued to show how depraved they could be.

"Ah, Ashikabi-sama/Naruto-sama are you alright/are you ok?"

Naruto blinked, his eyes clearing to find Musubi and Akitsu looking at him in concern, most likely at the stormy expression his thoughts were causing. It took a concerted effort of will, several deep breaths, and the patience of a man who had lived for thousands of years, but Naruto was eventually able to relax the look on his face. He could not quite get rid of the dark thoughts now possessing him, but he could at least mask them by bringing happier thoughts to the fore. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but it would have to do for the moment.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, smiling at the pair. Musubi smiled back immediately. Akitsu on the other hand looked at him intensely for a few seconds before relaxing. She gave him a brief nod. Having realized that he nearly let his emotions go again, the blond shinobi made a mental note to begin meditating more often to keep his dark thoughts from boiling over, especially now that he had this bond. He had no clue if they could feel him like he could them, but Naruto did not want to take any chances. The thought of what might happen if these two were to experience what he experienced every day, the accumulated negative emotions and thoughts of several thousand years, was not one he wished to contemplate.

With his negative views of the world and his own boiling emotions hidden under layers and layers of carefully crafted defenses, Naruto decided to get back to the whole point of their original conversation. "I'm already pretty positive of where she is," he started. "But we'll need to make sure I'm right before doing anything, it wouldn't do for us to go off half cocked and end up being wrong. I'll be counting on both of you for help."

"Don't worry, Naruto-Sama. You can count on me!" Musubi said, pumping her fists in the air, which did delightful things to her breasts, as Naruto could attest to. They really were some of the largest breasts he had ever seen in his life. And quite distracting too. Seriously, if she had let those things lose a when he had been... brooding, his thoughts might have never gotten so dark in the first place.

"Ah." Naruto pulled his eyes away from Musubi's swaying breasts to look at the light-haired snow woman. The eternal shinobi was honestly startled and more than a little unnerved when Akitsu gave him a look of such complete devotion that it would make the star crossed expression Tenten had when talking about Tsunade look like a childhood crush. "I'll help too."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a smile. He let the pair go and slid himself out from under them. Both Musubi and Akitsu shifted as he moved, slightly disappointed looks crossing their face as their Ashikabi extricated himself from their grip and stood up. After doing a few stretches of his own, he offered his hands to the two of them, which they accepted. Lifting them to their feet he began talking again. "Now we should get dressed to begin the day. Musubi-chan, would you mind letting Akitsu-chan borrow some of your clothes? I plan to take her shopping today while I do a preliminary search of the area I think our lost Sekirei is most likely to be, but until then..."

"I understand," Musubi gave another one of her signature smiles as she grabbed onto Akitsu's hand and began pulling her into the closet. The ice user stumbled slightly, having obviously not expected such an action, before managing to right herself and allow the enthusiastic girl to pull her along. "Come on, let's see what I have to wear."

Naruto also decided to get dressed, as he was currently in nothing more then a pair of black boxers with a ramen bowl theme on them. He followed the pair to the closet and began outfitting himself. The blond ended up dressed in a casual pair of clothes, blue jeans with a white shirt, a faded orange hoodie and a pair of black sneakers. When he was finished, the blond looked over to see that Musubi and Akitsu had dressed much differently.

Musubi was wearing a pair of what looked like red underwear, the only reason he knew otherwise was because of the fabric it was made from. The stretchy, elastic material let him know she was wearing a pair of bloomers, though he did have to wonder why she would choose to wear something like that. She also had on a white shirt with red kanji on it. The shirt was so tight on her that Naruto could see her nipples poking out through the fabric, which also let him know she had decided to forgo wearing a bra. It took all of his considerable will power not to get a hard on just from the sight of her.

Meanwhile, Akitsu had taken to wearing a pair of white short shorts, a white skirt over that, and a white button up shirt that Naruto recognized as one of his. Not that he cared about her wearing his clothes. The blond would freely admit that he thought she looked sexy wearing his clothes, far better then he looked in them. But god dammit if this didn't make his already difficult position harder. It apparently wasn't enough that he was dealing with this bond, he also had to deal with the fact that the two he was bonded two were stunning, incomparable beauties the likes of which he had rarely ever seen.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes and calmed both his raging hormones and his thoughts. When he opened his eyes again, he was once more a sea of calm.

"Alright," he started, clapping his hands together. "Are we all ready for – huh? What's that noise?" He paused, cocking his head to the side as his sensitive ears picked up a noise his mind had previously been too busy to pay attention to. Turning his head the blond look out of the open door where the sound of swishing could be heard. He, Musubi and Akitsu all shared a look before walking out of the door and onto the balcony to see who or what the cause of the noise was.

The source turned out to be Miya. Her left hand was lightly clenching a sword, a katana judging from the legnth, at her side, the tsuka and the saya were obviously crafted from the same wood. The hilt and the sheath flowed seamlessly into one another. Were it not for Naruto's unnaturally sharp eyesight, he would have never been able to see the small line where the two objects separated. The weapon, while plain, was obviously well crafted as far as modern day swords went.

The lavenderette had a very relaxed look on her face, eyes closed and very little in the way of facial expressions. Her body was likewise very loose, yet ready, like a cobra that was coiled and prepared to strike. A few leaves were falling around her, and Miya brought up her other hand to let it lightly rest upon the tsuka of her blade.

There was a flash of light, a slight streak of silver as the only sign to Musubi and Akitsu that the woman had drawn her katana at all before it was resheathed just as quickly. A leaf that had been passing her mid level just as she had drawn her katana was split in half in perfectly even segments.

Her movements were perfect.

Naruto took note of her stance, it was much more narrow then the traditional kendo stance, and slightly angled to present a three-quarters view to the opponent. Designed for someone of a smaller build, more then likely made for a woman, the stance was one which would allow the user to remain light on their feet and able to react both defensively and offensively with equal ease. It was a stance designed for quick movement in all directions and Iaijutsu, the art of drawing the sword at blinding speeds for either a quick counter attack, or an aggressive per-meditated assault.

He also noted her stance was perfect and relaxed, with not a single flaw in her posture. His first guess that she was a warrior of some skill looked like it was proving to be true.

"She's got nice technique," Naruto said, more to himself then the others. "I can't detect a single flaw in her swing or her execution." It was a bit surprising to the blond when he felt the familiar feeling of excitement settle in his chest. It had been a long time since he had met a swordsmen with skills as masterful as hers. So long. And for the first time in a long time, Naruto was tempted to ask someone if they would be willing to spar with him.

A squeal alerted him to the girl at his side. He looked over at Musubi and sweat dropped when he saw her hands fisted under her chin and stars in her eyes. The girl wiggled excitedly in her place and Naruto thought she looked like she was about to orgasm. It was kind of creepy, if he were honest with himself.

With her attention no longer on her practice, she looked up at them and affected a surprised look. "Oh, hey, good morning you three." Naruto was not fooled for a second. He knew she had known they were there the moment they appeared on the balcony, but her act would certainly fool anyone else. It seemed to work well enough on Akitsu and Musubi.

Taking his attention away from the lavenderette, Naruto looked at Musubi when he heard the girl let out a another delighted squeal. When he saw that her entire body was literally shaking with excitement, the blond began to worry. She looked like she was about to burst. In a way she did, not even a second later the excitable girl leapt off the balcony, landing lightly on her feet just a few feet from Miya.

"Landlady-san, would you spar with me? Please?" said Musubi as she looked at the woman with pleading and awe filled eyes.

Miya put a hand to her mouth as she giggled, her eyes crinkling in amusement. She brought her hand back down, and it looked like she had decided to indulge the girl as her hand was drawn back to her blade. "Okay, but I won't go easy on you."

"That's what I want. Ready, here I come!"

Naruto and Akitsu watched from the balcony as Musubi charged towards the purple-haired landlady. The fist fighter was actually pretty fast, her speeds were definitely around the same level as Rock Lee's after he had become an elite jonin. All things considered that was very good, especially considering it didn't look like she had any formal training. Naruto was sure that with training she could be faster though.

The brunette Sekirei threw her fist out, a straight jab aiming for Miya's head. However, the more experienced woman dodged it not only very easily, but with minimal movement as well, just a slight tilting of her head to let the blow pass by her left.

"Well, since we've got some prime entertainment for the moment, I think we should hold off on our shopping trip to watch this spar," Naruto said, making Akitsu look at him. "I haven't actually gotten to see Musubi fight yet, so it would be a good idea to know what she's capable of. I'll want to see what you're capable of as well."

"Ah," Akitsu paused, the nodded. "Yes."

Once more it happened, Naruto would later blame it on his own excitement at the thought of watching the spar. His body reacted before his mind could tell it not to. He leaned down and scooped Akitsu into his arms. The normally emotionless Sekirei let out a startled 'eep!' as Naruto launched himself off the balcony and into the land. He watched as the ground came closer and closer, his chakra already circulating to his legs as he prepared to land. When he hit the ground he bent his knees to absorb some of the impact, his feet making two very small show prints in the earth as he did so. Straightening his bent posture, he walked over to the small veranda leading to the inside and sat down with Akitsu firmly seated on his lap.

As his arms once again moved on an instinct he didn't have, Akitsu flushed. It was very slight, just a minor reddening of her cheeks as the blond's arms secured themselves around her waist. But it was enough that even someone more oblivious to such things like Musubi would have noticed. Naruto, however, wasn't actually paying attention at the moment, his eyes instead focused on the spar happening before him.

He watched as Musubi continued attacking the more experienced female with great zeal. However, no matter how many punches she launched she was unable to hit the purple-haired swordswoman. Even when she came at the woman from behind, all Musubi had to show for it was getting a small lump on her head where Miya hit her with the butt end of her sword.

"Musubi-chan has a lot of energy and great potential, but she lacks finesse," he muttered, more to himself then anyone else, though Akitsu could hear him just fine. "She's putting all of her power into her first punch, making her unable to follow up with any combination attacks. Add on to the fact that she's throwing her entire weight into her shoulders, rather then spreading it evenly amongst her body for a better flow in combat and you have a problem. She won't be able to bull doze over someone like Miya with that kind of technique."

From what he could see Miya was incredibly talented with a blade, even more so than he had originally estimated. All of her movements were designed to not only utilize the 'minimum effort for maximum outcome' style of combat, but also combine Miya's raw speed and strength to create a style that was both showy and deadly. It combined all the grace and skills of a dancer with the power and abilities of a being who had managed to surpass the physical capabilities of humanity today.

It was, in short, something he would have expected to see from one of the kage's of his own time, perhaps even better. Even more impressive was that Naruto was positive the woman was holding back.

"Wow, sounds like someone know what he's talking about." Naruto turned his head to see Uzume sitting behind him. The busty brunette gave him a grin before setting her head on his shoulder, the act of intimacy making him raise an eyebrow but not react otherwise. "You a fighter or something?"

"Or something," Naruto replied offhandedly. Uzume puffed up her cheeks in a pout, but the blond just chuckled at her and let one of his hands begin rubbing up and down Akitsu's leg. He frowned for a moment when he realized what he was doing and paused. When his ceased movements caused the snow woman on his lap to frown in disappointment, Naruto twitched slight before resuming his movements. Akitsu seemed to settle down again, her cheeks lightly suffused with red as she made to hesitantly place her head on his unused shoulder.

"Well you can't say she doesn't have a lot of energy," Uzume commented as she watched Musubi fighting with enough energy for both her and Miya. Then she sent a sly look towards Naruto. "By the way, those gym clothes, is that what your into?"

Naruto resisted a sigh at the obvious teasing. He was tempted to simply play off her words as nothing, or ignore her, but another part of him was actually interested in playing a game of 'who can make who the most uncomfortable' with his new housemate. It had, after all, been so very long since he'd allowed himself to indulge in simple banter for the sake of doing so.

"I'm not going to lie and tell you I don't think she looks absolutely sexy in those, if that's what you mean," he said, grinning when the woman puffed up her cheeks again, having obviously been hoping to catch him off guard. Too bad for her she was three thousand years too soon to be a match for him. "But those were clothes she bought, not me. To be honest, I don't really care what she wears. Her and Akitsu-chan here would look beautiful in anything."

While Akitsu's slightly pink cheeks darkened, Uzume grinned. "Sounds like we've got a charmer here."

Naruto shrugged, still playing his part of naïve playboy, a paradox if there ever was one. "I just say what I think." That was true. A part of Naruto's charm was his ability to slip complements into conversation without really intending to. It was at least half the reason he had gotten as much sex as he'd had. Naruto simply spoke his mind, and it just so happened that what was on his mind was often complimentary. At least when it came to women.

Uzume seemed to realize she wouldn't be making him flustered any time soon. With a huff, she looked back out at the spar, taking in the two battling it out before letting loose a sigh. "Some day she and I will have to fight each other, whether we want to or not."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Naruto said, snorting loudly. "You and she are friends, and I'm not going to let her fight someone she cares about."

"It's not something you'll be able to help," Uzume said. "We're destined to fight, because we're both Sekireis."

"Don't give me any kind of bullshit about destiny or fate," Naruto actually scowled at the woman. Uzume actually looked taken aback by the vehemence in his voice. "Garbage like that is what people who are too weak to create their own fate feed others. I won't let Musubi-chan or Akitsu-chan fight someone they care about. If that really is the fate of a Sekirei then I'll change it," he looked back at Musubi and Miya, his eyes hardening. "I'll change their fate. I don't care if I have to storm M.B.I. headquarters and kill Hiroto Minaka myself to do it either."

Naruto blinked as his speech finally ended. Where had that come from? That intense feeling of emotion, that passionate desire to help a group of people he had only met a few days ago. Why was it that after all this time he was getting so worked up about something that he wouldn't have given two shits about a few days ago?

What the hell was wrong with him?

Uzume looked at the blond with wide eyes for several long seconds, while Akitsu actually felt herself grow slightly hot from the blonds determination and the feelings it was bringing into their bond.

"That's... some goal," Uzume said after a while. Her eyes were on him with equal parts admiration and uncertainty. "I'm not sure how you would even plan on going about accomplishing something like that. The only way to stop Sekireis from fighting each other is to stop the Sekirei plan."

Her words brought a halt to Naruto's self recrimination. He looked over at the busty Sekirei in the star shirt, the only sign of his struggle being the frown on his face. For a second, he hesitated, doubts and uncertainties hidden behind a picture perfect poker face.

Was he really ready to commit himself to something that involved helping others? Was he willing to break his longtime isolation from humanity and it's problems? Well, he supposed he was already neck deep in this Sekirei Plan, being bonded to two Sekirei and all. But was this what he wanted? The answer was both complicated and simple, and one that he was not sure he was ready to acknowledge. In truth, he had already decided, even if his own mind was struggling to come to terms with that fact.

In his minds eye the blond saw the struggles he and his friends had gone through so long ago. Their fight to ensure that people would have the freedom to make their own choices. Being forced to fight against people he had come to respect, both as shinobi and as human beings, all because some sick fuck had decided to resurrect them from the dead. The differences between that time and this were obvious, but Naruto couldn't help but draw up the similarities between now and back then. While these people, these Sekirei, were not being forced to fight their loved ones and people they respected that had come back from the dead, they were still fighting their own people. Even if Naruto did not know what a Sekirei was, he assumed from the fact that they were all called Sekirei that they were all related in some way or another, either by blood or whatever MBI had done to them they were family.

No one should be forced to fight their own family.

"Then that's what I'll do," he said softly, his mouth twitching slightly as he did so, as if unsure what his expression should be. "I don't care what I have to do, I won't let the people I care for fight each other." He closed his eyes and grit his teeth as he tried to block out the memories of his own haunted past. "There's nothing worse in this world, then being forced to fight someone you love."

One more a stunned look crossed Uzume's face. She seemed to find it uncomfortable to look at the blond and was forced to look away, her own eyes closing as she did so. Akitsu looked up at him, the bond apparently allowing her to sense his inner turmoil because she moved one of her hands to grab one of Naruto's. More than the hand now gripping his own, the feeling being sent through his bond flooded his body and forced his broiling emotions away. His body relaxed, his mind once more becoming calm.

Yep, he was definitely going to have to do some meditation.

Sighing, Naruto called out to Musubi, stopping her spar with Miya. "Listen, I'm going to take Akitsu-chan shopping. We'll see you when we get back, ok?"

"Ok! Take care, Naruto-Sama," Musubi shouted with cheerful enthusiasm, her left hand coming up to wave at him.

Naruto chuckled as he stood up, set down Akitsu and then laced the fingers of his left hand with her right. He didn't have time to meditate right now, there were things he needed to get done, but physical contact with his Sekirei seemed to keep his feelings and thoughts at bay. It bothered him, having to rely on others, but for now it would have to do.

"I want you to also prepare for tonight," he called out to Musubi again. "By then I should have the location of the person who reacted to me and we can go and rescue her." While Miya and Uzume looked confused by his words, Musubi just gave him a cheerful smile and pumped her fist.

"Ok!"

"You ready?" he asked Akitsu, favoring her with a smile. She looked over at him and nodded. "Then let's get going."

**XoX**

Naruto sighed as he stood outside of the changing room Akitsu was in. It hadn't been long since they arrived at the shopping district, an hour at most. During that time they had stayed in this one store for more or less all of it, and his Sekirei had been in the changing room for about half of that. He could hear shuffling going on inside of the room. While he knew women normally took longer then men to get their clothes ready, out of principle if nothing else, he couldn't help but wonder if she was alright.

"Akitsu-chan, are you alright in there?" he asked.

"Ah," Akitsu made what Naruto was coming to recognize as her customary pause. "I'm having some trouble putting my clothes on," she admitted quietly. Were this an anime, Naruto would have no doubt face-faulted at her words. Since this was not an anime but real life, all he did was palm his face before running his fingers through his hair.

Seriously, how hard was it to put on a set of clothes? She had already been in there for half an hour!

"Do you need help?" he finally relented and asked.

"Ah." Once more with the pausing. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of quirk the snow user had gained or if there was some other reason he was unaware of. "Yes." Her words, err, word, worried the blond slightly. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she was actually having troubles changing, or if she just wanted him to change her. The idea of dressing the bodacious female up like a doll was only slightly appealing, he prefer taking clothes off to putting them on. At the same time, if she really was having difficulties getting dressed, that didn't speak well of her ability to survive in the real world. Given that he knew not which one was the answer, a part of him couldn't help but be curious and wonder how she had managed to survive so long before meeting him.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, the blond shinobi slipped inside of the changing room. The first thing he saw was Akitsu tangled up in several straps that he was sure did not belong on a kimono. Though he would admit to having never dealt with a kimono for females. Were female Kimono's different from their male varients? Perhaps those were built in bra straps?

Not quite sure what to do to help her, the blond began grabbing at the straps and attempting to untangle her first.

"Ok, let's see here..." Naruto stuck his tongue out between his teeth as he actually focused on what he was doing. It really was quite difficult to keep his focus. With each strap of fabric he managed to untangle the girl out of, more and more of her skin was revealed, opalescent milky white skin that seemed to glow ethereally in the lighting of the changing room.

It took a while before the two of them were finally able to get Akitsu dressed, the task proving more difficult than Naruto felt it truly warranted, and during that time the blond noticed that was his newest Sekirei was wearing wasn't quite a kimono. The top was a white shirt with long, flowing sleeves in a similar make to a kimono, but that was where the similarities ended. The cut out for her head was lined with black fabric and was larger then the standard cutout for her head, it was wider, allowing some of Akitsu's shoulders to be seen and then going down in a very low V cut that showed off nearly a third of her breasts and stopped at her upper stomach. A black obi with a bow in the front held the shirt tightly against her body.

The blond also noticed at some point, that she had chains in her ensemble, which he had only spotted when she began trying to place them around herself. With some help from him one set of chains was used to bind her clothes together above her breasts, while the other set looped around her neck and then went down between her cleavage, giving her what Naruto would call an elegant dominatrix look.

Finishing her look was a two piece skirt that wrapped around the lower half of her body. It was the simplest part of the woman's ensemble, but somehow seemed to fit and Naruto had to admit that he enjoyed the way the simple cloth gracefully flowed of her hips and legs, with a split in the front to allow for quick movement when needed.

"You look really nice in these clothes," Naruto said with a smile, though he had to admit the chains just looked weird. "I don't know why but they suit you."

""Ah." A pause as Akitsu tilted her head to the side. "So you like them?" she asked, and though her voice was still cold and melancholic, the blush on her face told him she liked his compliment. The look on her face was undeniably cute, combined with her strangely submissive demeanor and the odd fetish-like garb and Naruto simply found his will leaving him. Before his mind could catch up with his body, the blond shinobi cupped her face in his hands and drew her in for a kiss.

Perhaps it was the way she looked, perhaps it was the bond. Naruto would never know what caused him to react like he did.

Akitsu's eyes widened for a moment as her wings flared behind her, looking odd in the confined space of the changing room as they 'pushed' against the walls. It was strange, seeing as the wings were made of pure energy, yet they seemed to follow the same laws as any other corporeal appendage. The ice-like constructs conformed to the room around them, looking decidedly delicate as each 'feather' reflected light in prismatic colors.

Akitsu's moment of surprise didn't last long, and though her face turned a shade of beet red, her body began to respond in what could almost pass for mating instincts. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, the movement reactive as she greedily drank from his lips. They stayed like that for several long minutes, both of them enjoying the feeling of each other, before breaking apart.

"You look beautiful," he said, almost snickering when he got another blush. He didn't because he felt it would be mean to laugh at her, even though he thought it was the cutest thing she had done. A part of him still felt awkward being so affectionate, yet another part felt almost like his actions were natural, as if this more affectionate and kind side of him were the real Naruto which had just come out after being hidden under layers of locks and entrapments.

"Ah." Akitsu, her face still red, eyes glazed over, looked up at him, her steel gray eyes partially hidden behind a curtain of bangs. "If you like them than I like them," she said at last, and Naruto got the feeling she just liked them because of the kiss he had given her in what she assumed was response to her clothing, even though Naruto himself did not quite know what had possessed him to kiss her.

Naruto nodded, more to himself than to Akitsu, especially since she was still looking quite dazed. "I just have one question," he said, pausing until the snow woman snapped out of her slight stupor to look at him. "Where did you get those chains?" Seriously, they were in a clothing store, one that sold regular clothing. Those chains made her already dangerously risque clothing look like something that came out of a sex shop. To top it off, he hadn't noticed her holding onto them when she had first entered the changing room. So when had she gotten them?

"Ah," Akitsu started, then looked at the chains on wrapping around her womanly frame. "I found them near our home."

Naruto blinked. She had carried those all the way here? How had he not noticed them before?

With a sigh, he shook the thought off, deciding that it would just be too troublesome to dig any further than that. There were some things that a man was better off not knowing. "Ok then, so we'll get these, and maybe find a few more articles of clothing for you," he said, pulling her out of the changing room. "After all, we should get you a kimono or two so I can take you out to an expensive restaurant on a date or something and..." he trailed off when he saw several people staring at them as they walked out of the changing room. No, they weren't just staring at them. Everyone female who had been near them when they had come out was now looking at them with distaste, mostly, there was the occasional woman who was eying the two of them with a speculative gleam and a few more who were giggling, but for the most part they were giving the two mild glares and whispering theories on what he and his... his... girlfriend, had been doing.

Damn, that would take some getting used to.

Fortunately this was a female apparel store, so Naruto was the only male in the entire shop. Quite possibly because he was the only man who was comfortable enough with himself and his masculinity to actually be capable of standing in a female apparel store while helping one of his girlfriends shop. He was very glad that no males were there, otherwise he might have gotten violent when they started ogling Akitsu. And he had no doubt there would be ogling.

Naruto scowled. "What the hell are you people looking at!" At the sound of his voice everyone that had been gaping at him and Akitsu turned their attention away from the pair and made to pretend they didn't exist. The scowl that had been on the blond's face slowly left him, and after a moment he shook his head and sighed. "There' now maybe we can shop in peace. Oh, and Akitsu-chan..."

Akitsu looked over at him. "Hmm?"

"Is there any particular reason you're not wearing panties?"

"Ah." Akitsu paused, cocking her head to the side before she looked down at her new outfit, as if the answer to his question was somehow stitched into the clothing. "I forgot."

"Riiiight."

**XoX**

Naruto and Akitsu stood on top of one of the buildings overlooking the Botanical Gardens. Now that he was seeing it up close and personal, Naruto was positive that the overgrowth of trees had been caused by a Sekirei. The kinds of twisted formations that the trees had taken, the branches that were intertwined in spider webbing patterns that intermingled with each other and crisscrossed every which way would take hundreds of years to grow naturally. That was not even mentioning how the climate of Japan, and Shinto Teito in particular, was not suited to creating that kind of geological terrain.

Naruto was crouched down as he surveyed the jungle of overgrown and twisted wildlife, his hands pressed against the roof, legs and arms looking like a spring that was drawn taut as they bent to accommodate his kneeling posture. The look was something akin to an animal who was about to descend upon his prey.

"Ah." The sound of Akitsu's voice made him start. Turning his gaze away from the Botanical Garden, he looked over at the snow woman as she tilted her head towards the place he had been focusing on for the past few minutes. "Do you think the Sekirei is in there?"

"When I met Ku-chan in my dream I was in a forest," he said, nodding as he looked from Akitsu back to the grove of trees. "From what I know of the Sekirei Plan, Sekirei aren't allowed to leave Shinto Teito. This place is the only jungle like area in the entire city, there simply isn't anywhere else she could be. Though I'll need to check to be sure."

"Ah." There was that pause again as Akitsu slowly nodded her head, before her eyelids slowly moved over her eyes in what Naruto assumed was a blink. "Check?"

Naruto frowned, pondering just how much he should tell her. As someone whose life was marred in secrecy, who had been forced to adapt, to hide in plain sight, the thought of telling someone, anyone, that he had abilities and powers that no other human could do in this day and age bothered him. At the same time, Akitsu was his Sekirei, they were bonded on a level that he had never felt before. Her life was now tied to his in ways he hadn't known were possible. Was it really right for him to keep this a secret from her, especially since Musubi already knew that he had some abilities that weren't quite human?

"Some time at the beginning of my life I was trained by a group of... people who were powerful Sages," he started, his mind working as he tried to tell her a little bit about himself without giving away his past. It might be for the best if he informed the woman about his powers, some of them anyways, but he wasn't quite ready to reveal the true nature of his life. "During my training I was taught how to harness and manipulate the natural energy of the world. Every living thing be they plant or animal naturally exude this excess of energy, and I can bring it into myself to increase my senses and physical strength. One of the benefits of being able to harness and control nature energy is that I gain the ability to sense other people around us." He looked up into the eyes of his Sekirei, whose only sign of emotion was the blink. "With this ability I should be able to find any Sekirei within several miles of myself, since you guys exude far more energy then regular humans."

"Ah..." Akitsu trailed off, seemingly unsure of what to make with this new information. "I see," she said finally, whether her words were one of acceptance, skepticism, or something else entirely Naruto was not sure. He didn't bother trying to find out though, and Akitsu seemed more intent on staring at him again than answering any question he might pose. So he turned back to the forest, his eyes closed as Akitsu watched him. The blond's breathing slowed, so much he almost looked like he was dead. Only her connection to him told her otherwise.

It came as a surprise to her when Naruto's eyes changed. They were still closed, so she couldn't see much. But the area around his eyes took on an orangish-red pigment. She had to wonder what that meant. Was this the power he was talking about? She didn't dwell on the thought long. It wasn't her place to question her Ashikabi. The strange coloring of his skin only lasted for several more seconds in any event, before the skin pigment changed back to normal and he opened his eyes.

"She's in there," he said, standing up. "I can sense the same energy signature that I did in the dream."

"Ah." Akitsu tilted her head to the side as she stared at him. "What are your orders, Ashikabi-sama?"

"We'll go home, for now," Naruto looked over at her. "Later tonight you, I and Musubi-chan will come back and go in there to rescue her." This wasn't a decision he had made lightly. Naruto knew that with this act he would be breaking his long standing position of ignoring the world and all it's problems. By rescuing Kusano he would be effectively involving himself in an affair that he was not all that sure he wanted to be apart of. The Sekirei Plan. He still had no clue just what being a part of the plan created by MBI meant. He had no idea what the plan even was. Minaka had called the Sekirei Plan a game. Naruto knew it was more along the lines of a free for all battle royal where the last Sekirei standing won. But what did they win? And more importantly, what did MBI and Minaka in particular gain out of all this.

He didn't know, but a part of him found that he couldn't care less. Not right now. Right now all he knew was that there was a little girl who was frightened and needed his help. In the end, Naruto couldn't ignore that.

For better or worse, he had now become a part of the Sekirei Plan.

**XoX**

**Omoke: Uzume's Sex Advice**

**XoX**

"Hm hm-hm hm-hmm," Musubi hummed a tune to herself as she went on her self appointed task of cleaning up the room she, Akitsu and Naruto-Sama shared, using the duster that she had gotten from Miya.

As she was cleaning the desk she paused, her eyes spotting the stack of papers on it. Setting down the duster she grabbed the first sheet on the stack and began to read what was on it. "'Haruto-kun, won't you please let me wash your back?' asked Nusumi as she gave the handsome but scarred warrior a sultry look. Haruto gazed at her and Nusumi felt her breathing quicken and heat begin pooling between her legs. He gestured for her to come over to him, beckoning her with a single finger. Doing as told, Nusumi stopped when she got in front of him, only to moan as Haruto cupped her bountiful chest in his hands, kneading them and sending tingles of pleasure through her body..."

Musubi continued reading, eventually moving onto the sheet below it. As she did her mind began to wonder some of this story sounded so familiar. Then it clicked. "Ah! I remember! This heat the Nusumi feels is the same kind of heat I feel when me and Naruto-Sama kiss!" She quickly continued reading, her mind thinking about the story and how it might apply to her and Naruto-Sama.

_'I wonder, if Naruto-Sama and I did this, would it feel as good as this story claims?'_ she asked herself. Unfortunately, she didn't have an answer.

"I know! I'll ask Uzume if she knows anything about this!" Musubi said. She quickly dropped what she was doing, grabbed the stack of papers, and left the room in search of her fellow Sekirei.

**XoX**

"Uzume-chan! Uzume-chan!" Musubi called, knocking on the other Sekirei's door. "Are you there, Uzume-chan!"

"Yeah, I'm here, I'm here. Hold on a second." Uzume opened the door and gave the over enthusiastic girl a slight smile. "So what can I do for you?"

"I need your help," Musubi said, shoving the stacks of paper she had found on Naruto's desk into her hands. "I saw this lying on Naruto-Sama's desk and read it, but I don't understand what it is. It sounds really fun, and I was hoping to try it with Naruto-Sama, but because I don't know what it is I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

Uzume read through the papers, and as she did her eyes went wide. "I don't believe this! I recognize this writing. This is a brand new unfinished Icha Icha book! For him to have this..." her eyes widened even more as she realized what that meant. The only logical conclusion she could come up with.

Naruto was the author of Icha Icha!

"So can you help me?" asked Musubi. She didn't really understand what Uzume was talking about, all that mattered to her was that she wanted to do this with her Ashikabi, and needed help.

"What do you need help with?" asked Uzume, having actually forgot the entire reason Musubi had come to her in the face of learning that her favorite book was being written by her new roommate.

Maybe she could get his autograph.

Even better, maybe she could convince him to let her star in one of his novels?

"I want to do those things in the book with Naruto-Sama," Musubi said. "But I don't know how."

Uzume looked at her friend for several minutes longer, before a sly grin crossed her face. "Ok, I'll help you with this."

"Really?" Musubi said with wide hopeful eyes.

"Yes. Now, here's what you're going to do..."

**XoX**

"Welcome home, Naruto-Sama..." said Musubi the moment Naruto entered the room.

"Musubi-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening in shock as he saw what the girl was wearing. A skimpy little maid outfit that brought a whole new meaning to the words sexy french maid. The outfit was loaded with frills, lace and showed enough skin that it was a wonder the blond hadn't died of a nosebleed yet.

"I've cleaned your room for you," Musubi said in the sultry voice that Uzume had told her to use. It seemed to have an effect on Naruto as his entire body began to get goosebumps. She walked up to him, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner, and had it not ruined the mood Uzume had wanted her to set, she would have squealed as she saw his eyes follow her hips. It was just like in the book!

"However, I can't permit you to come in all dirty like that after I just finished cleaning it..."

"Uh huh..." Naruto said, nodding his head as he watched his moved from her hips to her jiggling breasts. By now Musubi had walked right into him, pressing her body into his side and rubbing herself against him. Her hand went to his crotch and began to rub that as well, causing it to become rock hard.

This was also how it was supposed to according to what she had read from the book.

"Which means that Naruto-Sama must be clean before coming into the room," Musubi continued, her lips moving over to his ear where she blew on it very lightly. "If it would please you, I will endeavor to wash your body and make sure it's all clean, _Na-ru-to-Sa-ma_..."

Apparently, even Naruto had his limits, because the moment Musubi had said his name in that sultry and sexy voice, enunciating each syllable he lost it. Blood spurted out of his nose and the blond fell onto his back with a happy grin as he passed out.

However, the moment Musubi saw the blood she began to freak. "Ah! Naruto-Sama, are you alright!" She knelt down and placed his head in her lap, trying to wake him. When it didn't seem he would wake any time soon the brunette Sekirei pouted. "Mou, this didn't happen in the book."


	5. The Rescue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei or Naruto. The only thing I own is my awesome ass computer complete with two over-clocked ATI graphics cards, a liquid cooling unit and completely pimped out Star Wars covering. It's my totally bad ass computer where I write my fanfiction.**

**Chapter 4: The Rescue**

**XoX**

It was later in the evening and the sun was beginning to set. The sky was now painted a deep orange, much to a certain blond shinobi's pleasure, with streaks of red and purple soaring across the sky in a picture so beautiful that only nature could have painted it. During this time, Naruto and Akitsu arrived at Maison Izumo after the blond had used his Sennin Modō to determine whether or not Kusano really was in that forest.

It was surprisingly empty when they first entered the boarding house. Neither Musubi nor Uzume were anywhere to be seen, and it wasn't until Naruto channeled chakra into his ears that he heard the telltale humming of Miya from within the kitchen. Since he couldn't hear anything else, like say, the enthusiastic shouts of his first Sekirei or the laughing of the busty star wearing Sekirei, he decided that the kitchens would be his first destination.

He had wanted to start seeing if he could help out in the kitchen anyways.

After removing his shoes for a pair of slippers that Miya left near the entrance so people don't walk around barefoot, Naruto made his way through the house and towards the kitchen. The only sound aside from his softly padding feet being the clinking sounds of Akitsu's chain as she walked a few paces behind him.

Just as he had expected Miya was indeed in the kitchen. She was standing over cutting board, her left hand holding onto a steel knife as she methodically slice up several vegetables which she put into what Naruto could tell from sight and smell was some kind of stir-fry, a surprisingly simple dish considering what she had made yesterday. Though considering just how much she now needed to make to feed everybody, perhaps it was the most logical choice until she could get more ingredients.

"Good evening, Miya-chan," Naruto greeted, continuing with his usage of the more affectionate '-chan' suffix for the landlady. It was a habit he fell back on from when he had been living in the Elemental Nations. Back then, Naruto had never really been one for giving respectful titles or even using what many would consider appropriate suffixes. Aside from addressing Kakashi with the title of 'sensei' no one else had ever received a modicum of what many would consider a proper showing of respect. Even Jiraiya and Tsunade, the two legendary sennin and his superiors had been given the nicknames of ero-sennin and baa-chan respectively.

"Oh," Miya paused in her cutting to turn around, affecting a look of mild surprise. Naruto wasn't fooled for a second, but decided to allow her her fun. "You should know better than to sneak up on a young woman like that," she 'scolded', still holding the knife in her hands and making slight chopping motions. "I could have chopped a finger off."

"I apologize," Naruto replied, his face adopting a suitable expression of regret. The look on his face was only slightly offset by the mischievousness in his eyes. "Though I doubt someone whose so skilled in the kitchen would ever suffer from such an accident even if she was surprised."

"Well aren't you a flatterer," Miya said with the hint of a smile before her face adopted a look of wariness that was as fake as his look of regret. "I hope you are not beginning to give into your lustful urges and decided to make untoward advances on a poor widow like me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her words, it was clear to him that the woman was teasing him, which didn't quite bother him. However, he was quite interested in the fact that she _was _teasing him despite them having just met recently. His original opinion on Miya had been that she was an extremely kind, if somewhat reserved, individual. She would never turn someone who needed help away so long as they were willing to follow the rules she set down. At the same time she didn't strike him as the type to get so comfortable with a male like himself so soon, yet this was the second time she had teased him about his 'lustful urges' within two days, the fact that they had only met two days ago notwithstanding. Still, a part of him was actually glad that Miya was comfortable enough to tease him. It made living with her much easier.

"If I did I can assure you my advances would far more subtle than complimenting you on your skills in the kitchen," Naruto shot back in a dry tone, then he frowned, seemingly taking in the other part of her statement. "And what do you mean 'lustful urges'?" he asked. Much to his consternation, Miya didn't answer, instead turning around and going back to her cutting.

"So I noticed that you and Akitsu-san seem to have had a successful shopping trip," she commented as she began cutting up a daikon radish. "Though I must wonder about your choice in clothing. It is rather disconcerting to see you select such risque attired for your Sekirei. Should I be worried that you might truly be giving into your base instincts?"

Naruto frowned as he tried to figure out how best to respond to the woman's words. It seemed she had a particular fondness for teasing him about his 'lustful urges' towards his Sekirei, something he got the feeling would likely be a common theme during their interactions. Currently, there were two avenues of attack from his perspective, the shock factor, and the subtle movements. Introducing the shock factor would be him telling Miya that she was right, which would possibly be funny depending on her reaction, but also dangerous as well for that very same reason. On the other hand, using a more subtle approach would make mean he would have to wait for whatever comeback Miya had up her sleeve before being able to given a proper rebuttal. As he weighed his options for possible exchange of wits, his decision was taken out of his hands by the topic of their current conversation.

"Ah," Akitsu paused as she looked down at her outfit. "I like these clothes," she admitted to the lavenderette, who blinked in surprise at her response.

"Oh? I hadn't realize he had already managed to sink his claws into you so far that he was able to convince you to wear clothing like that," Miya cracked an eye open as she turned her head. Despite no longer looking at the cutting board, her hands continued to move in an economical motion that spoke of long standing experience.

"Ah," taking her eyes off her clothing, Akitsu looked at Miya and cocked her head to the side. "I chose these."

"O-Oh," that seemed to throw Miya for a bit of a loop, she even hesitated on her cutting for a split second before resuming her activity. She frowned for a moment, then turned her attention back to her cutting board. "Well, to each their own I suppose," she said, it seemed to be the only comment the woman was capable of making. Naruto silently thanked Akitsu for her quick intervention. Even though he could not chalk up this as his win, it was kind of amusing to see the graceful landlady off kilter.

"Do you know where Musubi is?" asked Naruto, changing the subject that their small exchange of wits and words seemed to have come to a close.

"I believe she and Uzume-san are in the bath," Miya supplied with an almost absent air. "She worked quite hard today while you were gone. I don't think I've ever seen someone whose quite so energetic."

It was hard for Naruto to fight the smile that threatened to reach his face. "Yeah, she's definitely a lively girl," he spoke almost fondly, before shaking his head. Damn it, he was doing it again. Wanting to dispel those thoughts, Naruto turned to Akitsu and said, "why don't you join Uzume and Musubi while I see if Miya-chan would like a helping hand?"

"Ah." Akitsu paused, then gave him a slow nod. "Ok," she said, and Naruto watched as the snow woman turned around and began to walk out the door and down the hall.

"I appreciate the offer, Uzumaki-kun," Miya chimed as she finished cutting up all of the vegetables and placed them in the stir-fry. "But I think I've got things well in hand for now," she looked over at Naruto and paused, seeing the small frown on his face. It didn't take long for her to accurately interpret the look, and when she did her smile returned. "But it would be nice if someone set the table for me."

Naruto's body relaxed slightly. "Thank you," he said, even as his legs began moving him towards the cabinet that he knew contained the table wear. "I've gotten so used to living on my own that I don't really like not having anything to do anymore." The chores that he did in whichever country he lived in were some of the only constants in his life. Over time they had become a comforting part of his routine. In his youth the idea of cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking repulsed him. Now they were some of the only things that made him feel like a halfway normal person.

"It's not a problem at all," Miya graced the blond with a beautiful smile. "It's nice to have someone around the house who actually wants to help me."

**XoX**

"Damn bro, first your bloomer fetish and now this," Uzume grinned at the blond as she sat down at the dinner table with Naruto and everyone else. She was seated on the opposite side of him, absently twirling some noodles from her stir fry with her chopsticks before placing the food in her mouth. Both Musubi and Akitsu were sitting on his left and right respectively, with the girl wearing skimpy shrine maiden clothes shoveling food into her mouth like it might disappear at any second and the ice user eating in her slow, methodical way. Miya was in her usual spot at the head of the table, her eating measured and graceful as she watched the busty Sekirei teasing the blond.

Naruto noticed with some curiosity that Kagari wasn't there. Perhaps he had been called in to work at the club again?

"Well," Naruto started in a calm voice. "I do admit that there is something... erotic about Akitsu's style of dress." Over at her place at the head of the table, Miya placed a hand on her cheek and made what the blond was beginning to realize was her customary 'oh my' when someone said or did something that could be construed as unusual. He ignored the woman to the best of his abilities in order to focus on the Sekirei in front of him. "However, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I didn't choose her outfit."

"Eh?" Uzume blinked, a string of noodles hanging out of her mouth and sticking to her chin. She slurped the noodles up, then turned to Akitsu. "Is this true? Did you actually pick those clothes?"

"Ah," Akitsu slowly nodded her head. "I like them," she admitted, before she went back to her eating.

"Why?" pressed Uzume, placing the elbow of her left arm on the table and leaning forward as if to get a better look at the ice user, the chopsticks in her hand absently moving around as she pointed them at the other woman. "Why would want to wear something like that?"

"Ah," Akitsu looked over at Naruto and flushed a light shade of pink on her cheeks. "Because it means I belong to my Ashikabi-sama."

"Eh!" That particular noise did not just come from Uzume, but also from Naruto, who, despite himself, was equally surprised by her declaration. Not so surprisingly, Musubi did not show any shock at Akitsu's words. Also not surprisingly, rather than looking surprised the fist fighter looked more confused than anything else, her head tilted to the side as a few pieces of chopped radishes stuck to her chin. Miya on the other hand looked more amused than anything, her eyes crinkled in what Naruto could only assume was mirth and her mouth hidden behind the sleeve of her kimono.

"What do you mean by that/What do you mean you belong to him?" The words were spoken at the same time by Uzume and Naruto. The two paused, their eyes turning to each other in surprise.

"Ufufufu," Miya giggled behind her hand. "Ara, this place is getting so lively. It's too bad Kagari-san isn't here to see this."

Naruto gave the purple-haired landlady a strange look, but was brought back to Akitsu when the ice user began speaking. "Ah," he looked over at her just as she began speaking in her unusual way. "Because he is my Ashikabi."

Her words caused a moment of silence. Uzume's expression now joined Musubi's general state of confusion. Miya had actually cracked her eyes open to study both Naruto and Akitsu with an interested gaze. But it was Naruto's look that had changed the most, going from surprised to contemplative.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense," Naruto muttered as he scratched his chin in thought. In a way it made a lot of sense if taken from Akitsu's point of view. When they had first met she had called herself 'broken', a 'failure', because she was apparently unable to receive her wings and get an Ashikabi. Now, Naruto had no clue why this was, but when he had first kissed her to try and initiate that bond something had blocked his chakra from flowing through her body, and instead all of that chakra went to the symbol on her forehead and dispersed itself into the air. He had been able to overcome that block by simply overloading it with his ridiculously powerful chakra, but the only reason he was able to do that was because he could actually use his chakra. No one else could have winged her. Had he not shown up in that park with Musubi when he did, it was quite possible that she would have never received her wings.

When put into perspective like that, her desire to be seen as his made sense.

"How does that make sense?" Of course, since Uzume didn't know the specifics of just what had occurred between them it meant that she didn't understand. The busty brunette was looking back and forth between Naruto and Akitsu with a curious gaze, before settling on the ice user. "I mean, I still don't get it. Why do you want everyone to know that you belong to him by wearing those kinds of clothes?"

"Because I was broken," Akitsu's answer was very succinct and spoken surprisingly quickly. There was a firmness in her tone as well that had not been present before, ever. Clearly, this was something she felt very strongly about. "I was not supposed to have an Ashikabi, but Naruto-sama gave me wings," she looked over at Naruto as she said this, her gaze just as intense as usual, only this time there was something different hidden within those steel orbs.

Adoration. Much like how Musubi would often look at him only with far more intensity and maturity. Where Musubi's adoration seemed to border on childish, the ice users gaze spoke of an intense devotion that surpassed anything Naruto had ever witnessed. In that moment he knew, knew for a fact that Akitsu would do anything for him, anything at all. If he asked her to, Akitsu would even sacrifice herself for him without a moments hesitation. He did not even need the bond they shared to tell him that much.

To be honest, he wasn't really sure how to take this new facet he had just learned about the woman. Naruto had never had that kind of devotion, well, he had, a number of times to be honest, but that devotion had not been towards him so much as it had towards the mythological figures that had been based off his image. Whereas the people who had worshiped his image with made up names and stories of incredible feats he had performed in whatever given time period it was, Akitsu's devotion was to him and him alone. Naruto, not Zues, Jesus, Hercules or Merlin, just Naruto.

And that bothered him. A lot. The knowledge that this woman would do anything he asked made him uneasy. Not because of the feelings that caused her devotion, that was flattering, but because it meant he was essentially holding Akitsu's life in his hands. Whatever decisions he made, whatever orders he gave, Akitsu would carry them out to the best of her abilities, even if those decisions turned out to be harmful to her.

That kind of power, absolute power over another person, was not something he was comfortable with. Naruto had already proven that he was incapable of making informed decisions when in a position of leadership. The Fourth Great Shinobi War had shown him that.

"He-heh," Uzume laughed after a few seconds, not only breaking the silence but also unknowingly dispelling the disquieting thoughts Naruto had gained. She looked over at the blond with a contemplative look. "Looks like you've got a pretty devoted Sekirei, bro."

"Ah, ah ha," Naruto gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "Yeah, I guess so."

"That's cuz Naruto-sama's the best!" Musubi declared, throwing her hands into the air as she decided to finally add something to the conversation. Even if that something wasn't in necessarily insightful. "He's so warm, and kind, and protective, and has super powers!"

As Naruto face palmed, Uzume cast her fellow brunette an amused look. "Super powers?" she said with a questioning tone. She looked over at Naruto and her amusement seemed to increase. "So what kind of super powers do you have, bro?"

"I don't have any super powers," Naruto stated, thankfully, being someone who has lived for thousands of years, the blond had perfected his poker face. Not even a twitch escaped him as he looked at the Sekirei in the star shirt. Despite not revealing any emotions on his face, inside Naruto was cursing. He was beginning to realize that it might not have been the best idea to show Musubi his shadow clones. The girl obviously hadn't learned enough about discretion to be told any of his secrets.

Damn this bond for making him trust her so much.

"Eh?" Musubi blinked as a confused look crossed her face. "But what about your –"

"Strength?" Naruto interrupted the girl, placing a hand on her knee to try and convey his silent message. "I already told you I was pretty strong remember? I also think I mentioned something about discretion, in case you forgot," he whispered at the end, so quietly only Musubi could hear him.

Tilting her head to the side it seemed to take Musubi a few seconds before she cottoned on. When she did, her eyes widened. "Oh!" the fist fighter smacked her left fist into the open palm of her right hand as realization struck her face. "I remember now. Sorry Naruto-sama," she apologized, knuckling her head with her left hand as she stuck her tongue out. "Learning discretion is hard."

"Ha..." Naruto sighed. "It's fine. Just, just try not to mention my, erm, special abilities ever again. Okay?"

"Ok!" Musubi said enthusiastically, loudly too.

"Oi, oi, oi, what's going on over there?" asked Uzume, looking back and forth between the pair. Naruto had been speaking a little too softly for her to hear properly, so all she heard was Musubi speaking. "What are you guys talking about? And what powers does Naruto have?"

"I just told you," Naruto replied nonchalantly as he once again slipped on his poker face. "my strength isn't any kind of power, I'm just naturally strong thanks to my training."

"Training?" Uzume tasted the word. "What kind of training does someone have to do to get that strong?" she asked, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to dodge the bullet one more time. This had been a particularly close call, and definitely not something he wanted to repeat. He opened his mouth to answer Uzume's question with an innocuous comment that wouldn't really answer her question, and would no doubt leave the girl pouting at him dodging her question once again. However, before he could speak, his cell phone began buzzing.

"Hold on one moment, Uzume," Naruto said with a frown as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. It wasn't on vibrate, which meant he hadn't received a call but a text. After pressing a small button on the top of the android phone, the screen lit up. He accessed his inbox for text messages, then scrolled down until he saw the newest one he received. It took less than a second to open it and only a few more seconds after that for the blond to read the content.

His expression went blank. There was no other way to describe, one second his face held a look of mild curiosity, the next it was as if he had lost all sense of emotions. There were corpses that looked more animated than he did right now.

"Naruto-sama?" asked Musubi, no doubt reacting to the blonds shift in personality. Akitsu likewise looked up at him, though that was partly because her eyes had never left him. Her chains did clink, however, as she shifted, her posture going from semi relaxed to rigid. Unlike the other two in the room who weren't bonded to Naruto and thus, had no clue why his entire body language had changed so suddenly, Musubi and Akitsu were. No doubt they could feel the shift in Naruto's emotions as his mind began gaining a darker tint to it.

The blond stood up quite suddenly, startling all those present. "Musubi, Akitsu," he said, his voice not only far more serious than any of them had ever heard it, but also carrying a hint of command that had Uzume shivering. Miya also reacted to his tone, though her own reaction was more of a straightening of her posture and a narrowing of her eyes. Naruto did not take either of the two into account as he looked at his two Sekirei.

"Come, we're leaving," he stated, confusing the pair, at least for a second. With her usual slow movements, Akitsu stood up a moment later while Musubi remained on the ground, blinking at him.

"Why are we leaving?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Naruto responded, his voice tight. "Something is most definitely wrong." He looked over at Miya and bowed to her. "I apologize for departing with such haste while in the middle of dinner, but something very important has come up that requires my attention."

Miya was staring at him with both eyes fully opened now, her gaze searching. After a second or two she smiled and gave him a small nod. "Very well, do be careful with whatever it is you're going to do," she said in a gentle voice.

Naruto gave her a tight smile in return. "I'll see what I can do."

**XoX**

It was nearing dusk when Naruto, Akitsu, and Musubi arrived at the Botanical Gardens. They were standing on the roof of a building several meters from the fenced of gate that had flora growing over it. Naruto was crouched down in a position not dissimilar to a springboard, his muscles tensing and untensing as he observed the situation to the best of his abilities. Standing directly to his left was Musubi, bouncing on her feet in what he could only construe meant excitement, though it could just as easily be anxiety. Akitsu on the other hand was a sea of calm, standing perfectly still and expressionless as she gazed at him while awaiting her orders.

"It looks like there's quite a number of guards at the front gate," Naruto murmured to himself as he surveyed the scene before him. He had already managed to count thirty-two guards in total, including the five who had taken to patrolling the perimeter. There were also five ATV's, armored transport vehicles with top mounted turrets and headlights in order to pierce the soon to come darkness of night. Many of the guards were standing by the vehicles, their all black combat armor reminiscent of S.W.A.T. Teams, though a fair few of them were also standing guard at the gate.

It was very quiet out, much too quiet considering the number of troops in the area. Seeing such a large number of soldiers would have usually evoked some kind of response from the civilian population be it outrage or simple idle curiosity. Naruto took that to mean MBI had managed to evacuate all of the civilians from the vicinity that was very likely about to become a battle field.

Well, if nothing else Minaka was being earnest when he said the Sekirei Plan was a secret project. It seemed that while the man may be a nut case, and didn't seem to have any compunctions about bringing two (or three in his case) people together in the form of a bond so powerful it made every other experience pale in comparison and than ripping them apart, he at least had the right idea in not allowing innocent civilians to be harmed from the fall out of the fighting that would soon take place.

It hadn't been that long since Naruto and his two Sekirei had left the sanctity of Maison Izumo, only about half an hour. He, Akitsu, and Musubi had taken to the roofs as soon as they had gained a fair distance from the boarding house, Naruto didn't want to let Uzume or Miya onto the fact that he did indeed have powers beyond the norm after all, and had blazed their way towards the Botanical Garden that Kusano was hiding in.

Musubi had not only been quite surprised when she couldn't keep up with him, but had nearly burst in excitement when she saw how fast her Ashikabi was. He wasn't sure what Akitsu thought, seeing as how her facial expression had not changed in the slightest, but he thought for a moment that he had seen a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Naruto had only given himself enough time to change into something more suitable for this mission before they had left. Now he was wearing a pair of black pants that were tight around his waist but flared out the farther they went down, allowing him for more range of movement. Strapped across his outer thighs were two pouches that were carrying smoke bombs, flash bangs, explosive notes, kunai, shuriken and ninja wire. The shirt he had on was black with long sleeves and a face mask that hid the lower half of his face from view and a hood that was currently put up, covering his hair so it would be harder for anyone to see him. A pair of black fingerless gloves were being worn on his hands. Strapped across his forearms and ankles were metal protectors with a dull black finish, and his outfit was finished by a pair of black shinobi sandals he had custom made from a retailer in France. All in all Naruto looked like someone who was planning on sneaking into a fortress.

He didn't normally wear clothes like this, even when he had been a shinobi of Konoha Naruto had prefered his orange and black track suit. Times had changed, however, and with the new and innovative technologies that made spotting someone from a distance easier he would need every advantage he could get, especially when it came to MBI. The eternal shinobi was not sure what kinds of advanced technology the large conglomerate had when it came to tracking people, he could think of a number of devices though, anything ranging from night vision lenses to heat seeking goggles. If they did have something like that, where they could find a person by heat, then Naruto was not all that sure their hiding place would last for much longer.

"Alright," Naruto started as he took his eyes off the front gate to look at his partners for this mission, his gaze more serious than either of his Sekirei had seen from him. It was the first mission he'd had since the end of the Shinobi era and he had no intentions of it ending in failure. "It looks like the front gate is heavily guarded, so that's out. We're going to try and see if we can't sneak in through the backway, or perhaps find a part of the gate that isn't guarded and simply hop over. Once inside we'll need to hurry up and find Kusano and get her out before MBI and the other Ashikabi realize she's missing."

That was the whole reason they were here now. Naruto had planned on going in a little later tonight while under cover of complete darkness. It would have helped conceal his presence much easier. That option had been taken out of his hands when he had received a text message claiming that 'The Green girl is in the arboretum. Anyone who can find her first and wing her wins.' The text itself had no doubt been sent in mass. Minaka wouldn't have sent the message just to him, not when with the way it was worded, which meant Naruto's time table had been raised. Now they had to move in more quickly, with less caution than he would have liked, get in, get Kusano, and get out before the Ashikabi he was positive would come came. Otherwise things would get a lot messier.

"If we're sneaking in does that mean we won't get to fight?" asked Musubi as she finally came down from her high to give him a curious look. Naruto blinked, nonplussed.

"Of course," he said, his confusion obvious. "Right now the last thing we need is to find ourselves in combat." At this very moment there was a scared little girl hiding within that depth of trees. Getting into needless combat would not only be pointless, but it would delay them from reaching Kusano, giving some other Ashikabi the chance to get her before they could.

"Awww," Musubi looked put out, her expression going from curious to depressed. "I was hoping to fight a strong opponent." Naruto took a moment to stare at his first Sekirei blankly, then shook his head and decided to ignore the girl for now. He didn't have time to deal with her apparent battle mania.

Naruto stood up, preparing himself for the mission to come. He could feel adrenaline begin pumping through his bloodstream, heightening his already impressive reflexes and reaction time. Opening up his chakra pathways the blond allowed his impressive internal energy to begin flowing through his body, enhancing his muscles, increasing his speed, his strength, his power. With his inhuman chakra flowing through his body, Naruto became something more than a mere human, an entity whose power could easily keep up with most Sekirei and in some cases, surpass it.

Therefore it was no surprise when Naruto heard the crackling sound of a fireball being tossed at him.

"Scatter!" He shouted to his Sekirei, already tensing his muscles in preparation to leap. In an odd display of synchronicity, Naruto, Akitsu, and Musubi jumped away just as a compressed ball of flame impacted the part of the roof they had been standing on. As Naruto landed on the ground, his eyes took in the site of impact, making an idle note that despite the power that had been put behind the flames no damage had been done to the building. Not even a scorch mark.

His eyes then went over to the person who had attacked them. He was a male, that much was obvious from the lack of chest, though he looked a lot skinnier than most men. The man's lithe frame was covered in long black clothing and a black overcoat that flapped behind him, a pair of full fingered gloves, and a half mask much like Naruto's own covered the lower half of his face. The only thing that could truly be seen about him was the silvery hair that looked vaguely familiar for some reason...

"I see you people decided not to waist any time responding to that bastards message," the man, a Sekirei Naruto figured from the large fireball he had thrown moments earlier, all but snarled. As if to confirm his status as a Sekirei, a ball of flame was conjured above his left hand, looking like a miniature sun as it flared into existence. "I would say I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that would be a lie. I won't be letting you three go anywhere near one hundred and eight."

"One hundred and eight?" Naruto questioned to himself. Was that Kusano's designated number? Well, Musubi was number eighty eight, so it would make sense that Kusano would have her own number as well. He wondered what the numbers signified. Were they simple designations or did they mean something more? Perhaps a measure of their power in comparison to the others? Maybe something like a rank...

He would have shaken his head to dispel the thoughts, but then he would have to take his eyes of the fire user.

"Is that you, Kagari-san?" asked Musubi, her voice suddenly ringing from where she stood. Naruto blinked, then his eyes narrowed when he saw the man wielding the ball of fire stumble.

"W-What?" asked 'Kagari', stuttering over the word in surprise. The flame in his hand increased in brightness, illuminating the darkness further and bringing more of the trios features to light. The man blinked as he looked at the three of them, then his eyes began to widen, though he did not say anything.

"Hmm..." Musubi studied 'Kagari' intently, before smiling sheepishly. "Ah, my bad. Kagari-san doesn't wear a mask." The naïve Sekirei once more did her customary head knuckling with her tongue sticking out of her mouth, once more she didn't seem to notice 'Kagari' breath a visible sigh of relief.

Naruto did. Not that he could do anything about it. Less than a second later, the flame user seemed to remember he was in combat and entered what Naruto assumed was his combat stance, feet spread slightly apart, back slouched a little, with his left hand out to his side and the ball of flame hovering over it looking like an unstable star.

For a moment no one moved, Naruto was trying to figure out what to do while 'Kagari' seemed to be in the same position. Akitsu had lowered her arms, the air thickening around her into a cold mist as she utilized her powers. It appeared the only ting that kept her from attacking was that Naruto had not given out the order to yet. On the other hand, Musubi was still studying the fire user with a confused look. A surprise considering she had been so keen on battling just moments ago.

Before anyone of them could make a move, the sound of multiple explosions filled the air. Two sets of eyes widened as both Naruto and 'Kagari' forgot their battle and rushed over to the edge of the building.

The blond's eyes narrowed as he took in this new scene. What had once been a nest of MBI troops and armored vehicles now looked like a war scene out of a Call of Duty game. All of the troops were lying on the ground, some injured but most dead, the ATV's that had once been sitting on their wheels, gleaming and pristine, were now destroyed, smoke billowing from what looked like several large cuts from a blade of some kind. To top things off, it looked like the gates had been destroyed by those same blades, and were now wide open for whoever had wreaked such destruction.

It looked like Naruto was no longer the only Ashikabi chasing the Green Girl anymore. He had known the moment the message had appeared on his screen that more people would come trying to claim Kusano, but he had been hoping for a little more time. Swearing to himself, the blond turned to 'Kagari' who was still looking at the devastation with narrowed eyes.

"Look," Naruto started, his tone sharp and concise as he got the Sekirei's attention. The fire user turned to him, his left hand absently coming up to scratch his chest. "I'm sure you don't trust me, and considering you just threw a fire ball at me I sure as hell don't trust you." The blond grimaced, that sounded like something out of a corny action movie. "However, I'm equally sure you don't want Kusano falling into the hands of someone who is willing to allow their Sekirei to kill so indiscriminately."

"What are you trying to say?" asked 'Kagari', his eyes grimacing as he rubbed his chest some more.

"I'm saying that it would be in our best interest if we worked together until we rescue Kusano," Naruto stated, looking directly in the fire users eyes, daring the man to contradict him. 'Kagari' looked at him for a moment, grimaced, looked over at the scene of devastation below them, scratched his chest, then looked back at Naruto. It didn't take more than a second before the fire user made his decision.

"It looks like we don't have much of a choice," he admitted. "It's either work with you or waste time fighting you while the Ashikabi who went after number one-hundred and eight captures her."

"I knew you'd see things my way," Naruto stated, making 'Kagari' narrow his eyes. The blond wasn't paying anymore attention to him, however, instead his gaze had shifted back towards the gate. "Come on, let's go rescue Ku-chan before some prick manages to forcibly wing her."

**XoX**

Light as a feather, Naruto and the others dropped to the ground, his arm around Akitsu's waist as he pretended to have the currently lightly blushing snow woman help him. Normally, such secrecy wouldn't have been warranted, but with the added presence of the fire user Naruto didn't want to do something inhuman in the presence of a Sekirei he didn't really know. The last thing he needed was for the man to ask questions about his abilities.

The four of them hurried over towards the now decimated gate, Naruto taking the lead with the fire user on his immediate right. Behind and to his left was Akitsu, her chains clinking and rattling with each movement. On the fire users right was Musubi, who was once again looking excited, possibly at the prospect of battling whoever had managed to cause so much damage. Naruto was honestly worried that the girl wouldn't be able to focus on the rescue, so consumed was she by her desire for combat.

Now that they were not only closer but also no longer upwind, the destruction before them seemed that much more real. Naruto could see the varying states of injury that the soldiers had suffered from in one degree or another. Some had received simple wounds, minor cuts that looked like nothing more than artificial wounds. Most, however, were suffering from a number of life threatening wounds, loss of limbs, giants gashes that sliced through their armor and bit deeply into their chest. Many of the troops who had received such wounds were already dead.

The smell of blood was thick in the air.

Naruto was also able to gain a closer look at the damage that had been done to the ATVs' and could say with almost one hundred percent certainty that it was definitely a blade of some kind that had done the damage, most likely a wind blade of some sort. The cuts were perfectly smooth, no displayed or frayed steel, it looked like the vehicle had been sliced in half by some kind of high intensity laser. Just one more testament to the power these Sekirei have.

"Who the hell goes straight through the front gates?" Naruto's muttered question went generally ignored as everyone else looked at the scene. Except for Akitsu, who was still staring at him as if awaiting her orders.

"An idiot with no sense of discretion," the fire user seemed to have heard Naruto and answered the rhetorical question.

"Wow, these people must be really strong," Musubi stated with good cheer, somehow not at all bothered by the devastation around her. Naruto wondered if it was just in her nature to be so excited by the thought of a fight that all other thoughts were pushed out of her mind, or if there might be something wrong with her. His question was answered when she wheeled around to look at him, stars in her eyes. "Are we going to fight them?"

"We may be forced to," Naruto said, shaking his head as he started to make his way towards the gates. "However, I would prefer if we just got Kusano and got out, and do it quickly. Whoever had sent their Sekirei here obviously doesn't have much in the way of moral scruples." If they were willing to allow their Sekirei to kill in order to get what they want then there was no telling what kind of pain they would inflict on Kusano to force her into compliance. Worse still, it was clear that the Sekirei who had done this had no problem ending lives. Naruto didn't want that kind of person coming within fifty feet of Kusano, though he was not quite sure where his over protectiveness was coming from.

"Right," the fire user muttered as he made to follow Naruto. "Especially since I think I know who did this," he added, causing the whiskered shinobi to look over at him. "And if _she's _the one who was sent after number one hundred and eight, then you can bet something bad will happen to the girl. Number forty three was never known for her patience."

Naruto ran through the small amount of information the fire user had unknowingly given him. It wasn't much, but Naruto could infer several things from the few sentences his partner of circumstances said. The first was that he knew the people currently after Kusano, or at least the Sekirei that had been sent after her. Second, judging from the tone in his voice it was clear that he and this other Sekirei had been at odds more than once, and the fire user was not very fond of her. And lastly, they apparently needed to hurry because the girl that was sent after Kusano was impatient and liable to harm the child responsible for all these plants if the child didn't comply with her demands.

"In that case we'll want to move quickly," Naruto stated. The fire user gave him a nod, however, before anything more could be said or any action taken, a thick mist began entering the area. Naruto cursed, an action copied by the fire user, as his eyes darted around, staring into the thick mist. He should have realized the Sekirei who went after Kusano wouldn't be alone.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice spoke up from somewhere to the blond's left. It was female, that much Naruto could tell for a fact, though it was difficult to judge anything else about the girl form voice alone. "It looks like the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei has gone and found some allies. I hope you're not winged yet, while we're not after you this time I'm sure my Ashikabi would love to get his hands on you."

"The only way Mikogami is getting is hands on me is if I'm dead," the apparent Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei stated, his voice calm and collected despite his words. Now that Naruto had heard the title the fire user apparently went by, the man's hostile actions towards him made a great deal more sense. No doubt he had been under the belief that the blond was one of the Ashikabi who came to try and forcefully wing Kusano.

"That can be arranged," the voice said. Naruto closed his eyes as the girl continued to taunt them. She couldn't be the only one guarding the entrance, could she? It was quite possible given that there were only one hundred and eight Sekirei, at the same time it was pretty illogical to have just a single Sekirei guarding the entrance. The chances of that Sekirei being taken out of the game while you are trying to acquire a new Sekirei were high, and would defeat at least half the purpose of adding another Sekirei to your forces. Naruto didn't believe for a second that someone who was at least intelligent enough to guard the entrance and ensure no one else but their Sekirei could get in would leave it guarded by only a single number of their forces. And so he listened, channeling chakra to his ears to see if he couldn't determine how many enemies they were dealing with and just where those enemies were.

The first one was easy enough to hear. The girl was still talking, and as Naruto's hearing sharpened to insane levels the blond was able to make out exactly where she was. Five meters to his left and just a little behind his ear. Aside from her jabbering, Naruto could hear the rustling of her clothes. The others, if there were others, were being very quiet. Despite his enhanced hearing he couldn't seem to...

There. Half a dozen meters to his right and near the tree beginning line of trees. Whoever they were they were standing on the wall, the scuffing of their feet combined with the slight 'squelching' sound of flora as it was stepped on by a set of heeled shoes let Naruto know that this Sekirei was also a woman. It also stood to reason that the woman standing farther from the center of action was the one creating this field of mist.

"Akitsu, Musubi," he called out, his mind already going through all of the information he had so far from this little meeting and planning his response accordingly. The clinking of chains sounding from his right let him know he had gotten the snow woman's attention.

"Yes, Naruto-sama?" came the voice of his first Sekirei closer to the Sekirei Guardian than it was to the blond.

"There's two enemy Sekirei here, one to our left and another one several feet away to our right. The one on the right is trying keep her distance and is most likely the source of this mist," he stated and then quickly outlined his plan. "I want one of you to take that woman out, and the other to take on the one to our left."

"Yes, Naruto-sama!" Musubi shouted with a cheer that belied the seriousness of their situation. Clearly she was more excited by the fact that she was finally going to be in a battle than she was worried about possibly losing. For some reason, that kind of attitude was strangely familiar to him, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Whatever, there were more important things to deal with, like getting into the Arboretum and finding Kusano before that number forty three character did.

"Ah, yes, Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu's response came with none of the poignant pause that usually accompanied her speech. Naruto assumed it was because they were now in a combat situation, and she likely understood what was at stake better than the fist fighter in his group.

The speed of her speaking was not the only thing that was quick about his second Sekirei at the moment. The air was beginning to get cold, the mist that surrounding them beginning to turn into hoar frost. Naruto could see the layer of thick white cloud in front of him condensing even further, shifting and changing shape as the icy air caused the collection of millions of water droplets to solidify into a jagged looking dagger. This was not an isolated incident, Naruto saw, all of the fog surrounding him was turning into the crystalline forms of icy death. The constructs hovered in mid air, before without warning, they launched themselves towards the two sources he had given Akitsu previously.

"What the hell!" The loud shriek of terror as who knew how many jagged daggers of ice hailed down on her came from the woman closest to the group of four. Another squawk of surprise sounded from the woman standing on the wall. Both noises were followed by what sounded like hundreds of thunks in quick succession as the ice shards penetrated the ground. Naruto noted that in that entire sequence of noise, there was no sound of flesh being penetrated by the ice creations.

The fog began to clear, Naruto assumed that the one who created it had to concentrate in order to maintain it, and now that her concentration had been broke, she was no longer able to keep the technique up.

The very first thing Naruto took note of was the areas Akitsu's ice shards had hit. His sharp eyes could count upwards of two hundred shards within each area, the ice that created them having been so strong it managed to penetrate the concrete rather than shatter on impact. It was an impressive display of power, he admitted to himself. The usage of sub elements like ice was very difficult to use. Ice was a combination of water and wind, the water was used to form the general shape and the wind cooled the water down until it froze over. More over, the speed at which the technique had been formed was equally impressive. If Haku were still alive the young apprentice of Zabuza would no doubt have been in equal awe at incredible display of ice manipulation.

The second thing Naruto noted was Akitsu herself. It was clear that she had been the one who had created the ice shards and launched them at their adversaries. Granted, the circle of ice that now surrounded the woman followed by the several dozen other ice shards already floating around her, hovering like ominous knives ready to be launched at a moments notice, would have made that fact obvious to anyone. Naruto found the fact that his second Sekirei was an ice user to be almost poetic.

Akitsu was already engaged in combat, from the look of things. Though Naruto felt engaged might be too harsh a word. She was just standing there with the same expressionless look on her face. However, that did not mean she was idle either. While her body was not moving, the shards of icy death certainly were, launching themselves at both of the opponents Naruto had told the snow woman about. Each time she launched a set of shards, more would reform in their place at a rate so quick that all a human would have to do was blink before they missed it.

Screw awe, if Haku were here to see this display he would have shit a brick.

And that was the third thing he noted. Both of the women were doing there best to not be impaled with the many dozens of ice shards that were launched at them. The first woman, the one closest to them, was a weapons user of some kind. She had long blond hair in two pig tails on either side of her head, and was wearing a black Chinese style dress with one large yellow stripe running vertically down the center of it. To top her outfit off, she had black stockings, high heeled boots and was wearing a pair of white gloves over her hands. The weapon she was wielding was a whip, and she obviously had some talent with it as Naruto watched the weapon lash out and shatter all of the ice shards that were threatening to impale her.

The other woman was tall and with long grey-blonde hair, dressed in a cleavage bearing dress and miniskirt held tight to her hips with crisscrossed belts and covered all over by a light blue overcoat. She didn't seem to be doing nearly as well dodging the hailstorm of icy death sent after her as the other one. It was quite clear that she was also the one who had created the mist. That other girl was using a weapon, which Naruto deduced to mean she was a weapon-type Sekirei. And if that were the case than it meant this girl was a water-type(?) possibly. It was hard to tell, and it didn't look like she had any abilities beyond creating mist, otherwise she would have used them to defend herself by now.

Also clear to him was that the girl wasn't really a fighter. Naruto watched as she stumbled slightly in her dodging and nodded. She had some speed and the inherent strength of her species, but it looked like her physical attributes were less than those of a weapons user or fighting-type like Musubi and that girl with the whips. If his observations were right, then that Sekirei would be the first to fall in this fight.

As if his words had prophetic abilities, the creator of the fog stumbled, tripping over one of the many ice shards she had been dodging and fell on her rear. Akitsu created several dozen more around her, all of them set to launch themselves at the downed Sekirei.

Before they could, however, Akitsu was forced to dodge as several dozen strings made from some kind of leathery looking fabric that attacked the position she was standing on. The ice user jumped up and back, her ice shards losing cohesion as she did so, and landed on the ground several feet away. And just like that the positions were reversed and now it was Akitsu who found herself being forced into a tactical retreat as she did her best to dodge the many dozens of tendril-like strings that seemed capable of tracking her.

Naruto's eyes traced the strings path towards their user. It was girl, much like the whip user this one had blond hair in two pig-tails, and looked so similar to the other one that he had to wonder if they were twins. Even her dress was similar, albeit in a different style. Where the other Sekirei was wearing a Chinese style dress, this one's outfit was more along the lines of Western fashion, though Naruto noticed with some amusement that there was a large yellow stripe running down the center of her dress much like the other Sekireis.

For a moment, Naruto wondered why the snow woman was focusing on just dodging and had not started creating more ice. It took him a moment to come up with a working hypothesis, but when he did Naruto felt like banging his head on a wall. Much like the mist creator, Akitsu's ability to make ice shards must be reliant on her concentration. It was possible to create the element and move at the same time, but only if one had the concentration necessary to do so. Akitsu didn't seem to be quite there yet, at least not when it came to creating ice and moving while dodging dozens of whips.

Which meant she would need help in dealing with this new opponent so she could focus on the other two. Naruto looked over at Musubi who was, surprisingly enough, just standing where he had last scene her. Of course, standing was slightly incorrect. While Musubi was indeed standing there it may be more accurate to say she was bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. Her fists clenched under her chin, stars in her eyes as her head moved back and forth between the now four combatants. It looked like she wanted to battle, but was unsure which opponent she should fight. Naruto decided he would help her decide.

"Musubi!" He shouted, gaining the girls attention. The moment she looked at him he said, "go after the one with the strings! Make sure she can't use her weapons against Akitsu!"

"Yes!" The girls shout was half cheer, half relief at finally knowing which opponent she should fight. With post haste, the fist fighter bent her knees, and then blasted off the ground like a rocket. The cement under her feet shattered as she was launched into an incredibly fast run that had her closing the distance between her and the string user in mere seconds.

"Number eighty eight, Musubi!" The excitable girl shouted halfway through her run. The string users head snapped over to where Musubi was flying towards her, a slow widening of her eyes to show her surprise. And then the fist fighter was on top of her, fighting with an enthusiasm that was almost endearing and more than a little unnerving.

Thankfully, with Musubi now occupying the string user, Akitsu was free to renew her assault on the other two. While the girl with the whip was good, she only had one weapon to occupy Akitsu's attention. Considering the snow woman could launch dozens of shards of ice with nothing more than a thought that didn't mean much.

The other woman wasn't even worth mentioning. Naruto was just waiting for her to slip up again.

With the battle now being engaged in full force, Naruto decided it was time to leave. He would have liked to stay and make sure that his Sekirei would be alright, but if he stayed then Kusano might end up getting captured by the Sekirei, number forty three, that had already entered the Arboretum. If that happened, not only would their mission end in failure, but all the time he had spent finding her would have gone to waist.

"Come on," Naruto said to the fire user. "Let's leave this battle to Akitsu and Musubi. We have to find Kusano before number forty three does." The Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei looked over at him for a moment, his gaze studying him with an intense gaze, before nodding his head. With the sound of battle echoing all around them, the two allies of circumstance rushed into the lingering darkness of the Arboretum.

**XoX**

The air was thick and cloying within the mass of trees, it reminded Naruto of the amazon rainforest in South America. With so much flora and the trees packed so closely together, the air was incredibly warm and moist. Already the eternal shinobi could feel his clothing begin sticking to his skin as a combination of sweat and the natural moisture from the atmosphere clung to his body like liquid skin. It was definitely not the most comfortable he had ever been, but Naruto had suffered through worse.

It was also very dark, even Naruto's enhanced eyesight did very little to help him see through the nearly black shroud of trees. While the blond's vision might be far better than a normal humans, the fact remained that Naruto was, in many ways, still human. Without some form of light to penetrate the darkness and ensure the continued refraction of light particles to stimulate the eyes, Naruto's enhanced vision might as well be meaningless.

Maybe he should begin investing in a set of night vision goggles. God those would have been so useful back when he was still a shinobi.

Thankfully, he had someone who was perfectly capable of creating his own source of light. The fire user had a decently sized ball of flame hovering over the palm of his hand, looking almost like a miniature sun as it's brightness penetrated the gloomy darkness of the Arboretum for several dozen feet in all directions. Once again, Naruto couldn't help but be impressed by the display of elemental control. The Sekirei with him had managed to conjure the flame from thin air, a feat that would have made any fire user back in his day green with envy.

Naruto took his gaze away from the ball of flame to look out into the murky depths of the forest. Now that he was finally inside of the Arboretum, the eternal shinobi had run into a problem that he hadn't really thought about before hand, but was now cursing himself for not recognizing it as an issue.

He had no clue where to go, and no idea how to find Kusano. Even when Naruto had been using his Sennin Modō to see if the child from his dreams was inside of the mass of trees, he hadn't been able to do more than figure out that there was a Sekirei in there and that it was likely Kusano. He hadn't been able to pinpoint her location, or tell anything more that the forest of trees that made up the Arboretum had not been created by natural means.

It was times like these Naruto wished that the special chakra granted to him via his Uzumaki blood contained some of the more esoteric abilities of his clan. Karin would have been able to easily tell where Kusano was with her Kagura Shingan (Mind's Eye of the Divine Entertainment) technique, an incredible ability that allowed her to sense individuals through their chakra over a vast distance exceeding ten kilometers. It had been even more impressive because when using it, Karin had the ability to tell was lying from the fluctuations in a person's chakra made from dishonest emotions or detecting if someone, including herself, was under a genjutsu. Also, by focusing on a single chakra signature, Karin had been able to perceive it's location and movement with great detail. The ability was incredibly useful, and while Naruto knew that even though the Kagura Shingan technique might have trouble sensing Kusano at first due to the girls chakra being infused into the entire forest, he had no doubt Karin would have been able to find the little girl eventually.

Unfortunately, Naruto's Uzumaki blood was diluted to the point where he had no sensor capabilities to speak of. The only thing that he had gained through his Uzumaki blood was the incredible chakra capacity and powerful chakra of his clan. He would have counted the longevity in that list of abilities, but the blond shinobi's immortality had nothing to do with his Uzumaki blood and everything to do with his cursed existence.

Realizing where his thoughts were taking him, Naruto's lips became a thin line as he shook his head in an attempt to physically dispel the thoughts. They wouldn't do him any good, he told himself. Thinking about his curse would only force his mind into an endless loop of self recrimination and hatred. Right now there was a little girl who needed his help, he should be focused on finding Kusano before number forty three did.

"You really didn't know about the message that bastard sent to all the Ashikabi?" At the sound of the question Naruto turned his head to study his current ally in this conflict. The fire user, who Naruto had a suspicion of his identity, had been studying him intently since they had left the battle between Naruto's Sekirei and the other three enemy Sekirei. The eternal shinobi had no clue what the man was searching for, and in truth had barely even payed attention to the fire user since they had entered.

"I knew Minaka had sent out a message," Naruto admitted after taking a second to register the question. "I received the same message during dinner, however, I knew about Kusano being in this forest a day before the message had been sent out." The blond took another glance around his surroundings and his eyes narrowed. "Or at least, I knew that she was in a forest of some kind and needed help."

The fire user stared at Naruto for some time, enough that the blond had began to wonder about just what was going on through the mans head. Finally, the silvery-haired male tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "I don't remember telling you number one hundred and eights name," he said at last.

"That's because you didn't," Naruto replied succinctly. Knowing that kind of answer would be unlikely to satisfy his current ally, and not wanting to be forced into a confrontation when they should be focusing on finding Kusano as quickly as possible, he decided to elaborate further. "Last night I had a dream; I was in a forest and someone was crying, a little girl with bright blond hair and green eyes hidden in a tree. She told me it was her fault, that she wanted to go out and play." He looked over at the now surprised fire user and shrugged. "I didn't know what she was talking about at the time. Hell, I still don't have the whole story. But I know that she's here, inside this forest, scared, helpless, alone. I need to find her."

It was there again, that same level of emotion that he had gotten with Musubi when they had first met. The feeling itself was slightly different, whereas with Musubi he had felt a desire to be with and cherish her, when thinking of Kusano the blond felt a sense of protectiveness not unlike those a brother might feel for their little sister. It was this very same emotion that had driven Naruto to his impulsive action, rushing towards the Arboretum without creating anything more than a basic strategy after reading the mass text sent out by MBI's enigmatic President.

"Number one hundred and eight, Kusano," the fire user started. Naruto had been just about to go back to his scanning when the man's words made him turn his head. "She was on a day trip from the lab when an Ashikabi attacked her adjustor and tried to wing her afterwords." He once more gave me a studying look, his hand coming up to scratch his chest and Naruto got the feeling that he was grimacing. "You must be a very powerful Ashikabi to have received an reaction like that." For some reason, the fire user sounded shocked. Not that Naruto could blame him. The silvery-haired man had probably been under the impression that Naruto was like the Ashikabi of those Sekirei that Akitsu and Musubi were currently battling. Of course, he wouldn't have been so surprised if he had spoken to the blond instead of just launching a fireball at him, but that was neither here nor there.

"I guess," Naruto said before falling silent. He didn't feel inclined to give anymore information than that. Not only would doing so not help with the situation, but it was giving away knowledge about himself to someone who might become an enemy some time in the future, regardless of whether or not they lived together.

All thoughts were driven from his mind in short order when Naruto felt a familiar surge of chakra. While he may not have the incredible sensor abilities of an Uzumaki, long life and constant use of Sennin Modō had given him a very basic grasp on detecting chakra when it was being used.

"Move!" He shouted to the fire user, who looked at him in surprise for a moment before his eyes widened. Both he and Naruto jumped away just as a large bolt of lightning struck the ground where they had been standing. Naruto reached into his pouch and with the speed of one who had gone through the motions a million times, pulled out a pair of kunai. As he landed on the ground, the blond crouched low, the hands holding his kunai crossed in front of him in a gesture of preparedness as he searched for his attacker.

It didn't take long to find them, the three weren't doing anything to hide their presence as they strode forward. It was the two lightning twins from before, wearing their typical bondage costumes and a male who Naruto suspected was their Ashikabi. He was a lean, brown-haired man of average height with a gruff, wild look to him. He looked fairly average, with clothing that consisted of a white undershirt with a pair of jeans. However, while most people would have dismissed him, Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Was this man also seeking the Green Girl? Naruto wondered. Just how many people were after Kusano? Well, whatever the case was if this man really was after number one hundred and eight, then he would need to end this quickly.

"Well, look at this, another Ashikabi," the man drawled out in what Naruto thought sounded like amusement. He had his hands in his pockets and stood in a casual stance as he leered at the blond. Naruto didn't let the look bother him, already prepared with several possible attacks to either incapacitate or kill all three of the figures standing before him. "Come to find the Green Girl too?"

"You weren't the ones responsible for the destruction of the front gate," Naruto stated, his eyes narrowed as he tried to calculate how long it would take to defeat these three, though he would prefer not fighting at all.

The Ashikabi's eyebrows rose. "So sure about that are you? What makes you think I wasn't the one who did that, little ninja?"

Naruto's eyebrows twitched violently at the mocking reference to his current outfit, most likely his mask. His fingers twitched but he didn't react otherwise. "Because those ATV's were cut," he gestured to the twins behind the scruffy looking male. "And I already know that those two use lightning." Lightning was an element used for piercing, not cutting. Even the Raikiri, Kakashi-senseis infamous lightning blade didn't actually 'cut' like it's namesake suggested. And since Sekirei only had one power, there was no way these two could have any kind of cutting ability.

The man raised another eyebrow at the blond's words, seemingly finding some amusement in them. However, it was the brasher of the two twins, Hikari, who spoke. She pointed at the blond with an angry look on her face as she shouted, "Wait a second! How the hell do you know about our powers?"

"How I know isn't really relevant at the moment, now is it?" Naruto said with an almost questioning tone of voice. "The fact remains I know that you three were not responsible for the damage at the front gate, which means that there is another Sekirei somewhere in here already making their way to Kusano." Speaking of that other Sekirei, it might have been a good idea to have at least tried to grill the fire user on details about forty three's powers. He had been so overwhelmed with worry that the blond had simply forgotten to ask.

Once again Naruto found himself getting annoyed at himself. Not only was he getting so worked up over something that normally wouldn't have caused him to bat an eyelash at just a little under a week ago, but his haste and the overwhelming emotions smashing against him with all the subtlety of a battering ram seemed to be pushing his analytical mind to the side. Already he had made several of the most basic rookie mistakes when it came to missions of this nature, not being prepared, leaving his bak exposed to a potential enemy, not taking in his surrounding to ensure he would not be ambushed, and not learning every facet of information possible so that he could make the most informed decisions. Naruto could only hope this strange phenomenon would settle down so he could once again think properly.

"Oi!" Hikari shouted, her pointed finger now quivering with rage as she glared at him. "Now you listen here punk! You either tell me how you know about mine and my sister's powers, or I'll zap your ass right here!"

Naruto could have made any number of responses to that demand, anything from snappy comebacks to simply launching himself at the Sekirei and beginning what would most likely be a battle to the death. Fortunately, he had to do none of those things, for a large fireball was launched at the twins, forcing them to jump out of the way and take their Ashikabi with them.

A second later Homura jumped down from his perch and landed on the ground next to Naruto. The blond was actually quite surprised to see the man still here, he had expected the fire user to have ditched him and left to go find Kusano. Perhaps the man had decided that he was being sincere in his desire to rescue the little girl, or maybe the male Sekirei simply changed his stance now that he knew number one hundred and eight was reacting to him. Either way, Naruto was grateful for the assist, he wasn't sure he could be two elementalists with nothing more than taijutsu. At least, not if he wanted to rescue Kusano in time.

"H-Homura!" The other sister, Hibiki, Naruto remembered, stuttered in surprise. The blond raised his eyebrow at the recognition that had appeared on the pairs faces. It seemed that these three were acquainted with each other in some way.

"Hikari and Hibiki, and their Ashikabi Seo," the newly minted Homura stated casually, a ball of fire appearing above his hand. "It seems you two just haven't learned your lesson. Not only are you going after unwinged Sekirei, but now you've decided to go after a little girl who's technically not even supposed to have been released from the labs yet."

"No-Now wait just a minute, Homura," Hibiki stated anxiously. There was fear evident in her eyes that made Naruto glance over at his partner speculatively. If these two were afraid of him, then it likely meant Homura was either more powerful then both of them combined, or had more experience when it came to combat. Given the man's title of 'Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei' that he had heard being bandied about, it was probably both. "You've got it all wrong. We're not here to defeat the Green Girl."

"Oh?" Homura narrowed his eyes. "Then just why are you here?"

"Ah, well, you see..." Hibiki started, however, in that second Naruto stopped paying attention.

"_ONII-CHAN!" _The scream of a little girl forced it's way into his mind. Kusano was scared, terrified even. Her fear was coursing through his veins, and for a moment, he was the little girl, watching with wide eyes as someone stalked up to him. And even as the feeling began to fade, Kusano's fear was quickly replaced by Naruto's own fear. Fear that he might be too late in helping her.

"Oi!" Homura shouted at the masked shinobi, who was no longer paying attention to anything around him, in worry. Naruto's entire body had gone stiff, his eyes darting frantically from side to side as they widened in fear. "Are you alright?" he asked when his partner didn't respond.

Naruto didn't answer. The feeling of fear that had been fading was increasing, Kusano's fear mixing with his own. Wherever she was, she was in scared and most likely in danger. Whatever feelings he may have had, whatever reluctance he might have still possessed about getting himself even more involved with the Sekirei Plan might have been were thrown out the window. Nothing else mattered more right now then getting to Kusano and saving her from whatever it was that had caused such fear.

Without a word, without a warning, Naruto spun on a dime, his legs bent, his chakra surged, and in a rupture of movement, the masked shinobi blasted off the ground, the earth underneath him exploding and gouging out two craters where his feet had been.

"What the hell!"

Naruto only absently noted the shocked shouts coming from four different voices as he was propelled through the air. Landing on a branch he crouched down for barely a moment, before with another chakra propelled leap he soared through the air and onto the next branch.

There was a reason Konoha shinobi preferred using the trees to transport themselves as opposed to running. While part of the reason was that it helped them remain hidden when on a mission into enemy territory, after all, very few people ninja included thought to look up. The other, larger reason was because of how fast one could travel when jumping from tree branch to tree branch. With the right amount of timing and the correct application of chakra, one could propel themselves through the air at a rate faster than any modern day car could hope to travel by using the chakra and momentum derived from the act of pushing off each tree to increase their speed. It was an art that had been perfected by the ninja of Konohagakure, and one they had used to great effect during the many wars that had plagued the Elemental Nations.

That was what Naruto was doing right now. No longer even caring who saw him the blond leapt through the sea of trees at speeds that gave the phase 'break neck speeds' a whole new meaning. He flew through the forest, a mere blur to anyone who might have seen him. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, combined with his chakra it enhanced his already phenomenal inhuman reflexes far beyond what even most shinobi in his day and age could have accomplished.

He could feel her, Kusano was getting more frantic with each second that ticked by. Wherever she was, she was scared, and that fear was increasing his own fear by the second. He increased his speed, pushing his body and chakra to the max, feeling his muscles strain as he moved, hearing the harsh sound of his breathing accompanied by the almost audible pumping of blood to his veins.

Whether by design of an unconscious act made manifest, Kusano began directing him, not just with her feelings either. Even though the sights around him looked like nothing more than a blur he could see the girl he had come here for, her ghostly image floating before him, showing him where to go.

Finally, as Naruto cleared one last branch and landed in what looked like the heart of the forest, the sound of a voice, the same voice he had heard in his dreams and just a few seconds ago shouting in his mind.

"Stop! No!" Came the warbled cry of terror from a scared little girl. The girls shout of terror was followed by another voice.

"I promised my master I would bring you back in one piece, you stubborn little brat," the voice was female, older, and if Naruto was a betting man he would have said the person was this Sekirei number forty three that Homura had mentioned. A thump sounded from where the voices were coming from and Naruto turned to corner in time to see the pair as he heard the next part of the woman's speech. "But if you're going to be like this, maybe it would be better if I just brought you back in pieces instead."

Naruto grit his teeth, the fear that had been fueling him until now changed to white hot anger. Once again reacting without giving a moments thought, the blond shinobi bum rushed the woman and body checked her from the side. With a cry of both surprise and pain, the woman was thrown thrown away violently, her body moving with incredible speed as it impacted against a tree several feet away. Naruto stood there, his breathing harsh in his ears as he panted due more to his own rage than any real shortness of breath.

That is, until a gasp from his left alerted him to the whole reason he had rushed here in the first place.

Turning, Naruto saw the little blond girl from his dreams staring up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "Onii-chan?" she whispered, her tone reflecting the look on her face. The blond was honestly surprised when he heard Kusano call him that. He had called himself that when speaking to her in his dreams, more as a way to help the little girl feel at ease than any other reason. Children always felt more relaxed around familial figures. That she had not only called him that, but also seemed to know it was him despite the mask he was wearing was shocking. Of course, there was the possibility that her reacting to him meant she could tell who he was due to the beginning forms of their bond. Perhaps Sekirei somehow managed to imprint the person they were reacting to in their psyche or something. It would explain how she recognized him so easily.

None of that really mattered now, and so as Naruto dropped down to his knees and pulled off his mask to reveal his face and the spiky mop of his golden blond hair, he put any thoughts and theories out of his mind. "That's right, Ku-chan. It's me," he said, a relieved smile on his face.

That seemed to be all the encouragement Kusano needed. With a cry of 'onii-chan!' the little girl launched herself at him. Naruto wrapped his arms around her as the tiny blond buried her face in his chest and began to cry in earnest.

"Ku-chan, Ku-chan was so scared," she spoke in between her crying. It was somewhat difficult to make out her muffled voice as she stained his shirt with her tears. "That mean lady was the one who hurt Takami-nee. She wanted to steal Ku-chan away from onii-chan."

"It's alright now," Naruto said as one hand reached up and began to stroke the girls hair as a strange sense of calm came over him. It was strange, he reflected in a moments clarity. He could not remember the last time he had actually interacted with children before. A long, _long _time. But even if it had been thousands of years since the last time Naruto had dealt with children, a part of him still knew how to take care of a child. He was running on instincts now, memories long forgotten helping guide his words and movements. "Everything's going to be alright. Ku-chan no longer has to feel frightened anymore."

The little girl sniffed and hick-upped, but her crying soon decreased. Her tiny hands clutched at his shirt as she tried to bury her face into his chest even further. The moment, a moment in which Naruto felt strangely at peace in a way he had only begun to feel recently with his Sekirei, was ruined by the sound of an obnoxious voice shouting at him.

"You insolent dog!" Naruto turned as Kusano stiffened in his arms. He looked over at the girl he had launched into the tree, taking in her appearance now that he was no longer filled with inconsolable rage. The girl had long brown hair that was tied together in the back by a black ribbon and brown eyes. She was wearing a black and white dress with puffed out sleeves and a length that reached her mid thigh. Her legs were covered in a pair of black stockings and high heeled shoes. Her outfit was finished by a pair of black gloves. Perhaps the most telling thing about her, however, was the large scythe she was wielding, with a black handle and a blade that gleamed wickedly in the darkness of the forest. Naruto judged the blade to be about three feet in length. It was the weapon in her hand that confirmed in his mind that this was the girl who had destroyed the gate and attacked the guards.

"How dare you interfere with the business of my Ashikabi!" The girl continued to screech at him. Naruto would have winced at the way her octaves seemed to rise to near glass shattering levels, but his mind was already moving into a state of being he had long forgotten existed. His mind became coldly analytical, possibilities and variables sprang through his mind for how best to fight this new opponent at Hiraishin-like speeds. No longer was Naruto's mind that of the cynical wanderer, nor that of the confused man who had just found himself bonded to several Sekirei without a clue on his overly emotional state. Now what stood in the place of those two people was the man who had fought in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, who had been trained by some of the best, who had been honed into a blade of incredible sharpness. Once more, Naruto became a shinobi.

"Onii-chan?"

Naruto stiffened in surprise, and then cursed. In the face of this new enemy he had almost forgotten about Kusano. Letting his mask dissolve until he needed it, Naruto looked down at the young Sekirei still in his grip.

"Ku-chan," he started in what he hoped was a soft voice. He released the girl from his grip and stood up. Kusano frowned a bit, but he just smiled and said, "I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes, and by the time you open them I promise everything will be alright again, okay?" Kusano nodded her head eagerly, and obediently closed her eyes, even going a step further by covering her eyes with her hands to ensure she didn't open them. Naruto's smile dissolved a second later as if it had never existed. He moved in front of Kusano, protecting her from the Sekirei standing before him.

"You really think you can stand up to me?" Number forty three looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or to feel insulted. After a moment she seemed to settle on insulted gave the blond a disdainful sneer. "Arrogant human. After I cut you up, I'm going to be taking that little brat to my Ashikabi." She smiled coldly. "After I punish her for not heeding my words, of course."

Beside him, Kusano stiffened, and Naruto didn't need to see her to feel her fear as it was already affecting him even though they had not completed their bond. There were a dozen things he could have said to that, and were Naruto more like his old self, before his curse, before even the war, he might have said something. Perhaps something along the lines of how he was going to kick her ass, or maybe how she should give up before he had to hurt her. Naruto had been altruistic like that.

But that was then, back when he had been but a child, a boy who held onto the naïve belief that good always triumphed, and that people could learn to understand one another with words alone. Now he knew better; good didn't always win, evil could never truly be destroyed, and people would never understand each other.

This Naruto didn't speak, instead he just acted. With blurred movements quicker than the human eye could follow, his hands reached into his pouches, pulling out a pair of kunai and launching them at the woman. From the widening of her eyes it was clear she was surprised, though if that was due to the speed at which he had thrown the kunai or audacity that an 'arrogant human' was attacking her was unknown. It didn't really matter in the end, and so Naruto put it out of his mind.

He had to hand it to the girl, she was very quick to respond. His blades had been thrown at roughly one hundred and twenty miles per hour, far too fast for any ordinary human to react to. The girl had managed to get her scythe up in time to deflect the two projectiles that had been aimed at her head, the weapons clanging off the steel of her blade. It was impressive all things considered, and just went to show him how powerful these 'Sekirei' were.

However, the kunai themselves were nothing more than a feint, a mere probe that he had used to judge her timing and reflexes as he rushed forward. He had already determined the best course of action to win this battle. When normally fighting a scythe user, or anyone who specialized in using close range weaponry, the safest bet was fighting from a distance by using projectile weapons and long range ninjutsu. Naruto couldn't do that right now, not only because using ninjutsu would damage the surroundings and possibly harm Kusano, but also because of the other people who were also in the forest. It would only be a matter of time before Homura, the lightning twins, and that Seo character stumbled upon them, and he didn't want to have to explain away any possible scorch marks, fallen trees, and upturned mounds of earth.

That left Naruto with one option, close range combat. Taijutsu was out of the question, this girl was wielding a scythe, one that was apparently sharp enough to slice through an ATV. While losing a limb would not be debilitating in anyway, he didn't want to have Kusano open her eyes to the sight of blood covering his body. Kunai were equally out, while it was possible for some skilled ninja to fight a swordsmen with a kunai, a scythe was a different story all together. Due to the curve and length of the scythes blade, it was nearly impossible to truly block a scythe with nothing more than a kunai, and while it was possible to dodge the blow than counterattack that kind of action was a lot harder than it looked.

Hidan had proven that.

That meant he needed to use a weapon that had a good length and would be capable of blocking large bladed weapons with ease. Fortunately, he had one such weapon, one of the few he kept on him at all times due to nostalgia.

Without slowing down his movements, Naruto held his hands together, the left one under the right one. Were he not wearing gloves, anyone looking would have been able to see the glow of a pair of seals before a puff of smoke covered his hands and a good portion of the air in front of him. The smoke didn't last long as the blond charged through the smoke, dispersing it. In his once empty hands there was now a sword, a massive blade that was almost as tall as Naruto. The blade itself had two cut outs, a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer the handle, that aptly fit the sword's purpose of decapitation. The latter notch allowed a strap to be wrapped around the weapon, making it easier for the user to carry. Its extremely long handle was also detachable to further aid transportation and then reattached when required for combat. It was a weapon that had once been used by the former Kirigakure no Kijin, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza. The Kubikiribōchō, the infamous Decapitating Carving Knife.

In the time it took Naruto to summon the weapon and rush over to number forty three, said Sekirei had only just begun to lower her scythe from her face after having deflected the two kunai aimed at her head. The way her eyes widened in fear was almost satisfying to Naruto, who would admit that a part of him wanted her to know that same fear she had given to Kusano. The scythe wielder barely had time to react, lifting her scythe to once more defend herself, before Naruto was on her.

Naruto's first attack was a swing that came in wide from the left and below in an upward curve that would vivisect the woman from her left hip to right shoulder. Despite having been swung from all the way behind him in a wide arc, the blade moved at blurring speeds. It struck his opponents scythe, the blow so powerful that the death scythe was knocked away from the woman's body. Surprisingly enough, Naruto noted that the attack which would have normally been enough to not only knock the weapon out of a normal humans hand, but also had enough power to jar and numb the appendages holding it did nothing more than force the blade away from the woman's body. The strength of a Sekirei was powerful indeed.

As the scythe wielding woman stumbled backwards, Naruto pivoted on his left foot, spinning around in a clockwise circle and bringing using the momentum of the blade to increase his rotation and therefore it's cutting power as he brought it down on the girls head.

In a clear testament to the enhanced abilities that all Sekirei seemed to possess to some degree, number forty three managed to move out of the way of the descending blade in time to survive with nothing more than a slight injury on her shoulder. She had jumped back and to the right, an instinctive action Naruto noted, that forced the blade to move past her. Had she gone to the left, his attack would have likely sheared off the arm, rather than simply cut into the shoulder. Despite himself, Naruto was slightly impressed by number forty three's combat abilities, or at least her reflexes. While not as fast as Musubi, and certainly no where near the power he had seen being displayed by Miya, the scythe wielding had definitely had that inherent Sekirei prowess.

Despite her having what amounted to the genetic strength of her people, or whatever strength she had been granted by MBI's genetic manipulation – Naruto still didn't know what Sekirei were, after all – it soon became clear that while she may have the abilities of her people, the girl before him was no warrior.

Naruto didn't give her enough time to recover as he once more charged the scythe wielding girl. With Kubikiribōchō in hand, he began attacking her with a powerful combination of wide swings that became increasingly faster as time went on. Naruto used his natural strength, enhanced by the power of chakra flowing through his body, and combined it with the increasing momentum derived from his swings to noticeably increase the speed of his attacks. Each swing of his blade blended into the next, a constant whirling movement as Naruto pivoted and pirouetted all the while driving number forty three back. Had there been anyone around the witness the events, or had Kusano opened her eyes and watched him, all anyone would see of Naruto was the constant whirl of his blade and body as he relentlessly drove the scythe wielder into a corner.

Naruto became a living maelstrom.

The girl, number forty three, did her best to keep herself alive. Her eyes were wide as she tried blocking the blond's forceful attacks. However, while the scythe wielder had power and raw talent, it was clear that she was inexperienced in the ways of combat. Rather than use her scythe in a way that would allow her to redirect the giant cleaving knife away from her and force it's momentum so she could launch her counterattack, she took each blow head on, stumbling backwards with each and every step as the power behind each swing became more and more forceful. Her legs began to buckle as she was driven into the ground by the relentless assault, her arms became like lead as they finally began to go numb under the powerful swings of the Kubikiribōchō. Finally, after one last incredible swing, a downward stroke that clanged on number forty three's feebly raised scythe, the girl was forced to the ground, her weapon falling to the earth in front of her.

Naruto raised his blade, preparing to finish her off. He paused, however, a brief moment of hesitation as he saw the pure, undiluted fear in the girls eyes. Those were not the eyes of a warrior, of someone who knew that battle and death often went hand in hand, but a young girl who realized she was in way over her head. It forced him to pause, to hesitate. Naruto was no stranger to battle, and death was quite possibly his closest companion. He had killed many times, hundreds, thousands, millions of people throughout his life. However, in all that time, the one thing Naruto had never done was take the life of an innocent. At least, not consciously.

But could this girl really be called an innocent? The very term implied a lack of guilt in respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing. This girl had just killed at least two dozen soldiers, destroyed five ATVs', and broke into the Arboretum with the intention of kidnapping an innocent girl and delivering said girl to her Ashikabi in order to be forcibly winged. Those were not the actions of an innocent. Yet the girls face as she looked at him, that look of utter terror, the scent of fear she exuded, it was the same look he had seen on innocent men and women when they were about to be killed.

And so he hesitated, and that cost him.

"NO!" number forty three screamed, the sound once more reminding Naruto that he had to finish off his opponent. Before he had the chance, the girl had once more managed to get a hold of her scythe. From her position, she swung the bladed weapon and, much to the blond's surprise, released a stream of what looked like a wind blade at his face. Naruto was forced to quickly dodge to the side, not entirely able to escape the technique entirely, he noted as he felt the searing heat of his cheek getting cut open. It didn't matter, however, even as the blond felt blood trickling down his open wound, he felt that same wound closing near instantaneously.

In the time it took for him to dodge the attack, number forty three had scrambled to her feet and once more swung her blade half-haphazardly. "No, no, no, no!" She shrieked as she launched wind blade after wind blade at him in quick succession with no real rhyme or reason. "Get away, get away, get away! Stay away from me!"

"Tch," Naruto grunted as he forced chakra to the bottom of his feet in order to increase his speed. The chakra helped propel him away from the wind blades that were now tracking him as number forty three followed his movements. The ground in front of the girl was sliced open, trenches formed into the earth as her attack sliced apart the ground and flew towards him, each attack missed and with each miss the trees around him were torn cut deeply into. A whimper when one of the blades got to close to Kusano let him know that the girl was still there, her eyes still closed even as one wind blade got to close to her for comfort.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was time to end this. Taking one hand off his blade, Naruto created a single-handed ram seal in order to utilize the Shunin, or Body Flicker, a high speed movement technique that allowed a ninja to move short or long distances at near untraceable speed. To the casual observer it would appear as if they had teleported. It was not normally a viable jutsu, a ninja technique, for use in combat. Only a few people like Shunshin no Shisui (Shinsui of the Body Flicker) had been capable of using the basic D-rank movement technique to it's full potential in a combat situation, and that was partially because of his Sharingan eyes and partially because he had practiced with it for years to get to that level. While Naruto laid no claim to being that good with the jutsu, having rarely ever used it, he was used to moving at high speeds thanks to other jutsu he had at one point after mastering Kurama's chakra.

He was more than capable of retaining full attention to detail even while moving at high speeds and thus, the Shunshin became a viable option for him to use while in combat.

With a short burst of chakra Naruto disappeared within a swirl of leaves, utilizing the Leaf Body Flicker version created by Konoha to reappear right next to number forty three, his blade already swinging to decapitate the girl as it's namesake suggested it was for. It was only at the last second, when he once more saw the fear evident in the girls eyes that he changed his course of action from kill to incapacitate. He reasoned with himself that it was for Kusano, he didn't want the girl to see him covered in the blood of his enemy. He refused to believe that it had anything to do with simply not wanting the last thing he saw from this girl to be her scared face as he cut her head off.

With a grimace, Naruto rotated his hands, shifting the blade so that rather than the sharp edge being pointed at number forty three when it connected, it was the flat of the blade that struck the scythe wielder. There was a resounding smack as steel met flesh, followed by a loud crunch as number forty three's nose broke under the assault of his blow. This too was soon followed by the girl he had hit being sent into the air as she flew backwards. Even though Naruto had no longer been using his chakra to enhance his blows at this point, he still had the momentum his swing had already accumulated to increase it's power. The scythe fell out of the girl's hand, landing blade first in the ground several feet away, and the girl herself continued soaring for several more feet before she struck the earth hard, rolling and tumbling like a rag doll before coming to a stop lying on her side against one of the large trees.

Naruto was at her side in an instant as he once more used the Shunshin to close distance with her, his blade already prepared to strike again if she got up. However, all the girl did was quiver as her body struggled to retain consciousness. With one final shudder, number forty three murmured, "master," in a desperate voice, as if hoping her Ashikabi would somehow hear her and come to the rescue, before all her movements ceased.

Naruto stayed where he was for a moment, wanting to make sure she wasn't faking it and would get up to strike the moment his back was turned. He had already made too many mistakes on this mission and refused to make another rookie error that could cost him. However, the girl didn't move, all that happened was a slight glow came from her back before it disappeared again.

With a frown on his face, Naruto stuck his large Head Cleaving Blade into the ground, knelt down and put two fingers on the girls neck. He felt her pulse, it was slow, very slow. No human could survive with a pulse moving that slowly, and for a moment Naruto wondered if she was in some kind of hibernation. Bringing his hands together and formed a set of three handseals, his left hand glowing green as he activated the medical jutsu, one of the few he could actually do. It was nothing more than a basic scanning jutsu, used to scan and diagnose a person for injuries and sicknesses. Naruto brought his hands to the girl, stopping when he was just a few inches from touching her, and slowly moved it down her body.

Broken nose. Severe concussion. The first through fifth Cervical bones of the spinal column had suffered extreme whiplash, her neck had almost been broken when he smacked her in the face with Kubikiribōchō. Her arms and legs were under extreme duress, the muscles having suffered from the brutal assault he had launched at her. Other than that there was no serious damage done to her. In short order, she had taken a beating but would survive provided she received medical attention within twenty four hours.

With his diagnoses done, the glow covering Naruto's hand disappeared. Now that he knew she was not going to be getting up anytime soon he let his curiosity get the better of him. He turned her over slightly onto her front, grabbed the back of her dress and tore it down so he could look at the spot that had been glowing a few seconds ago.

There was nothing there, he noted, the skin was unmarred. How strange. Number forty three had called for her master just before she lost herself fully to unconsciousness and the glow appeared, which meant she had an Ashikabi. Shouldn't that mean she should have add that Sekirei Crest as well? Both Musubi and Akitsu had gained their crests when he winged them, and that was a requirement in order to gain an Ashikabi, right? So what had happened? Had the Crest disappeared after her defeat? What did that mean? Was it in some way significant? Perhaps it was used to signify a Sekirei's defeat. If that was the case, then was the crest on their backs a natural phenomenon or something they had been given by MBI?

He didn't know, he had no answers to those questions, and that was beginning to bother him. He would need those answers if he was going to figure out just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

"Onii-chan?" At the sound of the small voice Naruto swore. With all the excitement he had completely forgotten that Kusano was still here! Standing up, the blond grabbed the Kubikiribōchō and sealed it back inside of the seal on his hands, then made his way over to where the little girl was still waiting for him.

His need for answers could wait. For now at least, he could be secure in the knowledge that whatever his thoughts were, whatever his feelings were, he had at least managed to complete his mission to save Kusano.

**So Naruto, Musubi and Akitsu have rescued Kusano from the Arboretum. Homura aids in Kusano's rescue when Akitsu fights against Sekirei number five, Mutsu and is outclassed. **

**Things are moving forward but now we must ask ourselves, what will happen now? Who will Naruto's Sekirei be? And what kind of perverted ass situations will our blond protaginist get into now?**

**These are questions that only the author can answer, but won't, because I'm an asshole like that. However, if you stick around for the next chapter you are bound to find out eventually! ^_^**


	6. New Complcations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. If I did there would be more nude scenes and the main character would totally take advantage of the amount of feminine flesh he was exposed to on a daily basis. I do not own Naruto either, if I did he wouldn't be as stupid as he is in the manga and he would have decided to kill Sasuke the moment he started spouting his 'I'll show my hatred to the world' crap.**

**Chapter 5: New Complications**

**XoX**

Kusano was exactly how Naruto had left her, crouched low on the ground, her hands covering her eyes as she shook in fear. As the sound of the blond's footsteps approached her, the little girl shrank in on herself, as if hoping that by making herself as small as possible she would be overlooked.

Naruto hesitated in his next step as he felt his heart lurch oddly in his chest. It was an unusual feeling, a combination of emotions he had only been starting to feel again within the past few days. Since meeting Musubi, in fact. Anger was the foremost of those emotions, anger at the Sekirei who had dared to make this little girl so fearful. Sadness that Kusano felt so fearful in the first place. And regret, regret that he had been unable to find her before number forty three had and thus forced her to experience fear at such a young age. Each and every single emotion he felt was like a bullet being shot into his chest, they came without warning, and Naruto found himself wondering if perhaps he shouldn't have saved this girl to save him from feeling so many strong emotions.

Of course, then he felt guilty for even thinking that.

It was most fortunate that Naruto had met Musubi now though. Had he gone into this situation without having already started experience all of these different emotions, they may have actually been capable of rendering him incapable of actually doing anything to help the girl. It wouldn't have been good if his emotions had made him unable to properly fight. That girl, for all her inexperience had been powerful, at least as far as raw talent went.

So even though Naruto's heart clenched at the sight of this little girl cowering before him, he managed to keep himself from doing anything more than hesitating on a single step before he was next to her.

"You can open your eyes now, Ku-chan," Naruto said in what he hoped was a gentle tone. He was still running on adrenaline at the moment so it was hard to tell. "Everything's alright now."

Slowly at first, as though afraid the sound of his voice was nothing more than a dream, Kusano peeled her tiny hands away from her face. The skin around her eyelids had wrinkles in them from the pressure she was using to keep them shut, but those wrinkles began to slowly disappear as her eyes relaxed. Her eyelids fluttered open soon after, revealing large, bright green eyes. She blinked several times before they settled on Naruto and promptly widened.

"O-Onii-chan?" she asked hesitantly, almost afraid to believe what she was seeing. Her eyes darted around the clearing in search of the Sekirei who had attacked her, only to find that there was no one there. It was just her and Naruto now in the clearing. Number forty three was hidden several meters away behind a large tree. When she found out that they were now alone, her eyes once more settled on the blond, and tears of mixed relief and joy began streaming from them.

"Onii-chan!" She cried out as she stood up and rushed towards him, her arms outstretched in what was obviously an attempt to hug him. Naruto knelt down and easily scooped the girl up into his arms. She was light, almost too light, he noted. How long had it been since she had eaten? As the little girls arms clung tightly around his neck while she bawled into his shoulder, Naruto found himself forgoing his own analysis of the girl in his arms in favor of simply giving the child comfort.

"It's ok," he shushed her, his voice surprisingly soft. Naruto felt himself being flooded by emotions and memories, the scene bringing a sense of nostalgia that he had not felt in so long. He absently wondered how long it had been since he thought of that moment, but the recollection was brief, nothing more than a flicker in his conscious before it was gone and all that was left once again was himself, and the girl crying in his arms. "Everything's going to be ok now. I'll protect you."

His words caused the Green Girl to clutch onto him tighter, almost as if she were afraid he would disappear, then her body went inexplicably limp. Naruto felt a moment of fear as he checked the girl over. Had she been injured during his fight with number forty three? Had the stress from this entire situation caused her to pass out? A millions concerns and worries passed through his head, only to be put to rest when he saw the girl had simply fallen to exhaustion. She would fine once she got some rest and a good meal.

"Don't worry about a thing, Ku," Naruto said, more to himself than anybody else. "I'll protect you now." Without a passing glance at his surroundings, the blond turned and was about to begin making his way back towards the entrance to the Arboretum when the sound of voices reached his ears.

"Where the hell is that kid!" The first voice he heard was male, and gruff. Naruto deduced easily enough that the Ashikabi known as Seo was the one speaking.

"How should I know!" Female, definitely one of the twins. Hikari, the twin that was more easily agitated and much quicker to jump to violence.

"Did you see how fast he ran?" Hibiki, Naruto judged from the mild way she spoke.

"Of course we saw it! We all saw it! Dammit, it was just like that bastard we met a few days ago!"

Naruto grimaced a bit as he listened to the conversation. It seemed that his emotions had caused him to once more overreact in a way that revealed more than he had wanted to. The blond was really going to have to work on this. Being so unused to dealing with emotions were making it impossible for him to make informed, intelligent, and pragmatic decisions. If this kept being an issue, there was no telling what kind of mistakes Naruto might cause, and what those mistakes would end up costing him.

"What I want to know is how he managed to run that fast? I mean, he's human, isn't he?" That one was definitely Homura. They were closer now, Naruto could see them entering the clearing, their figures getting more distinct and detailed with each passing second. For a moment he thought about putting his mask back on, but figured the point would be moot. The lightning twins had already seen him once, and they had no doubt told their Ashikabi about 'the bastard they had met a few days ago', and Homura, well, if he was who Naruto thought he was than he it would only be a matter of time before he put two and two together and got four.

Best to just bite the bullet now than drag it out later.

It wasn't long before the four others entered the clearing completely. It wasn't long after that the all four eyes turned to look at Naruto as he held a sleeping Kusano against him. Homura's eyes narrowed as he looked at the blond. Naruto noted that there was no surprise in his eyes, as if he had already figured out who had been hidden behind the mask and now had his suspicions confirmed. Seo was observing both Naruto and the clearing they had found him in.

Hibiki and Hikari blinked.

"AAHHHH!" Hikari shouted as she pointed at the blond with a quivering finger. "It's you! You're the bastard who kicked me and Hibiki the other day!"

"Nice to see you again as well," Naruto replied dryly. He walked towards them with slow, methodical steps, and took in some amusement when he saw both Hikari and Hibiki tense. Standing behind them, Homura' body twitched as well, though Naruto had a hard time interpreting the gesture since it didn't seem like he was tensing in order to possibly defend himself against a hostile force like the twins. Seo on the other hand didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, compared to the three Sekirei he looked positively fine.

Curious.

"Yo!" The other Ashikabi greeted in that same lazy tone he had used during their first meeting. "That was some pretty impressive running you did back there. You some kind of track star or something?" It was a small probe for information, and not a very subtle one in Naruto's books. Of course, he'd had to deal with people like Ibiki and Inoichi who were masters of interrogation so comparing a civilian, especially one in this day and age, to his idea of good interrogation techniques was like comparing Minaka's crazy to Tobi's insanity.

It just wasn't fair to the noob.

"Or something," Naruto replied to the man's inquiry with a mysterious smile. There was no way this man would get anymore out of him than what he already saw, and what Naruto already planned on revealing. He had already given away far more about his abilities than he had wanted to, and just by having these people in the clearing he was giving even more away. Once again, there unfortunately wasn't much he could do about that. For now at least, Naruto would have to deal with these four and answer their questions in a way that both satisfied their curiosity and kept him from revealing too many of his secrets.

Rather than look put out, Seo simply laughed. "Well whatever the case is, you sure managed to shock the hell out my girls here," he said, grabbing the twins from behind he slung his arm over their shoulders, his hands reaching around and beginning to grope their breasts. Naruto's right eye gained a slight tick at the blatant display of sexual harassment in front of him. He was a man, and being one who has lived for thousands upon thousands of years, he knew more about sex than anyone else alive. Hell, he knew things about sex that had long since lain forgotten by the rest of humanity. So he didn't necessarily care that this guy was groping his Sekirei, not at all.

But couldn't he at least do it in the privacy of his own home? Seriously, even when Naruto was seducing a girl to sleep with he wouldn't be so blatantly sexual until after he had gotten her to his apartment.

The girls didn't seem to like it either, Hikari in particular. "Dammit, Seo!" She growled, her face an angry shade of red as she squirmed under his grip. Being the twin with the much larger breasts, the scruffy looking Ashikabi seemed to be focusing most of his attention on her. "Stop that!"

"Ah," Hibiki chimed in, her face just as red as her sisters, though judging from her expression it had less to do with rage and more to do with embarrassment. "S-Seo, not here!" she hissed out in a stuttering voice. Seo did not stop, and the pair soon grew so outraged by his increasingly bold movements that the twins turned as one and electrocuted him with a blast of lightning.

Naruto watched the entire display mostly impassively. However, there was a small part of him that couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight. It wasn't the thought of Seo getting his just deserts that caused the smile, but the memories he had of another pair of people who had been like that sprang to mind. It had always been amusing to see the antics of Sakura and Rock Lee when they were together, Lee with his antics of youth and Sakura with her fierce temper and violent fists. The two had been a lot like Seo and Hikari before...

_'Stop thinking about them, Naruto!'_ Gritting his teeth so hard they began to grind into a fine powder before reforming again, the blond made a concerted effort towards ridding himself of the painful memories. _'Thinking about them is useless! They're dead! You need to move on!'_ Only he couldn't move on, he had never been able to move passed his past. It was always there, lurking in the corner of his mind and reminding him of better times. Bittersweet memories that were tinged with despair. Never again would he be able to reclaim those times, even if he tried to recapture the old days, it would only be a passing moment, a small drop in the ocean that was his life. Those days were gone forever, and he was...

"Are you alright?"

Naruto jerked back, startled. Blinking several times to clear the blurriness from his vision, the blond saw that Seo was staring at him with an unusual look, a cross between curious and possibly concerned.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, shaking his head once and firmly ridding himself of any lingering memories. It wouldn't do to lose himself now, not when he had to deal with these four in a way that allowed him to keep his secrets.

Seo looked at him for a moment, studying him in what could pass for idle curiosity before, with a shrug, deciding not to pry further. Now standing at his side and no longer being harassed by their Ashikabi, Hikari and Hibiki were also looking at him, though they still looked wary. Homura also looked wary, but in a much different way than the twins. Once again, Naruto found it hard to judge what the fire user was thinking. Maybe it was the mask...

"I see you haven't winged her yet," Seo said, bringing the blond's attention back to him. The man was looking at Kusano, more specifically her back where there was a distinct lack of crest.

"She's had a hard day," Naruto replied softly. "Before anyone even thinks of something like that, Ku-chan needs some food, some rest, and a good bath. As for what happens after that, well," here the blond shrugged. "That will be up to her."

"Heh, well you're not going to get any complaints from me," Seo commented as he idly scratched his chin. He was still studying Naruto, but it was a lot less critical and with more acceptance than their first meeting. "You know, I wasn't so sure about you when we first met, but you're alright in my books."

"Thanks, I guess," Naruto said, being careful not to disturb the sleeping girl in his arms as he once again shrugged. While it was nice that the guy was no longer suspicious of him, Naruto really couldn't care less what Seo thought of him. Ashikabi or not, Seo was still just a human, and while he might be an alright guy, Naruto was not sure if they would ever meet again after this, and if they did, they could very well be enemies.

Seo seemed to find his nonchalance amusing. He snorted out a laugh that seemed to emphasis this fact.

Then he blinked.

"Wasn't there supposed to be another Sekirei around here somewhere?" he asked as if just now remembering that there was another Sekirei within the Arboretum. The man looked around at the area, now taking careful note of the damage that had been done to the surrounding trees. "It certainly looks like someone else was here." He chuckled and grinned ruefully. "Think they got scared and ran away?" Naruto had already known this moment was coming. Even as he had conversed with Seo by dodging the man's light attempt at an interrogation, the eternal shinobi had been putting together a list of responses and information that he would be giving to the group before him.

"No," Naruto answered. "She's still here." With his free hand he pointed towards the small line of trees where the body of number forty three was still laying behind. "She's right over there."

Without wasting a single second, Homura rushed over to where Naruto had pointed, his eyes wide. Just as he was passing the line of trees he skidded to a halt, no doubt having just found the body.

The fire user eyes went from the body, then to Naruto, then to Kusano, before going back to the body. After several seconds of doing this with his eyes widening with every passing second, he seemed to come to some kind of conclusion as to what happened here. "Yo-You defeated a Sekirei," he breathed, his voice laced with shock and something else, something Naruto was having trouble identity. The fire user placed a hand against the nearest tree and leaned onto it, grimacing as he once again rubbed his chest.

"Defeated a Sekirei?" Hikari snorted incredulously, before she too ran over to where Homura was. "What the hell are you talking about, Homura? Yeah the guys freaky fast, but there's no way a mere human could... could... could..." she got stuck on that last word before trailing off completely as her eyes landed on the body of the Sekirei Naruto had defeated.

Seo leaned over to look Hikari's shoulder to get a look at the fallen wind user. When he saw the woman still lying on her side with a bloody nose and several cuts, scrapes, and bruises along her body, he let loose a whistle, then turned back to Naruto. "I thought it looked like some kind of battle had gone on here," he said, looking at Naruto with a new gaze, this one calculating. "So tell me, just how did you manage to beat a Sekirei?"

"She was inexperienced," Naruto replied in a steady voice. "She didn't know how to fight properly, all of her movements were telegraphed to the point where her superior speed and strength meant very little in the grand scheme of things, and she seemed to only have a passing idea on just how to effectively use that scythe of hers." The blond ticked off each point he made on his finger as he spoke, at least until he mentioned the scythe, at which point he pointed at the scythe still buried in the ground. "The only ability she had that I needed to watch out for was this strange wind blade that she could launch from her scythe." He shrugged, and finally concluded his point by point estimation of his enemies skills. "But like I said, she was so bad at telegraphing her moves that dodging her wind blades were easy."

Naruto gave himself a mental pat at the back at his lecture on how he had defeated the girl. It was concise, to the point, and the only information it would give anyone about him was that he was apparently very good at fighting. The answer was very open ended, leaving numerous theories from Naruto being a former soldier in the military to some kind of battle junky or even an Otaku. In short, all he did was let them know that he understood the mechanics behind combat better than most people did. It probably helped that everything he had said was completely true.

His lecture on number forty three's battle prowess was met with various reactions. Hikari and Hibiki were staring at him with matching stupid expressions, blinking as they tried to put his words into some form they could understand. Homura on the other hand, had narrowed his eyes and was giving Naruto a contemplative look, even as his hand once more moved up to furiously rub his chest. Seo's reaction was probably the most amusing, as well as the most telling. He simply laughed.

"You some kind of battle nut or something?" he asked once he got through with his fifteen seconds of giggles.

Naruto just gave the man a mysterious smile. "Or something."

**XoX**

After some more questioning, all of which Naruto was able to answer without really giving anything about himself away – a fact which seemed to bother Homura immensely and amuse Seo – Naruto and the motley group that had, for the moment, allied themselves with each other, made their way out of the Arboretum. With Kusano sleeping in Naruto's arms it was a slow going process. He could have moved faster, the blond was positive he could tree hop his way out without disturbing the Green Girl's sleep. But for the sake of keeping appearances and keeping the others, especially Homura, from getting suspicious, he stayed with them.

When they arrived at the gates it was to see the familiar scene of destruction that had been unleashed by number forty three, who Homura had told him was named Yomi. Among the wreckage and bodies stood Naruto's Sekirei. Akitsu looked as impeccable as usual, neither a cut on her clothes nor a ruffled hair out of place as she stood where she was impassively. Musubi on the other hand looked decidedly less fortunate, most of her top was gone leaving only the bottom part of her shirt and some of the left sleeve with the two pieces being held together by a few threads. Her skirt was still there, though it too had several cuts on it, exposing much of her white panties to the world. Despite the fact that the girl looked like her clothing had been put through a blender, she seemed to be in an even better mood than before. Naruto assumed it was because she had finally gotten into a fight.

The blond also took notice of the fact that the three Sekirei they had been fighting were gone.

"Akitsu-chan, Musubi-chan," Naruto called out, once more using the '-chan' suffix now that the mission was complete. Both of his girls turned around to look at him, and Musubi's already brilliant smile lit up until it was bright enough to compete with the sun, before she began rushing towards him. Akitsu did not say anything, she just blurred over to him with a quickness that was startling.

He hadn't realized she could move so fast.

"Are you ok, Ashikabi-sama?" she asked, her tone just as bland as always though Naruto could detect her worry, both within her voice and transmitting over the bond.

"Ah, Naruto-sama!" Musubi suddenly appeared directly on his left, her excitement even more evident as she bounced on the balls of her feet. One hand was being held to her chest, covering it, a fact which Naruto was thankful for as he felt Seo's eyes on his girl's chest. For some reason, that really pissed him off.

"Look!" Musubi cheered, pumping her free hand into the air. "I protected my modesty!"

"That's good, Musubi-chan," he told her. To be honest, he was actually kind of surprised she had even remembered their conversation about how he didn't want other males to see her like that. At the same time, it was also strangely heartwarming that she would remember that and take appropriate actions. At least as appropriate an action as current circumstances would allow.

"And I'm fine, Akitsu-chan. Thank you." Akitsu's cheeks flushed slightly red when he favored her with a smile, however, that blush left when her eyes gazed upon his cheek. More specifically the trail of blood leaking from it.

"You're hurt," she murmured.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Naruto said, wiping the blood off his cheek with his free hand to reveal unmarred skin. "See? Not even a scratch." Despite his reassurances, Akitsu continued to stare at the place where the blood had been. Naruto coughed, feeling awkward, and turned his gaze towards the area around him to see if he could see anything that might hint at what happened.

"So these two are your Sekirei?" Seo asked, and Naruto, grateful for the distraction, turned to him and nodded. The scruffy Ashikabi gave a lecherous grin as he eyed his two girls. "Man, these really are impressive girls. I mean, look at their chests!" His hands began to gesticulate in front of his chest in an exaggerated circular manner as he waggled his eyebrows at the blond. Naruto's lips thinned into a displeased line as a sudden yet intense urge to rip the man's arms off and shove them up his ass overcame him.

Fortunately for both him and Seo, before Naruto could possibly react on this near overwhelming feeling, the man received punishment from his Sekirei via a bolt of lightning. Naruto watched as Sekirei twitched and spasmed as who knew how many volts of electricity ran through him, the need for sudden violence dissipating as he watched the man getting shocked in satisfaction. When the man was left as nothing more than a blackened, twitching figure on the ground, the eternal shinobi turned his attention back to the surrounding area.

"So what happened to those other three Sekirei you two fought?" he asked his two Sekirei as his eyes took in the the new holes in the ground that Naruto figured must have been Akitsu's ice shards. He also noticed a couple of craters that dotted the street, and could only conclude they were from Musubi.

"Ah," surprisingly enough, it was Akitsu who spoke first. "They got away," she admitted. Naruto turned his head to look at her again, hoping against hope that she would elaborate. When it became clear that she wouldn't, he turned to look at Musubi.

"So how did you do?" he asked, figuring if he had to ask this girl anything it should be about her own personal experience with combat. He doubted she would be able to give him a detailed report of what had happened. It looked like he would simply need to make do with physical evidence.

"I was completely outclassed!" The excitable Sekirei supplied cheerfully. Naruto nodded as his eyes continued to search the area of destruction, right before his brain fully processed her words and then snapped over to her direction.

"What do you mean you were outclassed?" Surprisingly, the first thing that shocked Naruto was that Musubi seemed to actually know what outclassed meant. He honestly hadn't thought she would understand big words. After his initial shock of the girl using a more complicated word correctly, he felt a sense of worry for the girl overtake him. For some reason, even though it was clear that Musubi was perfectly fine seeing how she was right there in front of him, her words left him with an empty feeling inside. How could he have been so careless? What if she had been injured? These thoughts and many more self recriminations entered his mind at a rate that left him reeling. As it was, only the fact that he had already dealt with too much today kept his face from giving away anything more than a grimace.

"Well, I was doing pretty well at first," Musubi admitted, the index finger of her left hand pressing against her lip as she looked up at the starry night sky. "But then that girl with the strings managed to tie me up!"

"You were tied up?" That was from Seo, who was back on his feet as if the previous shocking experience had never happened. Given that the twins had shocked him so effortlessly and carelessly, Naruto assumed that the event must be a regular occurrence. "Now that I would have liked to see!"

And like a prophetic vision coming true, Seo was once again zapped by his two Sekirei.

Naruto ignored him in favor of listening to Musubi continue talking as if there had been no interruption. "That girl almost got me than, but luckily Akitsu was here to rescue me!" The fist fighter gushed, stars appearing in her eyes as she looked at Akitsu with her fists under her chin. "She was so strong, even when fighting two people she managed to rescue me!"

"Well, I'm glad you two are alright," Naruto said at last. He finished surveying the seen, taking the time to observe the damage. He had spotted all of the holes that Akitsu had made with her ice shards, including a few areas where large bodies of water were located, possibly from a larger technique the snow woman had used. He also saw several craters, most he noted were small, circular craters similar to what he would see if he looked at the moon. Those he assumed were from Musubi, however, there were other craters, smaller ones that looked more like spider web cracks that Naruto determined were from the whip user.

He also made sure to pay special attention to the skid marks he had seen several meters away that had not been there when he went into the Arboretum. Obviously the Sekirei's Ashikabi had come for them at some point, perhaps when he had somehow realized Yomi had been defeated.

Which once more brought up his questions about the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi. Just what was the bond shared between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi? Were all bonds the same? What was it about Sekirei that allowed them to bond in the first place? There were so many things he wanted to know. Answers that he wanted to get. He disliked not having information when he found himself stuck in any kind of situation. The fact that this was something so off the charts that even he, a man who had lived for thousands of years,was having trouble understanding it just made the whole fiasco that much more frustrating.

And as much as it sucked, he knew that right now he would not be getting any of those answers.

With a sigh, Naruto shifted his attention away from his internal issues and frustrations, and turned his focus back towards his Sekirei. "Well, our mission to rescue Ku-chan was a success," he said, finally bringing his Sekireis attention to the little girl sleeping in his arms.

"Awww!" Musubi squealed, her hands clenched in a prayer sign under her chin. "She's so cute!"

"Shh," Naruto hushed the girl when he felt Kusano shift against his shoulder and mumble something that sounded vaguely like 'onii-chan' under her breath. "Try not to be so loud, she's had a trying time and I don't want to wake her."

"Ah, right," Musubi said, her voice now a whisper. "Sorry," her apology was followed by the now customary knuckling of her head as she stuck her tongue out.

"Ah," Akitsu murmured. "I'll be quiet," she finished, and Naruto stared at the ice user. She was already too quiet in his opinion.

"Thanks you two," he decided on saying, then turned his attention back to his four allies of circumstance. Specifically, Naruto eyed Homura. He was now sure that the fire user was, in fact, Kagari, the playboy working at a host club who lived with him at Maison Izumo. This didn't really surprise him as much as it might have, though he would admit to having thought that all Sekirei were female before now. However, this knowledge now presented a small issue. Well, not so much of an issue as a set of choices he could make. If Homura really was Kagari, then Naruto had three choices. He could reveal Homura's identity right here and now, he could reveal Homura's identity later on when he had the time to speak with the man alone, or he could pretend he didn't know Homura's identity.

There was, of course, the chance that Naruto was wrong, but that chance was so negligible that the very thought almost made him laugh.

The first choice wasn't one that Naruto felt would do any good. Not only would it likely make Homura angry, but it might also put him on the fire users shit list. The last thing he needed was to have the man launching fire at him whenever they met. The second option had potential, if Naruto got Homura alone and confirmed his identity the man may still get angry, but he wouldn't be able to really do anything in public without giving himself away. Naruto could use the knowledge that he knew the man's identity, or alias – he didn't know whether the fire user's real name was Homura or Kagari after all – and hang that knowledge over him for blackmail material later. It was definitely the choice with the most potential benefit for himself, and it wasn't like Homura could actually kill him. The male Sekirei was several thousand years too soon to even make an attempt on his life. However, the thought of blackmailing someone he didn't necessarily need to left a sour taste in his mouth.

The blond would admit – if only to himself – that he had blackmailed many people in his life, even now he had dirt on nearly all of the politicians in the United States, the royal family in England, and various other national figures around the world, along with a few people who worked in various departments that allowed him to keep his anonymity, such as people who created identification cards, passports, data entry onto the internet and a number of other departments that were closely regulated by the various governments of the world.

This wasn't done with any malicious intent, but necessity. With the changing of the times and the new innovations in technology, Naruto could no longer just travel from one country to another as he pleased. You needed passports to travel between countries; you needed identification, social security numbers and birth certificates to work, drive, and get a place to live; and with the invention of the internet, Naruto needed someone on the inside who could erase any and all information that may have cropped up about him throughout various times in the world.

It had been easier to just leave things as they were back during the age before the internet, even as recently as the 1950s' when the computer was first invented, Naruto would not have had any problems moving around. He tended to mind his own business for the most part, and so the news would have never been able to report him, and even if someone had gotten a picture of him they would not have made anything of it.

Now though, things were different. Naruto couldn't remain hidden without aid, and he couldn't get aid without revealing himself unless he had so much dirt on the people who could aid him that they could not even think of asking questions for fear of what might happen if he released the dirt he had on them to the police, or the public, or even important officials through various channels. Much like Jiraiya's spy network, Naruto had created a vast network of various people he had blackmailed into unknowingly helping him keep his existence a secret.

Even then, this might just be a temporary solution. With even more technological inventions like the many satellites that now orbited the earth and could take incredibly accurate images of people from space, the possibility of him being discovered ran even higher.

None of that was relevant to the now, however, and as Naruto thought about what he should do about Homura, he quickly made his decision.

He would keep the secret of the fire user's identity to himself for now, and only reveal it if it became a necessity.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Naruto informed the four who were not his Sekirei. " Akitsu-chan, Musubi-chan and I will be heading back to our boarding house."

"Yeah, I think it's about time the girls and me head on home as well," Seo said, stretching out his arms as he let loose a wide mouthed yawn. He then wrapped one arm each around the twins shoulders, this time he did not grope them, and the three began turning towards where Naruto assumed they lived. The man turned his head to look back as he began walking away, and gave the blond a lazy grin. "We'll be seeing ya!"

"Bye, bye!" Musubi shouted as she waved at the trio, and Naruto was somehow not surprised that she had not reacted to the lightning twins. It was apparent that there was far too much going on at the moment for the girl to focus on anything more than the basics right now.

When the twins and their Ashikabi were out of sight, Naruto turned to look at Homura, who he noted was now studying him. "So what about you?" the blond asked. "Do you have a place to live or...?" he trailed off, leaving the question hanging on purpose. He wanted Homura to assume he did not know of his identity, and to do that he needed to sell the idea that he did not know that Homura lived at Maison Izumo.

"I've got a place to live, thanks," Homura replied, his voice a mix between snappish, sarcastic, and grateful. An odd combination indeed.

"Hey, are you alright, Homura?" asked Naruto, now that they were no longer in such an intense situation he was beginning to take note of the fact that the fire user wasn't looking too good. There were bags under his eyes, he was breathing heavily despite not having done much fighting, and what little of his face Naruto could make out was flushed. In fact, if he didn't know any better the blond would say the man was sick.

"I'm fine," Homura grimaced, his hand once more scratching his chest. Naruto was beginning to wonder if that was some kind of nervous tick. "Sorry for snapping at you," he murmured an apology. "It's been a long day."

"I'm with you there," Naruto agreed with a nod. "And on that note, I think it's time we take our leave. Perhaps we'll see each other again some time."

"Perhaps," Homura agreed, and if the man's grimace was any indication, he was not looking forward to such a reunion.

**XoX**

It had been quite the day, Naruto admitted to himself. It was now late at night, or early in the morning depending on who you asked, and more had happened to him in the last several hours than anything he had experienced within the past several hundred years. From yesterday morning when he had awoken from that dream of Kusano, Naruto's day had been filled with more action than he had ever expected to find these days. His preliminary scan of the Arboretum, his violent meeting with Homura, _teaming up _with Homura, the confrontation between his Sekirei and three other Sekirei at the gate, his _other _violent meeting with Seo and the lightning twins, and his fight with Yomi. It had all happened so quickly that Naruto could barely keep his head on straight. It had been a long day, and all Naruto really wanted to do right now was get some sleep.

Unfortunately for him it was not quite the end of the day for Naruto. As soon as he stepped in through the door, carrying Kusano on his back, the first person he ran into was Miya. Said woman only took one glance at him before an unreadable expression crossed her face. Naruto didn't quite know what to make of it and didn't have time to contemplate the look before she spun on her heels, walking into another room before returning again, this time with her katana in hand.

"Uh, Miya-chan? What are you doing with that?" asked Naruto, only to be ignored as Miya quickly withdrew the weapon and pointed it at the blond's throat. Musubi gasped, shocked that their nice landlady was pointing a weapon at her Naruto. Meanwhile, Akitsu quickly stepped forward to launch an attack at the woman threatening her Ashikabi, only to be stopped by said blond raising a hand in front of her.

"Ashikabi-Sama...?" Akitsu said questioningly, her mind trying to decipher the reason her Ashikabi wasn't allowing her to defend him. Unfortunately she couldn't come up with anything, there was a clear threat to his safety present and he wasn't letting her do anything. It was quite clear that she was struggling with wanting to face the current threat to his safety with the fact that her Ashikabi was ordering her not to do anything. Fortunately, the order won out. He was her Ashikabi, and as his Sekirei it was her job to follow his orders to the letter.

"Relax, Akitsu-chan," Naruto said in a soothing voice. She did just that, her body unable to do anything but soften it's posture at the sound of his soft tone, almost against her will. The confidence in the blonds voice was more then enough to reassure the ice-user that he had things well in hand. Seeing her relax, the blond eyed the sword pointed at his throat and the eyes of the woman holding it.

She looked angry, an expression he had yet to see on the kind woman. So far he had seen her amused, happy, curious, and mildly disgruntled; he had seen her smile, frown, giggle, pout and even saw her awesome hanya mask. This look was new, her eyes were narrowed and her lips were set in a thin line that showed visible anger and disapproval at his actions, whatever action it was that he had committed to upset her.

He was still trying to figure out just what he had done to earn a sword being pointed at his throat. His mind replayed the events of the past few days, trying to find if he had offended the woman at some point. After a split second reviewing and replaying all of the memories of him interacting with Miya he found nothing, making him even more confused.

Just what had he done to earn the woman's ire?

"I take it there's a reason you're pointing a sword at me, Miya-chan?"

"A very good reason," Miya said sternly, her voice was rather cold, almost bone chilling. It was one that he had heard in only a few people in his life; Senju Tsunade when she was pissed off at Jiriya for peeping; Haruno Sakura when she thought Naruto was doing something perverted; Kazahana Koyuki when she had been dealing with a group of traitors after her thrown – and when he did something she considered stupid; Yuhi Kurenai when a male was ogling her – this led to many genjutsu that shall forever remain in anonymity for the blonds peace of mind; and Mitarashi Anko when someone knocked over and/or insulted her dango.

Anko was just weird like that.

While he had known quite a few women capable of pulling off the 'you have a lot of explaining to do before I gut you like a fish and hang you by your balls' tone of voice, seeing it in this day and age was surprising. He had long since thought the ability to create such a frightening tone and look had been lost.

Apparently it hadn't.

The two Sekireis on either side of Naruto shivered at the voice, and both of them moved a little closer to him for comfort. It was clear that neither of them were used to that look or that tone. Not that he could blame them for being frightened. The only reason Naruto himself didn't was because he had dealt with worse in his life time. This woman, while obviously very powerful, couldn't hold a candle to some of the horrors he had seen in his life.

And it wasn't like she could actually kill him. He was pretty sure that no one could kill him nowadays, though he hadn't been challenged seriously enough to actually get injured in nearly two thousand years so he couldn't say for sure.

"I thought you were better then to stoop so low as to kidnap someone, Naruto-san. But it appears I was mistaken. You do know that kidnapping is one of the highest offenses that can be committed? And that committing said act results in the harshest of punishments? Don't you?"

"Kidnapping?" Naruto blinked several times. He tossed the word around a few times in his head, wondering what the hell Miya meant. He blinked, his eyes going from the sword to Kusano, then back to the sword. And suddenly his eyes gained a glint of understanding. "You think I kidnapped Ku-chan?"

"What else could this possibly be, if not a kidnapping?"

It was a rhetorical question, the tone in Miya's voice made that clear. But Naruto answered it anyways.

"How about –"

**GURGLE!**

Naruto, Miya, and the other two Sekirei in the room blinked owlishly at the rumbling sound that echoed through out the room. All four of them stopped what they were doing, halted their argument and began to look around for the source of the sound, which reminded them of the roar of an angry predator.

**GURGLE!**

The sound came once again and the four were able to track the noise to it's source. For some reason Naruto found the sound to be very familiar, though for the life of him he could not place where he had heard it before.

**GURGLE!**

"So hungry..." the little girl muttered, just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear before her stomach rumbled again. As the girls stomach growled for a third time, and the soft words that were issued from her mouth came to him, the blond realized where he had heard that noise before.

Musubi's stomach when she was hungry.

He hoped to kami that Kusano did not have an appetite as large as the fist type Sekireis.

"She must not have eaten for a long time, being cooped up in the forest," Naruto mumbled, more to himself then anyone else. He turned to look at Miya and gave her a sheepish grin. "So, it looks like Ku-chan's hungry. Would you mind making her something to eat. I promise to tell you everything then."

Miya just blinked at him, her expression going from stern and angry to confused. "Ara?"

**XoX**

"I see," Miya said as she sipped a steaming cup of tea. After the incident in the hall, Naruto had convinced her that they would be better off moving their conversation into the dining room where they could also fix up something to eat for Kusano. Miya was sitting at her usual place at the head of the table, while Naruto sat on her left hand side, Akitsu on his right as she stared at him with her usual intensity and Kusano sitting in between him and Musubi on his left. The only two people who were missing was Kagari, who Naruto assumed was either in his room or patrolling the streets while doing his duty as the 'Guardian of unwinged Sekirei', and Uzume, who he had no clue as to her whereabouts.

The lavenderette had just finished listening to Naruto's tale about how he and his Sekirei had rescued Kusano. The eternal shinobi had told her everything that had happened between his dream about Kusano and now. Well, almost everything. He had not mentioned that he had fought and defeated Yomi. He knew that the landlady was probably aware that he was different from most humans, but he doubted she would ever be able to figure out the extent of his differences unless he outright told her.

After all, how many people would believe that he was a several thousand year old immortal with immense power that had been wandering the world since the age where all humans had powers similar to his own?

He also left out the parts about Kusano and the other's people Sekirei. This was done more out of respect for Miya than anything else. He was sure that the woman was aware of the Sekirei plan, it didn't make sense for her not to be since she had been housing two Sekirei before he even came here. It was also clear that the lavender haired beauty didn't want to get involved in the Sekirei Plan for whatever reason, and Naruto wanted to respect her decision. He still wasn't even sure if _he _wanted to take part in the Sekirei Plan.

There was also the fact that the president of MBI had told him not to say anything, but Naruto was not really concerned about Minaka finding out he had told someone else about the Sekirei plan. He honestly couldn't care less if he revealed the secret. But until he knew more about Minaka, MBI and the Sekirei plan as a whole, he didn't want to callously give information that might place his Sekirei in jeopardy. It simply wasn't in his nature to place people he had grown to care about in harms way.

And there it was again. That emotion, that desire to protect. If he didn't figure this out soon he might just end up going insane.

Miya tapped her chin as she took in the sight of the little girl stuffing her face. It was a drastic change from just moments ago, before the food had been placed in front of her Kusano had looked like she was dead on her feet. "So this girl was responsible for creating the overgrowth of plants in the Arboretum," she said, looking at the girl appraisingly before turning to eye Naruto. "And you, Musubi-chan and Akitsu-chan went there to rescue her. Am I getting this right?"

"That's the gist of it," Naruto agreed as he scratched the back of his head. Idly, he turned his attention to the girl of their discussion. Kusano was now busy scarfing down several bowls worth of food in an attempt to make up for however long she had not eaten. It was almost incredible to see such a tiny child eating so much, especially one that wasn't an Akamichi.

Then again she was a Sekirei. Perhaps they all simply had higher then normal metabolisms, though he had not seen Akitsu eat nearly as much as Musubi, the snow woman still ate quite a bit. Though he just figured it was due to Musubi being a fist type, and thus being much more active and having a higher energy expenditure. It was just a theory, but he assumed that simple types used less energy, due to the generally limited amount of movement they make during combat and the fact that they don't use their energy for anything other then battle.

He had no clue how to prove this, however, he wasn't a scientist, just a young looking immortal with too much damn time on his hands.

"Hmm..." Naruto sweat dropped as Miya stared at him with a discernible expression on her face. She leaned over, so close her nose was nearly touching his as she looked into his eyes with frightening intensity. Naruto said nothing, however, letting the purple-haired beauty search for whatever it was she was looking for. She seemed to find it after a few seconds of staring, because only a moment had passed before she pulled away from him and smiled. "I believe you."

"You do?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. He was, in all honesty, not surprised. He knew that Miya was aware of the Sekirei Plan at least to some degree, Naruto had not said anything when it happened but he had seen the way Miya had glanced at Kusano when they first arrived. The first place she had looked was the back of her neck. Still, if Miya wanted to play her games than he would play along with her. If nothing else, it would be a nice change of pace to have someone with whom he could banter back and forth with. Musubi wasn't much of a conversationalist unless it came to combat and love. And, well, Akitsu was Akitsu. Enough said there.

"Of course," Miya's bright smile was rather radiant as she spoke, so unlike her scary smile where her hannya mask would appear around her person. He still wanted to ask her how she did that. "I'm very good at telling when someone is lying to me, so I know that everything you've said is the truth."

"Well that's good," Naruto said with a laugh. His left hand came up and went behind his head, scratching it as a sheepish grin crossed his face. "For a second there I was afraid you were going to point your katana at me again, or even worse, actually use it on me to cut me into tiny pieces."

"Oh no, I wouldn't do that," Miya said with a bright smile. Her eyes closed as her lips curled into a wide smile that looked very beautiful on her face. The air around the lavenderette began to darken as a malicious aura appeared around her, making the beautiful smile seem more sinister. "I would only cut you up if you deserved it."

"Ah, ahahaha, that's... good to know," Naruto said with a sweat drop. He wondered what it was with him and violent women. Why was it that he always found himself surrounded by that type of girl?

_'Back then it was Sakura-chan, Tsunade-baa-chan, Anko-chan, Kurenai-chan and Yugao-chan that I had to worry about trying to beat me half to death and/or genjutsu me,'_ the blond looked from Miya to Musubi to Akitsu and sighed. _'Now I've got these three, all of them powerful fighters in their own right. Well, at least none of them have actually tried beating the crap out of me yet.'_

For some reason his mind conjured up an image of Akitsu, Miya and Musubi in the leather bondage clothing those lightning girls had been in. A blush formed on his face, but he quickly shook it off.

_'Don't go there, Naruto, don't even think about it,'_ he brought up both hands and smacked himself across the face several times, the pain helping his mind move out of the gutter and back into the real world. _'The last thing you need is Miya thinking your some kind of pervert.'_

"Um..." Naruto blinked, his eyes opening to see Miya and Musubi staring at him strangely. Akitsu would have been included in this as well, but she was already staring at him. "Are you ok, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Uh... ah ha, y-yeah, I'm fine," Naruto replied, coughing into his hand to hide the slight blush that threatened to creep back onto his face. He was beginning to think he might need some kind of help, what with the way his emotions were bouncing all over the place, going from serious to perverted to embarrassed in seconds. "A-Anyway, do you think you could let Ku-chan stay here with us?"

"I don't see why not," Miya said. She looked up at the ceiling as if thought, before smiling. "It's not like she has anywhere else to go, and since your the one who rescued her I doubt she'll want to leave you. So of course she can stay."

"Thank you very much."

Naruto smiled as he began eating some of his own food, having disregarded it until after he finished his conversation with Miya. He was pleased that his landlady understood the new situation and was willing to allow Kusano to stay with them. Not that he had expected her to do otherwise, if nothing else, Miya was a very kind and caring individual. Even if she hadn't understood the truth of how Kusano came to be in his care, he was sure she would have let the young Sekirei stay at Izumo Inn.

As he began eating the delicious food, calamari in a spicy dipping sauce and pickled vegetables, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallways. Naruto turned his head just in time to see the door open to reveal Kagari. He looked like he was still getting dressed, his long sleeved shirt still had several buttons that were undone and a tie was hanging loosely from his neck. Likewise, he wasn't wearing his normal jacket, instead it was currently folded across his arm. All in all he gave the picture of somebody who was in a rush.

Well, that answered his question as to where he was. Naruto wondered if he had managed to get here before him and his girls, or if he had come in after they had arrived.

The white-haired males eyes took a quick second to glance at all of the occupants in the room, he grimaced a bit when his eyes landed on Naruto, much to said blond's confusion and annoyance, before locking on the still eating Kusano, and then going back to Miya.

"Miya, I'm going to be heading out, so you don't have to prepare anything for me," he told her as his hand came up to rub his chest. The man seemed to realize what he was doing at the last second, and with another grimace, pulled his hand away and began to finish getting dressed.

"Oh?" Miya looked Kagari up and down as he finished getting dressed, buttoning up the last of his buttons, tightening and straightening his tie and finally putting his jacket on. "You're dressed up rather nicely today, more so then usual," she commented lightly, though Naruto could detect the worry in her voice. No doubt she had also noticed his habit of scratching his chest and the looks he was giving Naruto. "Is something going on?"

"Nothing big really," Kagari replied in a conversational and smooth tone. Naruto figured he was modulating his voice in preparation for his job, it reminded him of the few times he had been ordered to seduce a woman of high station when he was a ninja. He would often change his voice into the smooth, husky sound that the other man was using now.

He had also done it when the loneliness became unbearable and he decided to find a female companion for the night, but that was something he didn't like thinking about.

Shaking his head Naruto focused his attention on Kagari as the young man continued. While impressive that Kagari could do such a thing when under such obvious duress was impressive, it wasn't any of his business to intrude on the man's life. "There are going to be quite a few people coming tonight, I'm told it's going to be the busiest night we've had in a month, so I just thought I should put a bit more effort into my appearance."

"Ah, well in that case I wish you luck tonight," Miya said with a smile.

"Thanks, I have a feeling I might need some luck." Kagari smirked. He turned around and was about close the door before looking over his shoulder. "I have a feeling I might not be back tonight, so don't worry if you don't see me tomorrow morning."

As the door closed behind Kagari and the sounds of footsteps began receding deeper into the hall, Musubi turned to Naruto with a question on her mind. "Hey, Naruto-Sama? What was all that about?"

"Um... just an adult conversation, Musubi-chan. Nothing for you to worry about right for now." Naruto sighed and withheld the urge to palm his face as Miya began giggling behind her hand. Honestly, he was beginning to seriously question Musubi's naivety. There had to be a limit on just how naïve and unknowledgable a person can be. None of the other Sekirei he had met were so naïve about the world.

"Oh, ok!" The girl seemed to accept his answer with the same ease she always did, and went back to her eating, polishing off what Naruto recognized as her thirteen bowl of rice.

Sometime during the conversations taking place, Kusano had finished eating. The little girl, after scarfing down nearly three times her weight in food, completely ignored the other people as they spoke. Blinking, her eyes began to take on a drowsy quality, drooping and closing occasionally as she fought to stay awake. However, with all that had happened to her, the attack on her person as someone tried to force her into being their Sekirei via forced winging, creating the abnormal plant growth in the Arboretum, spending who knew how long inside of that place all alone and with no one to comfort her, and finally, the action that had accumulated her adventure before coming into the care of Uzumaki Naruto had left her spent. Her eyes drooped even further down before she slumped over, her head hitting the table as her eyes closed a final time and sleep took her.

"I think the little dears all tuckered out," Miya said as she noticed the young girl had fallen asleep. She placed her hands against her cheeks, smiling at how cute the young Sekirei looked. She was snoring contently, eyes closed and mouth partially opened with several grains of rice covering her cheeks. The spoon she had been using to eat with was still clutched tightly in her hand, only moving with each breath she let out. "Now that her stomach is full she's probably exhausted."

"Right, in that case we should get her to bed," Naruto commented. He lifted the little girl into his arms, it was rather easy considering how light she was, like a feather.

"Yes, we should," Miya stood up as well, and after a few minutes both Akitsu and Musubi got to their feet too. "And since your room is rather crowded she can sleep with me. I've already laid out the bedsheets for her."

"Eh? Are you sure?" asked Naruto. "I don't want to impose on you or anything."

"You won't be imposing on me," Miya replied easily. "We can't have her sleep in her own room, and you've already got three people living in your bedroom." She gave the blond a pointed look, causing him to laugh sheepishly. "So don't worry about it, ok?"

"If you insist then I won't say no," Naruto bowed to the purple-haired beauty as much as possible with Kusano in his arms. "You have my thanks for this. I really appreciate all your doing for us."

"You're very welcome," Miya replied a dazzling smile. "Now come on, let's get her in bed. And you three should probably turn in as well."

"Yes ma'am."

**XoX**

Kagari couldn't help but sigh in relief as he left Maison Izumo. The cool night air seemed to soothe his inflamed body, something he was very grateful for. It was getting harder and harder to be in the presence of that man, a fact which bothered him greatly. He didn't hate Naruto, he didn't necessarily like Naruto either, but that was more on account of barely knowing him. After tonight, however, if nothing else he could honestly say that the blond was a good man. That he could barely stand to be in the wanderer's presence was troubling, especially since they lived together.

As these thoughts passed through his mind he walked down one of the many streets near the boarding house he lived at, his long coat billowing slightly as he moved. It was dark out, with only the street lights to illuminate his path. It wasn't long before he reached his destination, a very expensive looking limousine that was parked by curb with only a single light on in the back. As if it was waiting for someone.

Walking over to it, Kagari stopped by the rear door that was facing the road. Opening it he leaned down and peered in to see the person who had called him, who also happened to be the woman helping him with his job as the guardian of unwinged Sekireis.

"A limousine, huh? This is a pretty classy way to greet a friend," he smirked at the woman, sitting with her right leg crossed over the left, a cigarette in her left hand. She was a slender women with grey hair and grey eyes. There was a long scar that traveled across her left eye, which was being covered by a large, triangular eye patch. Currently, she was wearing an expensive purple dress, it was sleeveless with a thin neckline that acted as a choker and was connected with the rest of the dress, forming an X pattern as it moved across her chest and left a large rhombus like hole to show off her cleavage. The womans name was Sahashi Takami, and she was the person who had asked him to become the guardian of unwinged Sekirei.

"It's the least I could do," Takami replied with a smile. "You've missed a lot of work lately because of me." As Kagari stepped into the car and sat down her gaze sharpened. "Do you think number one-hundred and eighty is safe with that man?"

"Safer then she would be with anyone else," was the reply she got.

Takami frowned, taking a drag of her cigarette before blowing out a stream of smoke. "You seem to have faith in this man," she looked back at her companion for the moment with a raised eyebrow and undisguised curiosity. "I thought you said you didn't trust him?"

"I said I don't know him," Kagari corrected. "The first time I met him was when he had winged Sekirei number eighty-eight, Musubi. I saw him doing things, acts of superhuman speed that shouldn't be possible for a human to do. Yet I also know he _is_ human, a Sekirei can not be an Ashikabi, so that makes it the only viable explanation. This also leaves me baffled and unable to come up with any theory on just how he is capable of such a feat. I don't like unknown variables."

"You never did," Takami agreed with a nod. Truth was she didn't like it either. The man was a ghost, he had appeared out of no where with no past, no history, no workers ID, nothing. Even his passports were unavailable, either missing or purposely stricken from the records she didn't know, but that she couldn't find out anything about this man was disturbing.

MBI was one of the largest companies in the world, and their technology was the most advanced. They had satellites in stationed to watch every country and had hacked into the satellites of other countries. Their information network, while more focused on Japan, and Shinto Teito in general, was still impressive on an international scale. With the level of technology they possessed, along with their information network, finding information on one person should be easy.

Which is why not being able to learn anything about Uzumaki Naruto bothered her so much.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small mobile phone, a touch screen much like the one Naruto used only this one MBI logo was on the back. Accessing some of the files she kept on hand, Takami scrolled down until she located a file that was simply called UN. Tapping on the file with her thumb she opened it, bringing out a picture of the man they were talking about and any relevant information they had gained on him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, age: 18, height: 195 centimeters, weight: 91 kilograms, build: lean athletic, hair color: blond, eye color: blue, Sekireis winged: number eighty eight, Musubi, number seven, Akitsu, and now he has Sekirei number one hundred and eight, Kusano under his care."

"Though he hasn't winged her yet," Kagari pointed out. "I suspect that he won't wing her unless she's the one who decides she wants to be winged by him, even though she did react to him."

"Is that so?" said Takami, shifting her body around to face him as a look of interest appeared on her features.

"This night when I was trying to keep people away from number one hundred and eight, I ran into Naruto and his Sekirei," he admitted. Takami raised an eyebrow in interest. "I almost roasted him with a fireball, but he and his Sekirei managed to dodge. We probably would have stayed in a stalemate had it not been for Mikogami's Sekirei blowing up the front gate to go after Kusano." He paused to let Takami absorb the information he had given her.

"Go on," the woman prodded.

"We ended up teaming up after that. Eighty eight and seven stayed behind when we were ambushed by three of Mikogami's Sekirei, while Naruto and I went into the Arboretum. While there, he told me that he had known about Kusano being hidden inside of the forest before Minaka had sent his message. Apparently he'd had a dream about her before hand, and had already planned on rescuing her. The message just sped up his plans."

"I see."

That was a very unusual but not unexpected way for a Sekirei to reach out to their Ashikabi. When a Sekirei could feel who their Ashikabi was, but was incapable of, or perhaps didn't want to reach out to the person they were destined to be with, their desire to be winged would often manifest itself in dreams along with the usual heat they felt when in the presence of their Ashikabi.

Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Takami asked the question she had been dying to ask since Kagari had entered the car. "What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Not much," Kagari admitted. Seeing the look of disbelief the woman gave him caused the young man to hold up his hands, as if to defend himself from her assault. "He's a very... reclusive person." Once again he was given that 'are you fucking kidding me' look that Takami had perfected.

It was a look she had perfected thanks to her dealings with that fool, Hiroto Minaka.

"Maybe not reclusive so much as quiet about his past. Aside from a few stories about his travels, which really don't tell us much at all except that he traveled a lot before coming to Japan, I know almost nothing of his past. Who he is, where he comes from, what he did before coming here, whenever the subject comes up he somehow manages to dodge the question, answering it without really answering it."

"So what your saying is you know next to nothing about him." Takami sighed. That was disappointing. This new player to the game had caught a lot of attention when he winged the 'broken Sekirei' and not just from her and MBI. A lot of other Ashikabis had found out about this miracle winging, as well as a lot of Sekireis. It wouldn't surprise her if the man soon found himself on the receiving end of a lot of unwanted attention.

Or wanted attention, depending on the kind of man he was and whether he ended up dealing with an Ashikabi or an unwinged Sekirei.

"Well," Kagari grimaced as his hand came up to rub his chest. Takami watched the action with worry, but he ignored the look in favor of continuing. "I do know one thing about him that you may find interesting."

Takami leaned forward as if trying to keep their conversation from being overheard, even though they were the only two people in the car. "What do you know?" she asked eagerly, hoping to receive any scrap of knowledge she could on the elusive blond.

"When Naruto and I went into the Arboretum, we were attacked by Hikari and Hibiki along with their Ashikabi, Seo," Kagari began slowly. "He got into a bit of an argument with them. Seo seemed to think Naruto was there to forcibly wing her like everyone else, and didn't seem to want to let him go any further. I had decided to help him, since both Hikari and Hibiki know I would never let an Unwinged Sekirei be winged by someone who wasn't there Ashikabi I thought my presence would help settle the trust issue."

Takami nodded along with his words. She knew who Seo was, as well as the two Sekirei he had winged. She also knew that Kagari had a history with them due to the pair making several attempts to defeat unwinged Sekirei before they found their Ashikabis.

"Some time after I revealed myself, something happened to Naruto..." Kagari trailed off a moment later, an unsure look crossing his face. After several seconds of silence, Takami couldn't keep in her anticipation anymore.

"What happened?"

"I... I don't know," he admitted. "His entire body just froze up, and he had this look of horror on his face that I've never seen before." A shudder went through his spine as he remembered just how frightened Naruto had looked at that point. Even though all Kagari had been able to see were the blond's eyes, those orbs had been more expressive than a thousand facial expressions could have hoped to be. "The next thing I knew, Naruto was moving, and when I say moving, I mean MOVING. The man had been going so fast that I couldn't even track him."

"Wait, what do you mean you couldn't track him?" asked Takami, interrupting the man's story so he could give her a more accurate description of his words.

"I mean just what I said," Kagari told her. "One moment, Naruto was standing there, stiff as a board, and the next he was just... gone. He had moved so fast that the ground underneath him had exploded."

"You're kidding," she said, not for a second believing that a human could move as fast as Naruto had. "You have to be kidding." She got a good look at Kagari's face after speaking, and paled. "Shit, you're not kidding?"

"No," Kagari stated dryly. "I'm not." He shook his head. "Though I really wish I was, and what happens next will shock you even more."

Takami was almost afraid to ask, but did so anyways. "So what happened next?"

"After Naruto took off, we followed him," Kagari began his story again. "Honestly, it wasn't that hard, while Naruto himself had pretty much disappeared, he left several destroyed tree branches in his wake." Each fallen branch had looked like someone strapped a small stick of dynamite to it, only enough so that it would create a condensed explosion of a few inches, and blew the branches off the trees. He had never seen anything like it. "Well, we arrived in a clearing about ten minutes later. Naruto was already there, and number one hundred and eight was clinging to him while she slept."

"So... what? He moved really fast and saved Kusano?" asked Takami, hoping that wasn't all of the information the fire user had. If it was then she would be disappointed.

"No," Kagari grimaced, knowing what he said next would shock the woman speechless. He took a deep breath, then plunged on. "When we got there, there was another person who had also come to get Kusano."

"Number forty three, Yomi," Takami stated with a nod. "I know that, I was with the team who had been dispatched to pick her up..." she trailed off a moment later, blinking. Kagari waited for the woman to connect the dots. It didn't take too long, Takami was a smart woman, and it was easy to see when she figured out where he had been going with his story when her eyes widened.

"Impossible," she said, her voice shocked as she shook her head. "What you're suggesting is impossible."

"Obviously it's not," Kagari stated in a dry tone, though even as he spoke he knew that a part of him still didn't believe. "There was no one else in that clearing aside from number one hundred and eight, and I know for a fact that Yomi was the only other Ashikabi besides her, myself, Hikari, and Hibiki who had been there. All evidence points towards the fact that Uzumaki Naruto managed to beat a Sekirei on his own."

"What you're saying is impossible," she stated again, and it sounded more like denial than anything else. "There's no way, there's just no way that a human could possibly defeat a Sekirei."

"Takami, I understand that you don't want to believe this," Kagari started, and he really did understand. A human defeating a Sekirei? The very notion was absurd. While Kagari didn't look down on humans, especially considering his Ashikabi – if he ever got one – would be a human, the fact remained that Sekirei were more powerful than humans. They were faster, stronger, and many had powerful abilities that most humans would expect to read in a Shounen Manga. He didn't want to believe that a human could fight a Sekirei and win, but what else could he do in this instance.

"No!" Takami snapped, the denial and anger in her voice surprising Kagari. "You don't understand, Homura!" she shouted, using his real name instead of his alias.

"What?" Kagari blinked as Takami once more began pressing buttons on her phone, this time at a much more furious pace. "What don't I understand?"

"This!" Takami thrust the phone into Kagari's face. The fire user had to lean back, lest the tiny device smack him in the nose. Tentatively, he took the phone from the angry and slightly hysterical woman's hand, the pulled it away from his face so he could read it without going cross eyed. As he began reading the text, which Kagari noted was a list, his eyes began to widen.

"Broken nose. Severe concussion. Suffering from a severe case of whiplash from the first Cervical to the fifth. Severe damage done to all major muscle groups in the arms, legs, back, and core. Rotator cuff in right arm appears to have been cut by a sharp implement. Comminuted fractures in the clavicle, scapula, and radius bones of the right arm. Comminuted fractures of the clavicle, scapula, and humerus bones of the left arm. Comminuted fracture of the femur and tibia in the left leg, and the tibia and fibula of the right leg." Turning his head to gape at Takami, Kagari asked, "What is this?"

"That," Takami grimaced. "Is the reason why Naruto could not have possible defeated number forty three.

"Shit," Kagari swore. "You don't mean..?"

"It was a level four deactivation," Takami said with a grimace. Kagari seemed to mimic her actions as they both fell silent, each one contemplating the new information they had been given. Now that the moment of shock had passed, Takami had calmed down enough to at least think about the knowledge that Kagari had given her about Naruto, even if she still didn't like it. Deciding to focus on the matter from an objective standpoint, Takami went over all of the information that she had just been given in relation to Yomi's defeat.

Firstly, the lightning twins, Yomi, and Kagari himself had been the only Sekirei within the Arboretum at the time. The only other two people there had been Seo and Naruto. She only had Kagari's word to go on, but she trusted him enough to believe him out of hand until she could check the MBI databanks on last last night's debacle. God was it already morning? It would be easy enough for her to find out if there were any other Sekirei in that area. If it turned out that Kagari had been correct, and Naruto really was the only person there at the time of Yomi's demise, aside from Kusano of course, then she would have no choice but to believe that the fire user was telling the truth.

She didn't like this, however. The knowledge that there was a human out there who had the ability to fight a Sekirei and emerge victorious went against everything she had been researching up to this point. Not only did it practically spit in the face of her research, it meant they now had a dangerous man running loose who could potentially kill Sekirei. That he was an Ashikabi just made it worse. If what Kagari said was true and Uzumaki Naruto had accomplished that feat, then there was far more to the blond male then she, and possibly even Minaka realized.

If only she knew.

Thinking of Minaka, Takami couldn't help but question whether he knew of this or not. Was Minaka aware that they had a human with Sekirei fighting capabilities in Japan? And that he had winged two Sekirei, with a possible third on the way, within a grand total of several days? Not to mention that one of those Sekireis _should_ have been impossible to wing at all. She wished she had the answers to those questions, and even thought about seeing if she could beat them out of the man. However, even she knew that doing so would be impossible. Minaka was surprisingly tight lipped – especially when she considered how damn loud and obnoxious he was – about things he wanted to keep a secret.

She sighed and took another drag of her cigarette, letting the nicotine calm her nerves of the shock she felt from this new piece of information. After blowing out several streams of smoke she felt infinitely better, and turned her head to look at Kagari once again.

"Do you know how he managed to defeat number forty three?" she asked quietly, almost as if afraid that by asking she was admitting defeat.

"No," Kagari shook his head as he pulled out his own stuck it in his mouth. Holding his hand out in the shape of a gun, his index finger ignited so he could light his death stick. He took a long drag from it, hoping that the nicotine would help him calm down. "By the time we had arrived there the battle was already over." He would have mentioned the state of the battle site, but considering she had been there to pick up Yomi he was sure she had already seen the amount of destruction the fight had caused.

"I see," Takami sounded disappointed as she closed her eyes and took another drag of her cigarette. She was quiet for moment, lost contemplating everything she now knew. Eventually, however, she opened her eyes again and asked what would probably be one of the last questions she had for Kagari. "What else do you know about him?"

"Hmm..." Kagari crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he pondered the question. After a few seconds he nodded and began telling Takami everything he knew about Uzumaki Naruto. "Aside from the fact he can apparently beat a Sekirei in combat, he also seems to have the strange ability to earn the trust of others." Already knowing that Takami would ask for an explanation he began elaborating. "It took only took a single meeting with him before Asama Miya decided she could trust him. During the few times I've seen them together they look very comfortable in each others presence. _Very _comfortable."

That was another thing that bothered Kagari. Miya was a very kind woman, when she wasn't being scary. However, that didn't mean she trusted people out of hand, and certainly not within the first hour of meeting them. Yet in their first meeting, Naruto had somehow gained the woman's trust. 'I see the ability to change fate.' That was what she had told him when he had asked her if she thought letting Naruto stay with them was a good idea. Kagari had no clue what the woman meant by 'changing fate', but he himself was beginning to understand that there was more to that man than he had ever thought possible.

Naruto had, after all, defeated a Sekirei.

"Lovers?"

"No," Kagari snorted incredulously at Takami's question. "You and I both know that Miya was in love with Takehito. She would never fall in love with another man so easily." Or at all. "However, they are both very friendly with each other, and often joke around and converse with each other when neither of them are spending time with the others. Several times I've seen the two of them just sitting around sharing a cup of tea, and Miya has even taken to training Sekirei number eighty-eight."

"She wouldn't do that unless she liked both the Sekirei and her Ashikabi," Takami agreed. While she would admit to not knowing Miya that well, she knew enough about the purple-haired beauty to know that much at least.

Kagari nodded before continuing with his report. "He also has a very strong rapport with his Sekirei. Both Akitsu and Musubi are fiercely loyal to him. Naruto seems to be the type of person who treats his bond with them as if he were in a relationship with them."

"Oh?" Takami raised a single, manicured eyebrow. This was an interesting piece of information. "You mean he treats them like they were his lovers?"

"Or his girlfriends," Kagari said with a shrug. "So far Naruto has taken Musubi out shopping for clothes, and they have also gone out on a picnic. I know that he and Akitsu haven't done as much yet, but I'm pretty sure the reason is more due to the fact that he only winged her two days ago. However, he did take her shopping for clothes before this whole fiasco with number one hundred and eight started. Along with that he seems to be... affectionate towards them. It's not unusual to see him with one or both of them, usually in some form of physical contact..."

Kagari trailed off as he tried to think of other pieces of information he had learned that may be relevant. While he was doing that, Takami had already decided what else she wanted to know. "What about his personality?"

"His personality?" Kagari blinked. When Takami nodded he said, "friendly."

"I thought you said he was reclusive," Takami countered with a sly smile, making Kagari scowl slightly.

"I said he was quiet about his past. He refuses to reveal anything about his origins, however, aside from that he seems to be a very friendly and outgoing person. In some ways he reminds me of number eighty-eight, out going, talkative, yet unlike her, he also seems to be highly intelligent and observative... though he can also be very quiet at times. Sometimes I've noticed he'll trail of mid sentence and gets this odd look..." Kagari paused and shook his head. "It's like he's thinking of something painful when he looks like that. He also has a tendency to switch personalities, sometimes he acts just like eighty-eight, other times he's very quiet, and still sometimes he acts in a manner similar to Miya. It's like he has multiple personalities or something..."

He trailed off for a moment, then sighed. There was so much about Naruto that he simply didn't know, and the little bit that he did know only left more questions. How had Naruto been able to move so fast during the incident at the Arboretum and before when he had been running with Musubi in his arms while being chased by the lightning twins? How had he been able to defeat a Sekirei in combat?

Who was Uzumaki Naruto.

"So in short, aside from learning the he has a friendly personality but refuses to let people know about his past, can apparently outpace a Sekirei, and has apparently _defeated _a Sekirei, we know next to nothing about him," Takami said in a clinical tone that held a hint of sarcasm. It was clear that she was back in form now that the shock factor Kagari had hit her with had worn off.

"Pretty much," Kagari agreed with a nod of his head, and Takami snorted, though whether from incredulity at this entire situation or some other reason was unknown to anyone but Takami.

"Do you trust him?" she asked suddenly, the question making the fire user blink in surprise.

"I..." Kagari paused. Did he trust Naruto? He would admit the blond seemed to be a good guy. Friendly, protective and confident. Charismatic. A natural leader in many aspects. Even Miya had taken a liking to him for some reason he couldn't fathom.

However...

"Not completely," Kagari said at last. "I trust that he is a good person, and I don't think we'll have anything to worry about as far as him becoming like Minaka or the two Ashikabi that have been known for forcibly wing Sekireis. But until I know more about him, I simply can't trust him." There were simply too many unknown variables surrounding Naruto for him to trust the man. Without knowing about his past, without knowing how he had been able to accomplish those feats he had seen last night, Kagari simply couldn't trust Naruto.

"I see..." Takami sighed. There were a few moments of silence between the pair, neither willing to break it at the moment as they both got lost in thought.

It would be Kagari who broke the silence.

"So... what are we going to do tonight?"

Takami smirked as she pulled out one of the MBI executive credit cards. "I swiped Minaka's card from him a little while ago. I get the feeling he was the one who released Sekirei number seven. So I think we should punish the bastard by using his card to buy anything and everything we want tonight!"

**XoX**

Within his tower, Hiroto Minaka sneezed violently, before he went back to the screen where he was watching Izumo Inn to see if his newest obsession – I mean, the Sekirei Plan's newest player was doing anything entertaining.

**XoX**

Kagari let out a short laugh. "Takami, this is why I like you so much!"

Yes, it was a good night to be them.

And a poor one to be Minaka.

**XoX**

Naruto looked up at the sky as he sat on the back porch by himself, hands placed behind him to act as support as he leaned back. His feet were planting on the soft ground below the house, the small lip that acted as the porch wasn't very high, maybe a foot or so, possibly less. He was alone at the moment, both Akitsu and Musubi were in the bath, and Miya was in the kitchen washing dishes. Naruto had offered to help but she had turned him down stating that he'd had a long day and should get some rest. Kusano was already asleep, as far as he knew.

It was a beautiful night, or early morning, the sky had darkened to a very dark, almost blackish blue color, several thousand stars were twinkling in the night sky, thousands of light years from the Earth. He could recognize all of the constellations in the sky and was easily pointing them out to himself, using his skills in observation and his imaginative mind to connect the stars together and create the images the constellations represent.

It was a skill he had acquired during one of the times he had decided to pose as a college student and took several astronomy courses. He wondered how his old friends would react if they learned he had been to school not just once, but several hundred times in the past one thousand or so years.

Of course, his going to college had been a necessity. The change of the times meant that Naruto needed to learn as much about the world and people in it as possible so that he could adapt to any situation. Most of the courses he had taken while in college had been ones that would help him in some way; learning the various languages of the world, studying business so that he could make a living as an author and not get cheated out of a deal, studying politics so he could work behind the scenes to keep his existence a secret, learning to use the newest technologies and the internet so that he could understand the process that went into entering data on the world wide web and ensuring that whoever he had erasing information about him that might spring up and inputting new information of his own desire was doing their job properly. Many of the courses he had taken were all designed to help him blend into society and cover the secret of his existence.

Of course, even though it had been necessary he was sure his friends would have still shit a brick if they could see him now.

He would have chuckled at the thought, but just thinking about his long gone friends hurt. So much had changed since the Elemental Nations disbanded, though that was perhaps too soft of a word for what happened. Both the land itself; from the shifting of the tectonic plates that had separated what had at one point been more or less one large land mass with several smaller continents that had not been a part of the Elemental Nations. To the cultural changes, the great variety of artwork and architecture that had sprung up from the many different countries that came into being. To the changes in it's people, the advancements that had been made through history and the technological wonders they had come up with when Chakra had become a thing of the past.

Even he had changed. While not much had changed on the outside, in fact, nothing had changed at all when it came to the blond's physical appearance, he looked the same now as he had when he had gained this accursed power. No, his changes were more along the lines of mental and spiritual change. Aside from becoming much quieter then he used to be, he was also much more patient, more capable, more intelligent, and much _much_ more bitter with the world.

Though it may be more accurate to say he was embittered with his inability to pass on, to leave the mortal plain so he could be with his loved ones again, his precious people. Many a night he had wished for the end, to feel the cold embrace of death as his soul left his flesh and blood body so he could ascend to where his parents and adopted family was waiting for him. Anyone else may have been disturbed by those thoughts, but Naruto had lived a long life, and with everyone he had ever known and loved gone, the blond had simply desired to go where they were.

They were the thoughts of a man who had lived for a long time and now had nothing left to live for.

_'Of course, I do have people to live for now,'_ he thought to himself. His mind conjured the images of the people he had come to care about; Akitsu, Musubi, Miya, Uzume, Kagari and now Kusano. They were people who had become important to him, precious. It was odd, to feel that desire again, the desire to be with and protect others. He had spent so much time ignoring humanity to the best of his ability that he was unsure what to do about these new feelings.

Or perhaps it would be accurate to say all of the old feelings that had been reemerging. It had started out when he had rescued Musubi, and grown after he had winged her. The bond. Naruto was sure the bond was the cause of his reemerging emotions. Ever since he had winged Musubi he had been feeling her emotions, like static in the back of his mind. They weren't always very clear, sometimes the emotions themselves were muddled, and he was unable to make heads or tails of what she was feeling. The inclusion of Akitsu had added to his inability to properly read the excitable girls emotions. If it had been difficult dealing with Musubi, then having to feel both Akitsu and Musubi through this strange bond was insane.

However, while he could not feel their emotions as clearly as his own, he felt enough. More then enough. It had become very difficult to retain his generally uncaring state of mind. Being able to feel his Sekirei's emotions seemed to pulling his own emotions from the murky depths he had hidden them. It was like this one movie he had seen once, where two people had ended up switching bodies to see how the other lived and gained an appreciation of what they had. Only in Naruto's case he was feeling the emotions of his Sekirei and the emotional feedback was bringing all of his own emotions back, leaving him off balance and unable to react properly.

A part of him wanted to break this bond. To shatter it so that he wouldn't have to feel this way. They would only hurt him in the end, he knew. Eventually, Akitsu and Musubi would die, and he would be left alone. If he let them into his heart, it would only lead to his heart breaking. And Naruto did not know how much more of that he could take before he became what the people of Konoha had once thought him to be, a monster.

There was a distinct irony to his thoughts, one that Naruto recognized. He could remember, oh so clearly, the day he had tried to stop Sasuke from betraying Konoha to go to Orochimaru. His at the time wayward rival and brother in all but blood had been determined to break his bonds with Naruto and the people of Konoha in much the same way Naruto contemplated doing right now. It was a bitter reminder of just how low he had fallen since those days.

And yet, in spite of the fact that Naruto knew he should break this bond, knew it would only lead to a bittersweet end, even if he could, the blond was unsure he wanted to. These emotions he had been experiencing since bonding to his first Sekirei, which had only increased after bonding to his second Sekirei, he liked them. They felt nice. These feelings, these emotions, this desire to protect and cherish the woman he now found himself connected to, they felt... natural. Yes, natural. Like this was how he was supposed to feel, and was only just now realizing it. However, that in itself was a problem, one he was currently unsure how to deal with.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto shifted his attention elsewhere. He couldn't do anything about his conflicting feelings right now, he was unsure of where to even begin to address that issue. Instead he focused on something else, something that he could deal with. Analyzing his battle with number forty three, Yomi.

The battle, if it could truly be called that, had only lasted two minutes. Yomi, for all her ability and power had been no match for him. Yes, she had been faster, faster than any human in this day and age, faster even than quite a few of the ninja he had known in the past. But then again, so was he. Sure, she had been strong, the fact that she had withstood the brunt of his assault for so long without her arms breaking had been impressive. But his chakra enhanced body was still stronger. And yes, she did have a very unique ability, a powerful attack that could truly be devastating if used correctly. But she had been inexperienced in it's use. It was clear to him that the girl had no formal training in the use of her power, or fighting in general. He was actually somewhat surprised, he would have thought that the scientists of MBI would have taught her about her powers. After all, if you're going to make some kind of human weapon, shouldn't you know how the weapon you are making works?

That power Yomi had used, the wind blade, it had been quite impressive. Naruto had only needed for her to use it against him a single time before he had properly analyzed the ability. The attack itself was reminiscent of the Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere), which had been one of the jutsu favored by Danzō. The Shinkūgyoku was not a normal wind attack, as it's name states, the jutsu created a vacuum in the form of a sphere. It was a small space of nothing, a tiny sphere in which nothing could exist, not even air. That was what made the attack so deadly. With nothing able to exist, anything that it came into contact with ceased to exist as well. With the Shinkūgyoku, that attack had been in the form of a sphere, and therefore the jutsu possessed a piercing power greater than even Kakashi's Raikiri. A powerful jutsu indeed.

Yomi's attack had been more along the lines of a blade, or perhaps a crescent wave would be a more accurate description. Still, despite it's different shape the concept behind her attack was the same as the Shinkūgyoku. If number forty three had truly learned how to harness and use that ability before they had battled, it would have taken him much longer to actually defeat her, though she still would have lost in the end.

Yet in spite of the fact that he had been better than Yomi, as well as more physically capable, not everything had turned out as perfectly as it had seemed. It had only been after the adrenaline had worn off from the battle that Naruto realized of the damage he himself had received, not the wound Yomi had given him, but the damage he had done to himself.

It had been after he had been joined by Kagari, Seo, and the lightning twins that Naruto had felt it, the pain from having his muscles shredded by his own power. The muscles in his arms that he had been enhancing with his chakra had been ripped apart, the muscles in his calf and thighs had been shredded to pieces. Naruto couldn't see them, but if he had, he was sure they would have looked like someone had put them in a blender. As it was, only Naruto's ungodly tolerance for pain kept him from screaming like a little girl.

A very manly little girl, that is.

It was a good thing that his chakra, the very same chakra that had done so much damage to his body, had already healed them by the time he had been aware enough of his own injuries to feel them. He was grateful for that at least. Naruto knew he would need to be more careful in the future, while just like losing a limb this kind of damage wouldn't be in any way debilitating, he could ill afford to let himself get injured enough that he might slip up when his reaction time really counted.

Another thing that was bothering him was just how tired he was. Much like the pain had been kept at bay only by the adrenaline in his body, so to had his exhaustion. Even now, as his inhuman chakra circulated through his body, replenishing the energy he had lost, he felt tired. His muscles had the ache that came from overuse, his body felt like it wanted to shut down, and despite the fact that he was too preoccupied to go to sleep, that was exactly what he wanted to do at this moment. The fight had not been that long, but Naruto felt as if he had been battling for days on end without pause.

This must be what happens when someone stops training themselves for several thousand years and then gets into a fight with a being who has superhuman powers. One might think that in the thousands of years he had been alive, Naruto would have become even more powerful than ever. After all, he'd had thousands of years to train and improve, right? The truth, however, was that Naruto didn't train, hadn't trained in a long time. It was only thanks to his chakra that the blond's body had not atrophied.

Perhaps it was time to start training himself again, he thought. If he was really going to be stuck in this Sekirei Plan, then it would definitely be a good idea to get into shape. He would need to think up a training regime for that, and he would need to find a place where he could train away from prying eyes. It wouldn't do to let anybody, even his Sekirei, see what kind of training he did. Especially Musubi, that girl had already proven she couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

"Onii-chan"

Hearing the soft, feminine voice, Naruto was brought from his thoughts and turned his head to see Kusano standing just a few feet from him. He wondered when she had woken up, but didn't let that stop him from giving her a smile. "Good evening, Ku-chan." Well, he supposed it was morning now, but the sun had yet to rise so evening would do for now.

Kusano blushed, looking down at her feet in mild embarrassment. Though what she was embarrassed about Naruto did not know. "G-Good evening."

"Why don't you sit down?" the blond suggested, patting the spot right next to him. Kusano looked at him for a moment, thinking. After a few seconds she walked over to him with small, hurried footsteps. She sat down next to him, close enough that should she wish to, she could grab onto him, but far enough that they weren't touching.

Naruto smiled before grabbing onto the small blanket he had brought with him. It wasn't cold enough for him to use it, bringing it more out of instinct then anything else. But from the way Kusano was shivering he figured it was a good thing he had brought out.

Maybe he was psychic?

He wrapped the blanket around the girl, smiling when her large green eyes looked at him. It was a tired smile, resigned as well, but it was also genuine. One of the few real smiles Naruto had given in thousands of years.

He had been giving those a bit more often lately. Real smiles, that is.

"Are you feeling better now that you've eaten and got a good nights rest?" he asked, letting some concern for the girl leak into his voice. Naruto would have gone into a psychoanalysis about his feelings for the girl and why it would be better if he pushed her away, but he was beginning to get used to having his emotions all over the board by now. Maybe he was just beginning to accept the inevitable.

"Yes," Kusano replied in her tiny voice. Naruto was beginning to think she was just a soft spoken girl. The small Sekirei's voice was very soft, light, like a whisper on the wind. It also told him much about her personality, that of a little girl who was soft spoken and didn't like violence.

Of course, she _was_ a little girl so not liking violence was to be expected of her.

"I'm glad, you went through a rough time," Naruto said. He quieted a moment later, his head turning as he looked at the backyard. His eyes landed on the solitary tree. "You know, that tree over there is where I first saw you. It hasn't even been two days since then."

Kusano was quiet for a moment, her head tilted down slightly as her eyes looked from Naruto to the ground several times. Eventually, however, she did speak. "The tree, it felt onii-chan," she told him. "When he touched it. And when it did, Ku-chan felt onii-chan through the tree. It told Ku-chan that onii-chan was one with it, and it was one with onii-chan."

Naruto absently nodded, coming to the conclusion that Kusano had somehow sensed his connection with nature through the tree. That was a very handy skill, a powerful skill if used properly, and one that would make Senju Hasharima jealous. Though that all depended on whether or not she could feel others through the trees as well. It could just be him due to his ability to harness nature chakra. Still, even if she could only commune with the trees that would be a valuable asset to have.

"Onii-chan..."

Naruto turned his head, and blinked in surprise when he found a pair of forest green eyes inches from his own. A pair of tiny hands grabbed onto his face, cupping his cheeks.

"Onii-chan, will you..." Kusano paused, her eyes darting like a scared animal. Then she took a deep breath and plunged on. "Will onii-chan be Ku-chan's Ashikabi?"

Naruto didn't get a chance to respond, whether to accept or decline, because the moment Kusano finished speaking her face closed the distance between his own face. Lips pressed themselves against his own and the blonds mind short circuited.

He was kissing a nine year old. It was a disturbing thought, granted, just about everyone was a child when compared to someone as ageless as him. That still didn't change the fact that a child was kissing him.

Despite this he didn't jerk away from the action, however, he also didn't kiss back. Naruto didn't want to be an ass and break the child's heart, yet at the same time he really wasn't all that comfortable being in this position. He was no lolicon.

Still, as his mind began coming back into focus he realized this was probably also for the best. There were other people who would try to force her into a winging, essentially making the girl their slave. If nothing else, the least he could do was let her choose whether or not she should be winged by him.

The Sekirei crest on her back began to glow as she drank in his chakra, illuminating the surrounding area in it's radiance. Wings spread out from her back, glowing a bright and lively green, with each feather taking on the shape of large tree leaves arranged in the shape of angel wings. And much like what had happened when he winged both Akitsu and Musubi, Naruto felt the stirring of a presence within his mind. He could feel Kusano within him, he felt safe, secure, and happy in the knowledge that he had finally found his onii-chan. And just like with Musubi and Akitsu, he knew that these feelings, these emotions, were not his own.

With the release of her power via her winging, the backyard began to grow with new life. Dozens of flowers, beautiful, colorful flowers of several different varieties sprouting from the ground. A brilliant array of golds, oranges and purples plants that grew from small stocks to full grown flowers in seconds, their petals bursting open and showing off their beauty. It was a magnificent sight, one that Naruto, someone who had a surprisingly green thumb, could not help but admire.

Moments later the wings behind Kusano back disappeared as if they had never been there, leaving only the numerous blooming flowers to signify their passing.

**XoX**

Inside her kitchen, Asama Miya held up a small plant that had grown off of her sponge with a look of mild confusion.

**XoX**

Behind the Ashikabi and his new Sekirei, Akitsu and Musubi – having just come to get the blond after they finished preparing the bed – admired the scene with them. The two fully grown Sekireis sted in awe at the beautiful display of flowers, neither of them had seen anything like it in their entire lives.

Naruto looked away from the beautiful display of flora, towards the young girl whose power created them. She was looking at him, her eyes displaying a surprising depth of emotions. Then she smiled, and Naruto felt a smile of his own appear unbidden on his face.

Awkward or not, he couldn't really find it in himself to complain about his new Sekirei being a kid. She had reacted to him and he had rescued her, Kusano belonged with them. And that was all that mattered.

He just hoped they wouldn't have to kiss again until she was older. Much older.


	7. The Broker

**Disclaimer: Akurako Gokurakuin owns Sekirei, and Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I make no claim to owning either of these stories. The only thing I can claim to own is my fanfiction.**

**Ah, good old fanfiction. Now if only I got paid to write it things would be perfect.**

**Chapter 6: The Broker**

**XoX**

Walking within the Arboretum was a figure, short of stature, nor taller then one-hundred and seven centimeters of height and maybe around forty-one kilograms in weight. The figure was male, with a lithe body that matched his small stature. He had white messy white hair with several large bangs that hung over his face and overshadowed his grey eyes. His outfit consisted of a white, long-sleeved shirt with a turtle neck collar. Wrapped around his torso were several black stripes that went over his shoulder and under his arms near his waistline, with one black stripe moving across his waist over his buttoned up shirt. He was wearing a pair of white shorts with a pouch attached to the strap, hanging off of his waist and bouncing on his knees with each step he took. A pair of grey boots with straps that buckled on either side and wrapped around in three different places, the sole, heel and the midstep finished off the ensemble.

He looked around at the overgrowth of plants, an unreadable expression on his face.

"You came here, didn't you Ku," he spoke softly to himself. He walked up to one of the many trees that had overgrown and stopped just a few inches from it, placed his hand on the tree and closed his eyes.

The place where his palm touched the tree began to glow, a strange aura overtook the Arboretum. Around his feet a circle of green light appeared, creating a radius that was about twice as wide as he was. It soon began to expand, spreading out like the ripple from a rock as it's tossed into a pond. Whenever the ripple left it's previous spot, the landscape changed.

To be more specific it died. With a creeping slowness the trees and plants that Kusano had caused to overgrow began to die, withering and decaying within seconds of the strange, green light touching them. It wasn't long after the young boy had worked his magic that everything within the Arboretum, every plant and tree was killed, leaving the place a barren husk of what it used to be, a lifeless graveyard that was marked only by the now ashen gray trees that surrounded the landscape.

_'Ku... where are you?'_

**XoX**

Within a small enclosed space filled with large machinery and monitors, a young woman was typing away on a keyboard. This young woman had long red hair with side plaits and usually appeared unfashionably dressed, wearing detached sleeves that resembled a cheongsam and glasses.

As she typed away on her keyboard, the screen she was looking at pulled up a file with the image of a certain blond shinobi on it.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the woman said with a small smirk. "Just flew into Japan a little over a week ago, has only been in Shinto Teito for a grand total of five days. Very little information is on him, in fact one might call him a complete blank spot in the listings of people who were born during the time periods 1985 and 1994. It's as if he doesn't exist."

A giggle escaped her mouth as she thought about what this meant. He was a complete mystery to everyone.

She just loved solving a good mystery.

"Despite being new to this city he has somehow managed to wing three Sekireis." She typed in a few more keys and the file on Naruto was pushed off to the side, though still visible as it made way for three more files; those of Musubi's, Akitsu's and Kusano's. "Sekirei number eighty-eight, Musubi. Sekirei number one-hundred and eight, Kusano. And the most shocking of the trio, Sekirei number seven, Akitsu, the so called broken Sekirei."

This was part of the reason she was so intrigued by him. Naruto had not only managed to wing three Sekireis within a five day time period, making him three for five, he also managed to wing someone that should have been impossible for anyone to wing. The emergence of Akitsu in the game had caused ripples of shock to spread out, not just to MBI who she knew from hacking into their database were completely baffled, but had also earned him the attention of many unwinged Sekirei. Many of the Sekirei who had yet to find an Ashikabi, herself included, had found themselves growing curious about the man who had managed to wing a scrapped number. There were also a number of Ashikabi who had no doubt heard of his feat as well, and she knew that things might begin getting very busy for one Uzumaki Naruto.

"He's so utterly fascinating! No wonder I can't keep my eyes off him."

**XoX**

Naruto yawned as soon as he finished cleaning his room. It was Sunday, surprising the blond as he had completely lost track of time thanks to the craziness that had entered his life, and because it was Sunday that meant everyone was doing there share to keep the Inn clean. Akitsu and Musubi were helping Miya by cleaning the halls and dining room, Kagari was cleaning his own room and fixing up the window sills and blinds, and Miya was sweeping outside and doing whatever else needed to be done.

Uzume was probably sleeping again, lazy girl that she was.

It almost came as a surprise to the blond when he realized that this was only his third day living in Maison Izumo. So much had happened since he had first come to Japan that it felt like a lifetime ago since Musubi had fallen on top of him, and in that time many things had happened. He had bonded himself Musubi, a process known as winging; he been found Akitsu and managed to break the block on her crest, binding them together in the process; he'd had that dream about Kusano, began making plans to rescue her from the Arboretum, discovered that Minaka had sent a mass text to all Ashikabi about her, discarded all of his carefully crafted plans in favor of rushing in like a blind man, nearly got burnt with a fireball by Homura/Kagari, ended up allying with said Sekirei, got ambushed by three Sekirei that his two Sekirei ended up fighting, almost got shocked by a bolt of lightning, ended up running into the lightning twins again and meeting their Ashikabi, Seo; got in a fight with and defeated Sekirei number forty three, Yomi; and nearly gave away a number of his secrets in the process. All of that had happened within days of each other, and that last day had been one of the longest he'd ever had in his life.

At the very least he had managed to save Kusano, who was now the third Sekirei in his ever growing flock. He could only hope she was the last one. Naruto had nothing against Sekirei, and he would admit that he was growing attached to the ones he had bonded to. But the fact remained that they were just human, albeit humans with super powers, but still human. One day they would die, leaving him alone again. It was already hard enough keeping what little distance he could from the Sekirei he already had, he didn't want to become emotionally involved with anymore.

With a sigh as he once more realized where his thoughts were headed, Naruto looked out the window and noted that it was going to be a beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud marring the sky, allowing the sun to shine it's brilliant rays of light on the city. It was the perfect day for an outing of some kind, he thought to himself.

An outing, he snorted. The words made it sound like he was planning a camping trip of some kind, when in truth he was only thinking of doing something with his Sekirei in the city. As wary as he was of growing close to them, he knew that no matter what he did in the end, they wouldn't let him be alone. Akitsu was already practically attached to him at the hip, the only time the ice user ever let him out of her sight was when she was in the bath, doing something for Miya, or just like last night, battling it out with enemy Sekirei. It was very rare that he was not in the snow woman's presence. In much the same manner, Kusano had grown quite attached to him. Not only had the girl been quick to start calling him 'onii-chan', the little sprite had also taken to sitting with him at the table already. Even now the girl was with him, helping clean up his room to the best of her ability.

Really, all she was doing was grabbing smaller items like the clothing his Sekirei quite often discarded within the room before they went to bed, and putting them in their rightful place or the dirty clothes hamper. She wasn't very effective at doing this either. Her entire 'process' when it came to cleaning the room was to stand in the center of it, sometimes with her hands on her hips like some kind of imposing statue – which when considering her stature wasn't all that imposing – sometimes with a over her eyes like some kind of sailor as he looked out at sea. During this time she would also make strange 'jiiii!' noises while she searched, and when she finally found something she would run over to it with a yelp of excitement, grab the item in question and hold it over her head as she ran to put whatever she was holding in it's rightful place. It was a very inefficient process, but Kusano wanted to be with her 'onii-chan' and much as Naruto wanted to say otherwise, he was loath to tell her no.

Currently, she was holding a pair of what Naruto recognized as Akitsu's panties, due mainly to the fact that he knew Musubi did not wear black lace undies, over her head as she ran towards the dirty clothes hamper.

He sighed, and thought about his last Sekirei, the first one he had winged. Musubi was not quite as... reliant on him as the other two were. Which was almost surprising since she was the one who seemed to need the most guidance, at least as far as common sense went. Kusano didn't have much common sense either, but she was a kid so it was excusable. Then again, the fist fighter also had Miya watching out for her, so maybe she just had more people to spend time with.

Also, there was the fact that while their bonding may have had the most impact on Naruto, on Musubi it had not meant nearly as much. For Musubi it was the act of finding her Ashikabi, something that all Sekirei did according to her. It was, Naruto wanted to say instinctive, in many ways the Sekirei's search for their Ashikabi was a lot like many animals when they searched for their mate. So while it may be important, to them it was just something they did.

For Naruto, the act of bonding to Musubi had made him much more receptive to emotions. Ever since he had given the fist fighter her wings, the blond had been feeling more in the way of strong emotions than he had ever since he had truly become aware of just how much his curse had cost him. Even now, just thinking about one of his three Sekirei brought with it it's own unique emotion. Protectiveness for Kusano, a desire to show Akitsu that she wasn't worthless, and an intense level of affection towards Musubi. The feelings he felt for his Sekirei were strong, and he was still trying to come to terms with them.

To complicated the matter further Naruto could still feel the emotions of his three Sekirei. Even now they were there, a presence in the back of his mind, not just interfering with, but increasing the level of his own emotions. It was something Naruto was coming to both love and hate with the same passion. He was of two minds of conflicting interests. On the one hand, Naruto would admit to himself that he enjoyed the feelings the three gave him, it had been so long since he'd had precious people to cherish, and a part of him wanted to cherish them, much like he had cherished his other precious people before his life had gone to hell. And on the other hand, there was still the issue of their mortality. They were die, and Naruto knew of nothing he could do to change that. He had tried finding a way to grant another his immortality before, and that relationship had taken a turn for the worst and left him even more emotion and psychological scars than before. So far as he knew, there was no way to grant other people even a portion of his immortality.

With a small shake of his head, Naruto returned to his original thoughts. It was getting easier to do that. Ridding himself of his negative thoughts and emotions. Maybe it was a by product of the bond.

So, taking his Sekirei out to do something fun. The question was what should he do? If he was going to be pestered by his Sekirei all day, then he wanted them to go out and do something fun. There were many activities that he could think of that most people would categorize as fun; going on a picnic, going to the movies, the arcade, the mall, which could be considered an entire sub category unto itself. There were many places they could go and activities they could do. And therein lay the problem.

Naruto had no clue what they would like. Each of his Sekirei were very different from each other. Akitsu was subservient and seemed to have placed their relationship in a master/servant role, she would probably not care what they did so long as she was with him. That didn't mean she didn't like anything, however, just that he wasn't sure she would tell him. At the other end of the spectrum, Musubi was excitable, enjoyed being active, and was apparently completely crazy for battle. If they were to do something, it would probably run along the lines of nonstop sparring, or something. Though she had enjoyed that picnic, so maybe something involving food would be an activity she'd enjoy. Finally, there was Kusano and, well, she was a child. The only things she seemed to enjoy doing was running around the house, spending time with her onii-chan, and just causing mayhem in general. With three vastly different personlities it was difficult for him to think of doing any one thing that they would all enjoy.

By the time Naruto had finished cleaning the room with Kusano, which had taken much longer than it would have if he had just used clones, he still hadn't figured out what kind of activity he should do with his Sekirei. In the end, he decided to figure out what to do later.

"Ready to head down now, Ku-chan?" Naruto asked the youngest of his Sekirei. Kusano beamed a smile at him as she nodded her head and gave him an 'uh huh!' noise. With the little girl rearing to go, Naruto lifted the child up and set her on his shoulders. The Green Girl giggled and laughed, grabbing fistfuls of his spiky mane as Naruto held onto her ankles and began making his way downstairs. There he found pretty much exactly what he had expected to find. Musubi was cleaning the wooden tiling of the hallways with a large rag, the piece of cloth was placed in front of her and she had both hands on it as she ran from what side of the hall to the other with the same enthusiasm being put into her work that she normally had with fighting.

She did stop, however, when Naruto came down with Kusano. "Hello, Naruto-sama!" She greeted with good cheer as she scrambled to her feet and beamed at him. "How are you doing? Do you need any help cleaning our room?"

Naruto's smile carefully hid the grimace as Musubi mentioned 'our room'. Again, it wasn't like he didn't enjoy her presence, but he was still wary of becoming too close to her. It would be a long while before he would realize just how close he already was too her.

"No, thank you, but I actually just finished cleaning the room," Naruto told the fist fighter. He looked down at the floor and felt a wry smile form on his lips at what he saw. "And you should probably wait until you've finished your own chores before offering to help someone else with theirs," he said as he pointed out the fact that the hallway was only half finished.

"Right!" Musubi said with a nod of her head. She made a fist with her left hand and punched it into the palm of her right one. Naruto shook his head and let the girl in skimpy Shrine Maiden clothes get back to the task Miya had given her. As he heard the thump of Musubi getting back onto the ground, followed by a loud and enthusiastic shout of 'haa!' that he associated with Musubi beginning her process of cleaning the floor anew, Naruto made his way into the dining room.

There he found Miya as he had expected. She was kneeling on one side of the dinner table, a small cloth in one hand and a spray bottle of wood cleaning in the other as she cleaned the table. Everything else was spotless so it looked like that was the last item she needed to clean. Sitting over on a small table at one end of the room behind the head of the table, the television was turned onto a news channel, the anchor currently making predictions about next weeks weather patterns.

"Miya-chan, do you have anything you would like me to help you with?" asked Naruto as he stopped in front of the doorway and set Kusano down. The little girl looked up at him in disappointment, but the blond simply smiled and ruffled the girls hair. Of course, Kusano being a child did not seem to like it when he treated her like one. She quickly pushed his hand off and gave him a childish pout, before stomping off. Naruto's lips twitched as he fought back a grin. There was just something amusing about children at that age wanting to be treated like an adult.

At the sound of his voice, Miya looked up and graced him with a smile. "Oh, hello, Uzumaki-kun," she greeted, before his words seemed to fully register in her ears. Like always, Miya went through her act of pretended to having not understood what he said as soon as he said it, bringing a hand to her cheek as she acted like she was pondering the question. Naruto waited, knowing she would give him an answer in time.

"No, I think we have everything pretty much cleaned," she said at least, her eyes crinkling as her smile widened. "Thank you for the offer though."

Naruto nodded and gave the purple-haired beauty a grin, idly scratching the back of his head. He looked back to where Musubi was still cleaning the hallway, her form appearing and disappearing in front of the Shoji screen door as she ran across the tiles on hands and feet, and was about to speak again when the news report coming from the television caused him to shift his attention to it.

"I'm standing outside of the Arboretum right now," the man was saying into his microphone. The reporter was indeed standing outside of the gated entryway that number forty three had destroyed during her assault on the gate. It looked like most of the wreckage had been picked up, there was no longer any gate, just an open entrance, and all of the metal from the ATV's and bodies from the soldiers that had been injured or dying were now gone. However, there was something different between today and last night, which Naruto took note of immediately.

All of the tree that were behind the gate were dead.

"As you can see the overabundance of plant growth that had randomly sprung up here has been completely eliminated by MBI overnight. The method used by the company has not been disclosed to the public, but I have been given assurances by their spokesperson that no harmful pesticides or defoliants were used in the..."

Naruto stopped paying attention to the report after that, having understood what they were saying. If the reporter followed protocol the rest of what was said would be useless drivel that didn't really have anything to do with what they were reporting on. Which essentially meant that he had not learned anything he could not have learned from looking outside.

Sensing a sudden spike of negative emotion from Kusano in the back of his mind, Naruto turned his head and found that the small blond girl was now sitting out on the porch, looking at the backyard, or possibly the Arboretum beyond the backyard. Even from where he stood, Naruto could just make out the tops of the now dead trees peeking out over the buildings in front of it.

Making his way over to the girl he stopped just a few feet from her, staring at her back with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"What's wrong Ku-chan?" he asked. Ku sighed, then sniffled. Naruto watched as her shoulder began to shake and her hands went up to her eyes. He didn't need to be a genius to figure out that she was on the verge of crying, if she wasn't already.

His thoughts were confirmed a second later when Kusano began to sob into her hands. Feeling a small pang in his chest, one that truthfully had very little to do with the feelings he was receiving over the bond from the tiny girl, Naruto moved over to her and dropped into a sitting position. Whether by instinct of somehow sensing his presence, Kusano lunged at him, burying her face in his chest as her tiny hands grabbed onto his orange shirt. In response to this, the blond Uzumaki lifted the child into his lap and began rocking back and forth as a hand started to pet her hair.

"Come on now," he said softly, using a soothing voice that he would have never been caught dead having when he was younger for fear of ruining his manly image. Thankfully he had grown out of such things. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

It had been a while since he had dealt with a crying child, three-thousand nine-hundred and twenty-six years to be exact. However, there were some things that you never forgot, and Naruto had always been good with kids. It might have been a while, but he was sure he could get Kusano back to her normal, childish self in no time. The first step towards helping a crying child was to figure out just what they were crying about in the first place.

Kusano sniffed several times, rubbing her face against his shirt to wipe the tears away.

"S-Shina."

Naruto blinked. "Shina?"

"Shina's a boy. He's a little bit older then Ku-chan, but he was really good friend. But that tree just told Ku-chan that Shina took the plants she grew in the Arboretum and he... and he..."

_'Interesting,'_ Naruto thought to himself as he was given a new piece of information to puzzle over. _'So her friend was the one who killed off all of the plants, not MBI. Though that does beg a question. Why would they bother to create a cover story? Aside from the fact that the Sekirei plan is some kind of top secret project.' _

He took a moment to snort, top secret his ass. Between the bondage babes that had been tossing lightning around like candy, the battle his Sekirei had been in, and the battles he was sure other Ashikabi's Sekirei were participating in, there was no way that this plan was still a secret. How Minaka actually believed that the normal, everyday citizens were still completely oblivious to what was going on was beyond him. Even the most ignorant of fools would have some inkling that something strange was going on in this city.

Of course, he was thinking along the lines of a shinobi during war time. The average civilian these days were even more ignorant of military affairs then the ones in his own time had been. Not only were they ignorant, but they tended to ignore anything and everything so long as it didn't affect them directly. If there was a homeless man on the street wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a sign asking for money, most people would just pretend the man didn't exist. The Sekirei situation might be even more extreme than that example, but the idea behind it was the same. People enjoyed their ignorance. If something was going wrong, they would do everything in their power to pretend it didn't exist just so they wouldn't get caught up in it. That was one of the many reasons he had washed his hands of humanity, after all.

For those few who actually didn't ignore the strange happenings around them, well, MBI was rich. As a multitrillion dollar corporation they had more than enough money to throw around. No doubt Minaka had been forced to toss out a lot of hush money to keep people quiet about what was happening within Shinto Teito. Just thinking about the amount of money MBI must have already given away made the blond shake his head. He had used bribery plenty of times in the past, but it was always a last resort. He may have more money than anyone else would ever see in their lives, but he didn't want people thinking they could threaten him into giving them money to keep silent.

This was not to say that MBI was doing everything wrong. While the text message Minaka had sent out bothered the blond something fierce, the man had at least had the foresight to evacuate everyone within a two mile perimeter around the Arboretum somewhere else so they would not find out what was taking place there. However, even that had likely taken a lot of cash to keep people silent. Humans could be quite belligerent when they were told they had to move somewhere else, even temporarily, and were not given a good enough reason why.

Backtracking, Naruto resumed his focus on trying to figure out the reason MBI had decided to take the credit for destroying all of the foliage within the Arboretum. _'They could just be trying to take all of the credit for themselves. Large companies like MBI love being in the spotlight, and love being seen as the hero, even when they aren't.'_

He could remember quite a few cases when a large conglomerate corporation would take the credit for something Naruto himself had done. He remembered one time a company had actually tried to claim credit for writing the Icha Icha novels, which there were not only over two hundred and fifty-six issues out at the time, but was the largest series of books on the planet. Naruto also remembered how he had not only sued their ass for all they were worth under his assumed name, leaving them completely penniless. But also managed to prank them by setting up firecrackers in their toilets to explode on the last day of their companies 'life'.

Ah, good times.

"Shina, he had the opposite type of power that I had."

Naruto blinked at the voice and turned his attention back towards the trembling girl on his lap. She was still looking quite distraught, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her nose was leaking some fluids. She did look better than she had a few seconds ago, thankfully, and was at least no longer crying.

"The opposite? I see." That made sense, actually. If this Sekirei had the opposite power of Kusano, then he was the perfect balance to the girl when her powers ran out of control. Naruto had already noticed that the Mokuton – which was what he had decided to call her abilities for lack of a better term – using girl's powers were unstable. They seemed to activate against her will based on how high her emotions were running. That was also the reason the Arboretum became the way it is – was. He had been told all about how one of the other Ashikabis had tried to force Kusano into a winging. Undoubtedly the trees and plants had responded to the girls will and grew until they had been large enough to protect her from being winged.

So if this Shina had the opposite power Kusano had, then it would be... death? It was hard to say seeing as hoe he had never met this Shina before. However, Kusano's power, from what he had been able to discern from looking at the Arboretum before it was destroyed, was life. She had the ability to make any type of flora grow at a rate that seemed capable of putting Senju Hasharima's own control with trees to shame. There was an old legend of his people about how the Shodaime Hokage had used his Mokuton Jutsu to create the forest that Konoha had resided in before it's untimely demise. It had taken the man six days to create, and at the end of it he was exhausted to the point of being bedridden. Kusano had made that forest within hours, and she had been in there for several days afterward without food, water, or sleep. Even then, after just a few hours rest and a good meal she had been in perfect health.

Perfect enough health to get her wings at least.

So if Shina had the opposite power that Kusano did, then it was probably death. A scary thought. Naruto wasn't even sure what the power of death would include, but it sounded like the ability to indiscriminately kill anyone and anything no matter how powerful they may be. Perhaps he would even be able to kill Naruto himself, at least if the blond's theory was accurate.

He looked over at the girl again. Was that why she was so sad? Because her friend had murdered her creations? Well, children did have a tendency to cry when someone destroyed something they had worked at building. He had seen a number of children bawl their eyes out, when they had their sand castles destroyed at the beach by other children. And Kusano was connected to the trees, right? So it would probably make her feel even worse.

Naruto was snapped out of his wondering when he heard Kusano speak again. "What should Ku do?" she asked, her voice changing from sad to frantic. The eternal shinobi looked at the girl with slight worry. "Without Shina to help, Ku-chan is all alone!"

Ah. so that was it. Kusano wasn't sad that her plants were destroyed, but was worried that she would lose control over her powers once again. He was somewhat surprised, but in a way, her words made sense. If she and Shina were friends, than they had likely grown up in the labs together, most likely due to their complimentary powers. And if that were the case then this was not the first time Shina had been needed to keep the Green Girl's powers under control.

Looking at things from that perspective, Naruto saw MBI's recent actions in a new light. Both Kusano and Shina had still been in the labs, Homura had told him that Kusano was not supposed to have been released from the labs for some time due to her powers still being erratic, and with MBI needing to take care of the overabundance of plant growth they had sent the one person capable of dealing with it in the fastest manner possible. From this new point of view, MBI taking the credit made sense. They may not have been responsible for the destruction of the Arboretum directly, but they had sent the one who was.

That did bring a few new issues to the fore, but Naruto could think about how to deal with them later. Right now he had to help the still frantic girl in his arms.

"Hey now, what do you your all alone?" Naruto asked the question rhetorically, his tone light-hearted. Kusano looked up at him, her large green eyes even wider than usual, and he gave her a soft smile. "I'm here." Even if he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to be, he was still here. And even if he was confused about this whole situation, the fact that he didn't want this girl to be so sad remained. In for a penny in for a pound as the relatively new – to him – saying went. "And so is Akitsu-chan, Musubi-chan, Miya-chan and Uzume-chan..." Naruto paused, then blinked. "Kagari-san is here too, but I don't know if he's any good with kids."

Behind them Miya heard this commented and covered her mouth with the sleeve of her Kimono as she giggled. Naruto paused to eye the woman, who merely smiled back, before shaking his head and turning to look back down at Kusano.

"The point is," Naruto continued in what could almost pass for a lecturing tone. "That you're not alone. All of us are here for you, and we'll help you in any way we can."

"Really?" Kusano sniffed, her big, puppy dog eyes looking at him with hope and happiness.

"Really, really," Naruto said.

"O-Onii-chan!" Kusano cried out happily as she wrapped her arms around the blonds neck in a tight squeeze. Naruto found himself very glad that this child was a simple type and not a fist type like Musubi. With her powers still needing to be adjusted, a hug from her might have actually damaged something. "Ku-chan is so happy! Promise Ku-chan that you'll stay with me forever!"

Naruto's breath hitched at the words. It had not been so long ago that he had asked Musubi to make him that same promise. It also brought back all of the fear he had been feeling since he had become an Ashikabi. It was the one reason he was still so confused about what he should do about this situation, the one reason he was still undecided of just how much he should allow himself to feel for these people, and the one reason he didn't enjoy being bonded to them as much as he probably would have were circumstances otherwise.

He could easily spent the rest of Kusano's life with her. It was a promise well within his capabilities to keep. The problem was, would she and by extension the other Sekireis be able to spend the rest of his life with him? It was a question without an answer. Naruto still knew very little about Sekirei. He knew they all had power, abilities beyond the human norm, he knew that some could control the elements while other's seemed to have gained a massive boost in physical power, and he knew that they could bond with certain people. Beyond that, Naruto had very little idea on what these Sekirei were.

On top of that Naruto was an anomaly. An immortal that had lived for thousands upon thousands of years, a man whose own era had been ravaged by the sands of time. Even if Sekireis had been a well-known entity for years, he had set something that was and would always be unprecedented. Which meant the one question he had, the question that burned in the back of his mind and longed to be answered, the question that he also feared the answer of, would only be solved by him, through a trial by fire, so to speak.

Would a Sekirei bound to an immortal Ashikabi allow them to share in his immortality?

**XoX**

"A movie?"

"Yeah, I thought we could all go to the movie theater and watch a movie together." Naruto sweat dropped when he saw that Musubi had a confused look on her face, left index finger placed below her lower lip and head tilted to the left as she stared at him with an owlish expression. "A movie is like those television shows we watch together, only longer and it's played on a much bigger screen," he deadpanned, and sighed when the proverbial light bulb lit up in the girls mind.

"Oh, I get it!" Musubi said excitedly, pounding a fist into the palm of her other hand. "That sounds so fun! We should definitely go!"

Naruto grinned at the girl and stifled a chuckle. The blond had almost forgotten that Musubi had only been living outside of the labs for a few days. On top of that she was incredibly naïve and knew next to nothing about the world outside of the labs, so of course she wouldn't know what a movie was.

Shaking his head, Naruto turned to look at his other two Sekirei. "What about you girls?" he asked. "Do you all want to go see a movie?"

"Oooh, oooh, Ku-chan wants to go!" Kusano shouted as she raised her hand in the air and jumped up and down. She looked like a spring with her constant motion. "Take Ku-chan with you!"

"Ah," Akitsu tilted her head, slowly pondering the question. "I would like to go too," she said with a nod.

Naruto nodded his own head, even as he berated himself for over thinking things so much. He had been so worried that he would be unable to find anything they could all do together and enjoy, that he had completely forgotten that all of them had grown up in a lab. They had never gone to the movies theater's before, never gone on picnics – except Musubi now, and Akitsu and Musubi were the only two who had been to the mall before, and that had been to shop, not spend time with friends and family. The blond almost found himself annoyed with how much he was over thinking everything. Was this a bi product of being thousands of years old?

As Naruto shook himself down, chalking his over analyzing of the situation to old age, he caught sight of Miya. The lavenderette was sitting at the head of the table, sipping some tea and watching the events playing out between Naruto and his Sekirei with a smile. She seemed to be enjoying watching his life, and the blond couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she thought the situation he found himself to be like something she might watch on television.

As he watched the woman out of the corner of his eyes, an idea came to him. The blond smiled as he turned to look at Miya fully so he could speak to her. "What about you, Miya-chan?" he asked, and when the woman holding his attention tilted her heads at his words, realized she might not know what he was talking about. Thus he made sure to elaborate. "Would you like to come with us?"

In his mind, the idea made sense. It had only been four days since he had first met Miya, and unlike with his Sekirei, Naruto did not have the benefit of being able to feel their emotions over a powerful bond that transcended physical boundaries in a way that should not be possible. It would be a good idea to get to know the woman who owned the boarding house he and his girls were living in.

Also, there was just something about Miya that made him want to know her better. She was like him. Not that she was immortal or anything like that. The similarities between the two was not so drastic, and he would have known if there had been another immortal in this world besides him. He was sure they would have met at some point in there life before now. She was like him in another way, one that was much more fundamental than immortality.

Regret. He had seen it in her the moment he had first laid eyes on the woman. It was in the way she walked, in each movement she made, in the way she would help his Sekirei, in her actions, her voice, it was such a fundamental part of her that Naruto could almost believe she had been born with the emotion. Something very tragic must have happened in her life to leave such a large scar. And it was in that way that they were both similar. The scars they bore were of a much more emotional nature than others, not visibly able to be seen by the naked eye.

"Me?" Miya seemed surprised for a second. She stared at him, blinking as a baffled expression crossed over her face. It was not a look one would see often on the kind and patient woman's face, which made Naruto savor the look as if it were a fine wine.

Hey, he hadn't pranked anyone for a thousand years. Cut him some slack.

"Yes, you. Do you know of any other Miya's that live in this house?" asked Naruto, his voice teasing. Miya pouted for a second before her congenial smile was back in place. She placed her hands on her cheeks and looked at him with a look the blond had come to recognize as the opening sequence of her return fire.

"Oh my, is Uzumaki-kun asking me on a date when he's already surrounded himself with beautiful women?" she asked, her face adopting a look of mock disappointment. "It seems as if my house is being turned into a den of debauchery and misconduct. Not only has Uzumaki-kun stolen the hearts of these poor young women, he now seems to have set his sites on me. Whatever would my dear husband think?"

"Your husband would probably tell you to make up your mind already," Naruto commented with a sniff. "And I have no clue what you're talking when you say 'den of debauchery'," he added with a smile. "So far Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan and myself have been very good about following all of your house rules."

"Hmm... that is true," Miya admitted with a look that said she was contemplating her next move. "However..." She paused, turning her attention to Kusano who had begun releasing a 'fuuugh!' sound as she glared at Naruto with childish anger.

"How come onii-chan only mentioned Aki-chan and Mu-chan?" she demanded, her tiny hands clenching themselves into fists as she placed them on her hands and gave Naruto an imperious look. "Ku-chan want's onii-chan to mention her when he talks about his Sekirei!" It was the demand of a little girl who apparently did not like to be left out of things.

"I'm sorry, Ku-chan," Naruto apologized, placing a hand on her head. This was not quite to be the best thing to do, as Naruto could attest to when Kusano tried to bite him. Fortunately, he removed his hand before she could do so, eying the girl warily before smiling again. "From now on, onii-chan will mention Ku-chan whenever he talks about Aki-chan and Mu-chan, ok?" he offered, using the childish tone of speaking in the third person to answer the girl.

"Mu~ promise?" asked Kusano, still glaring at him.

"Promise of a lifetime," Naruto answered. The little girl glared at him for a moment more before beaming at him. Satisfied that her onii-chan would no longer leave her out of a conversation, she latched onto his legs like a leech, looking up at him with a bright smile. Naruto returned to look, before returning his attention to the still smiling Miya. With their moment of banter broken by Kusano, he decided to just get to the point. "So, you interested in heading out with us?"

For a second, Miya looked like she was truly thinking about doing just as he asked, joining him and his Sekire for an outing to the movies. The finger holding her cheek twitched, a sign that she was actually interested in possibly doing something that did not involve cooking, cleaning, or any other house hold chore. However, a moment later, when it appeared she might give into temptation, the lavenderette shook her head. "I would love to go see a movie with all of you, however, I still have some things that I need to get done here." Her smile widened, forcing her eyes closed. "Besides, I wouldn't want to be a bother."

And it look like she was similar to him in another way as well. She had accepted Naruto and the others into her house, had offered to spar with Musubi, made friendly banter with him, helped him look after Kusano, and had even begun making sure that Akitsu was wearing panties – yes, the ice user still occasionally forgot to wear underwear, though she had gotten better. Yet, despite all her kindness, despite all her willingness to help others, she remained determined to keep her distance.

Did he really act like this as well? Maybe, probably. Naruto knew that when he had first met Musubi his only intention, after deciding that he didn't want to feel guilty for seducing the incredibly naïve girl, was to help her find her Ashikabi and than leave caring for the fist figher to them. Once he ended up being bonded to the girl, he had tried, sort of, to keep his distance. It was hard, maybe even impossible to truly do as he suggested, and Naruto had resigned himself to simply letting Musubi. He would be her Ashikabi, but he would keep himself as emotionally detached from the girl as possible. At least until he could find a way to break the bond.

Now Naruto wasn't even sure he _wanted _to break the bond. They had only just me, but Naruto honestly felt better now than he had in thousands of years. His sleep was untroubled, the feeling of waking up to two beautiful women was very pleasant, and the constant thrum of his Sekireis emotions in the back of his mind soothed his troubled emotions in ways he had never experienced. The fact was, as much as he may deny it, as much as he may fear it, he enjoyed being bonded. Even if, just like the women he had seduced when his loneliness became too much to bear, this was only a temporary reprieve from his own personal hell, a part of him wanted to welcome these feelings with open arms.

Naruto sighed. There he went again, over analyzing everything. He really was going to need to start meditating some more. But for now, he had a woman to convince to come with him. If Naruto was going to try and make at least some effort into this whole 'bonded' business, then the least Miya could do was make an effort at being more than just the landlady of their boarding house.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you could never be a bother?" He looked at the purple-haired beauty with a fox like smile, in which his whisker marks stretched so wide they gave him a very kitsune-ish appearance. "You're our friend, this is simply something that friends do together."

Miya looked at the young man, her respect for him going up several notches. Since their first meeting she had been very impressed by him; he was confident yet humble, respectful yet playful, calm but also capable of being just as enthusiastic as his first Sekirei. He was also strong, and not just in the physical sense. She already knew he was powerful physically, she had seen him lifted several hundred pounds worth of furniture with one hand, so she was well aware of his strength.

The strength she was talking about was an inner strength. She could still remember the first morning after Naruto and Musubi had come to Izumo Inn, the day they had gone on a picnic and brought Akitsu back with them. She had seen his eyes, tired, aged eyes that should not be on a person who looked so youthful. They were the eyes of someone who had lost everything. She could only imagine what Naruto had suffered through to gain those eyes. How much had he lost to have such a bitter look?

Despite whatever loss he had weighing on his soul, the man continued to keep himself together, continued to smile and laugh and love. God only knew how long he had been carrying around whatever baggage weighed him down, yet he still managed to keep going, to keep living. He didn't let his past drag him down, and it was that strength of character that Miya respected the most about him.

He truly was an amazing young man.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a break every now and then," Miya admitted slowly. She looked at the three Sekirei, Musubi was following the conversation with an earnest look. No doubt she was hoping the landlady who had sparred with her would join them. Akitsu was staring at Naruto, but then, she was always staring at Naruto so that was to be expected. And Kusano, she just looked confused, staring from Naruto to Miya and switching back and forth between the two. "Very well then, I'll go with you all to the movies."

"Yatta!" Musubi threw her hands up and cheered. The other two were much less enthusiastic in showing their pleasure. Well, Akitsu wasn't, but then again, she rarely ever expressed any emotions at all. The girl only ever displayed any form of emotion when around Naruto, at least if intense staring could be considered an emotion.

Kusano on the other hand was right with Musubi in the enthusiasm department. The two of them had even started dancing at some point, waving their hands up above their head as they moved in some form of dance that looked like it had started off as a hula dance and degenerated from there. The sight of the two females, one a child and the other a child at heart, caused Miya and Naruto to share a look and a couple of chuckles.

With the decision to see a movie decided, the group made their way down the hallway to the rooms of the other two tenants at Izumo Inn. After all, it would be rude not to invite them as well.

Their first stop was Kagari's room. Unlike Naruto and Uzume, Kagari's room was on the first floor, located on the opposite side of the hall as Miya's room. When they got there, Naruto knocked on the door several times before waiting. They knew that the white-haired male had not left the house yet as it was still morning and neither of them had seen him leaving his room except when he came down for breakfast. But he had gone back up so quickly none of them could say much to him. The sound of footsteps came from behind the door, before it opened and revealed the person they wanted to speak with.

Kagari was not looking very good. It wasn't immediately obvious, but Naruto caught several discrepancies in his figure and form since they had first met. The easiest thing to spot was the light sheen of sweat on his skin, as well as the unhealthy pallor it had. Kagari was fair skinned, but at the moment it looked very pasty. He was also looking slightly flushed, his cheeks were stained with red, and his breathing was a tad heavier than normal. Along with that was the fact that his clothes were a mess. His shirt was untucked, the top three buttons had been undone, his clothing had wrinkles in it. The once professional and cool look the fire user had worn since they had met was all gone, leaving this sickle man in his place.

"Um, hello?" he said, grimacing a bit. Naruto caught sight of him rubbing his chest from behind the crack in the door. "Can I help you guys?"

"Are you alright, Kagari-san?" Naruto asked, he was honestly beginning to get worried for the man. After that first day they had met, Kagari had been looking worse and worse. At first Naruto had simply thought the man was sick, but now he was beginning to think there might be another reason he was looking so terrible.

"I'm fine," Kagari told him. "I've just been feeling under the weather," he lied, and Naruto knew it was a lie. Within just a few days the man's condition had steadily grown worse. Still, it was obvious that the fire user had no desire to tell anyone what was wrong with him, and Naruto was not one to butt into another person's personal business so he would leave the situation be for now.

"Are you sure you're alright, Kagari-san?" asked Miya, her voice sounding worried as she looked him over with a concerned eye. "You're beginning to look awfully pale these days."

"Gee, thanks Miya," Kagari tried to joke, though it came out with more sarcasm than intended. He flinched a bit when Miya's frown grew, and tried to reassure the woman. "Really, I'll be fine. I just need some rest."

Well that settled in it Naruto's mind. "I see," the blond said. "That's too bad, we were all planning on seeing a movie and were hoping you would join us." He looked Kagari over once more and almost winced with sympathy, the man really was looking terrible. "But since you're not feeling very well, we'll leave you to get your rest."

Despite himself, Kagari eyed the group with undisguised curiosity. In particular he looked over at Miya, his left eyebrow raised in a question. The purple-haired beauty seemed to understand what he was asking, because she just smiled and gave him a mild shrug as if to say 'yes, I am going with them'.

"Sorry to disappoint you guys," he told them, and he actually sounded genuinely apologetic. "I would love to come with you, but I haven't been feeling very well I don't think it would be a good idea."

"I figured as much," Naruto replied with a sigh. "Alright, I guess we'll see you later. I hope you get better, Kagari-san."

"Thanks." Kagari said, then added. "Oh, and have fun at the movies."

"We will."

When the group began to walk off, Kagari closed the door and locked it. Turning around he leaned against the door frame, his knees giving out as he slid down onto his backside. He released a shaky breath, and tried to regulate his breathing as he clutched at his chest.

Why? That was the only thing he could ask himself. Why now? And why him? It was not Naruto's fault, and he didn't blame the man, well, not completely. Had Naruto never arrived he would have never started feeling this way. But it wasn't like Naruto had intended for this to happen, it wasn't like Naruto even knew what was really happening.

That still didn't change his question.

Why?

**XoX**

"So what movie are we going to go see?" asked Uzume as she walked with the other five people beside her. After Kagari had turned them down the pair had gone to Uzume's room, and after waking the beautiful Sekirei up had asked her if she wanted to go with them. The young woman had agreed readily, having not actually done something like gone to the movies before.

Not even with her own Ashikabi. That thought made her pause for a moment, as a well spring of sadness welled up inside of her. But she deftly shoved the feelings down. Right now there wasn't anything she could do for her Ashikabi, all she could do was hope and pray.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't know what movies they have playing and didn't want to make a decision that you guys might contest. So I just figured we would decide when we get there." Naruto looked over at her from where he was walking and smiled as he answered her question, earning a nod and a smile in return. Much to the envy of every single male they passed, the blond Uzumaki was in the direct center of the mass of female flesh. Kusano was sitting on top of him, riding on his shoulders with a large smile on her face and her hands gripping onto his blond locks to keep from falling. On either side of him were Akitsu on his left, and Musubi on his right, with Miya and Uzume just a few paces ahead and behind him respectively.

That was a thought that brought no end of amusement to Uzume as she spotted the many people they were walking passed. Nearly every single guy they went by seemed to be having a hard time not displaying their emotions like an open book. They also seemed to have a hard time determining which type of emotion to display. Envy at seeing Naruto surrounded by so many beautiful young women, or lust at seeing so many beautiful young women in the first place. Most of them seemed to settle on a mixture of both.

_'He hasn't even been in the game for long and yet he already has three Sekireis,'_ she thought to herself as her eyes settled on the blond, who was saying something to Kusano about helping her grow a garden in the backyard. His words seemed to make the little Sekirei insanely happy as Uzume heard a cry of 'I love you, onii-chan' from the little blond girl. _'Granted, I can see why.'_

And she could. Aside from his looks, which were admittedly exotic and handsome, not pretty boy handsome like Kagari, but a more rugged kind of attractiveness, he was also very easy to get along with. The people he met just seemed to be naturally drawn to the blond man, even Miya seemed utterly taken in by Naruto's easy going personality! She would use the moth to a flame analogy but didn't really feel that it could truly describe the Ashikabis ability properly. There was just something about him that made others want to befriend him. She couldn't put her finger on it but...

_'If I didn't already have an Ashikabi I probably would have bonded to him as well,'_ she thought to herself. Not that she was unhappy, while she was hurt that she couldn't be with her Ashikabi everyday like Musubi and the others were, she loved her Ashikabi very dearly. At the same time she could unbiasedly see why Naruto had managed to gather three Sekirei to him in such a short amount of time.

He truly was an impressive person.

**XoX**

After arriving at the movie theater, the group had gotten into a small debate about what movie they should see. Naruto was interested in seeing the new Underworld movie that had just come out, by extension and simply because her Ashikabi wanted to see it Akitsu had decided she wanted to see that movie as well. Uzume wanted to see 16-Love, while Musubi and Kusano had wanted to see Joyful Noise. It had created a small problem with the group as all of them wanted to see different movies. At least until Miya had bashed each one of them on the head with the sheath of her katana, which she somehow managed to... convince the people working their to let her take with her, and told them they were going to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

And that was that, because when Miya wanted something, she got it one way or another. Even Naruto was unwilling to cross the woman when she decided something.

Not that any of them could complain, the movie had been very good, witty and humorous, with a good plot and many nice twists and turns as Robert Downy Jr. played Sherlock Holmes and tried to defeat his Arch nemesis, Professor James Moriarty alongside his companion Watson.

The only problem they had was the seating arrangements. Once again there was the small issue of who would sit where. It was really only a problem for Akitsu, Musubi, Kusano and of course, Naruto, who the argument, if it could be called that, was about. All three of the Sekirei wanted to sit next to Naruto, the problem was that there were only two seats and three women, or two and a half if you wanted to be specific. Both Akitsu and Musubi felt it would only be right to allow Kusano to sit next to their Ashikabi, she was a child after all and it just didn't feel right not to allow the girl to be with the blond, whom she had grown rather attached to since he rescued her. Of course, both of them also wanted to sit next to Naruto, and it had looked like it might actually come to blows between the two. Thankfully Naruto and Miya had solved the problem.

Two lumps on the head later Naruto had been sitting in his seat, Akitsu and Musubi on either side of him while Kusano found herself perched on the blonds lap. After that small altercation they – and everyone else who had been in the theater – were able to enjoy the movie in peace. Eventually, the movie ended and the group left the theater to begin their walk home.

"That movie was so good," Musubi stated the moment they had left the sanctity of the theater. She had been the one who had enjoyed watching the movie the most, laughing during the funny parts, gasping during the moments of suspense. She had been particularly enamored with the unusual way Holmes had used his deductive powers to fight. "Sherlock Holmes was so cool. Did you guys see how he fought?"

There you go.

"Yes, Musubi-chan," Naruto said with a resigned smile. "We were all watching the movie as well." He had to admit he rather liked the movie. Sherlock Holmes had been an interesting character. The fact that he was based on a person who actually existed, Dr. Joseph Bell, a man that Naruto had actually met during one of the times he had spent in London, had helped the blond draw up comparisons between the two men. They were surprisingly similar, though the Holmes in this movie had been a lot more, well, eccentric, then the man he was based off of.

"So what did you think of the movie, Akitsu-chan, Ku-chan?" asked Naruto as he tried to include the other two in the moment.

"Ku-chan really liked the movie," Kusano said from atop the blond's shoulders. "They were all like 'bang, bang' and then they were like 'woosh!'," the girl took her hands off Naruto's head to make wide, gesticulations to emphasis her many sound effects. "And that guy was really funny, though Ku didn't really understand some of the things he was talking about. What elementary, onii-chan?"

"Do you think Musubi could learn to fight like that?" asked the fist fighter, barely even paying attention to the conversation Naruto was now in with Kusano.

"Elementary was nothing more than a catch phrase, Ku," Naruto explained to the little girl. "It was really just his way of expressing his ability to accurately solve a case using logical reasoning and incredible observational skills."

"Oh, ok," Kusan said, then paused. "What's logical reasoning and observational skills?" she asked, making Naruto sigh.

"I don't think anyone can actually fight like that, Musubi," Uzume said with a grin. "And you're not really the time to think things through like that. You're more of the dash in and try to hit them before they hit you type of fighter."

"You think so?" Musubi asked, tilting her head to the side as the small slight against her went right over her head. After a moment, she shrugged. "I guess you're right. Still," she smiled. "It would be so cool if I could fight like that."

"You're all so lively," Miya said, giggling into her hand as she listened to the very conversations going on around her.

"Not regretting that you came with us to see the movies, Miya-chan?" asked Naruto once he got finished explaining 'logical reasoning' and 'observational skills' to the little girl riding on his shoulders. This had required him to actually start explaining what logic and observation meant to the tiny sprite in a way that she would understand. Considering Naruto often had a habit of over analyzing and over thinking just about everything, this was a lot harder than it looked.

Miya favored him with a grateful smile. "I must thank you, Uzumaki-kun, for insisting that I come with you," she said. "It has been a long time since I have allowed myself to go out simply for the sake of going out."

"I'm glad to see you had fun," Naruto allowed his more charming side to come out to play, though toned it down quite a bit for the sake of not wanting to make an attempt at seducing the woman. Or of her thinking he was trying to seduce her. The last thing he needed was for the woman to actually think he was attempting to get into her pants and using the sword still in her hands against him. "You're always doing so much around the house that it can't be healthy. It's good to get out every now and than."

"If you say you say so," Miya said, smiling a smile that Naruto was beginning to recognize with quite a bit of ease in spite of having only met recently. It was the look she gave right as she was about to begin her teasing, normally by either commenting on his 'lustful urges' or how was trying to, in her terms 'take advantage of a poor widow like her', there mere thought of which caused him to snort. The only way someone would try and take advantage of Miya was if they had a death wish.

The expected teasing never came, however. Miya had stopped walking and was tilting her head slightly, a frown on her face. "Ara?" she looked around, as if sensing something that had yet to reveal itself and was now trying to search it out. Naruto, Musubi, Akitsu, and Uzume all stopped walking as Miya turned around. "It seems we have guests."

Naruto turned to look at where Miya's head was already turned. The people she was referring to were not that difficult to find, in fact, they were a remarkable contrast to everyone else around them, much like Naruto's group. There were three of them, the first one Naruto took notice of was the man in the middle of the group. He was dressed in an a black and white very formal and expensive business suit, the kind used by rich executives of large corporations. He had dark hair cut to a moderate length, and it looked like it had been professional styled, and when combined with his outfit and glasses he gave Naruto the impression of a secretary of some kind.

The other two were female. The first one was wearing a large brown cloak that covered her body completely, disguising both her appearance and gender. The only reason Naruto could tell the figure was female was from her smell. It was a skill Naruto had picked up during his live long tenor as a wanderer, by enhancing his nose with chakra, he could detect and track a scent on a magnitude of one hundred times better than the best ninken, ninja dogs that had been used by the Inuzuka Clan.

It was bit difficult at first, with so many other scents in the area Naruto had a hard time of picking out which one was hers. Already several powerful scents were blocking his nose, Musubi's strange animalistic smell – though he couldn't tell what type of animal, the smell of a garden coming from Kusano, fresh linen from Uzume, wintergreen or perhaps sperament from Akitsu, and the scent of blood that hung around Miya.

He didn't know what those smells meant, perhaps they had something to do with their powers, though if Miya was a Sekirei with power over blood than he did not want to know what she could do. Whatever the case was, the cloaked figure before him smelled of a mixture of steel, female arousal mixed with bloodlust coming off of her. Judging her based off of those smells she was definitely a Sekirei, and perhaps a weapons user if the scent of steel were any indication. The other was a young looking girl dressed in a white midriff baring no sleeved shirt and tie. She had on long dark gloves, and coming down from beneath her top were what appeared to be dark suspenders attached to black short shorts.

Naruto felt himself tense as the man continued to approach him. This was obviously another Ashikabi, and it was clear the man was here for him. But why? What reason could this man have for wanting to approach him? Was he hoping to do battle? If so then that wasn't a wise choice. He was outnumbered, with Akitsu, Musubi, and Kusano, Naruto had three Sekirei to this man's two; he was sure that Miya and Uzume would help him if the situation demanded it...

No, wait. Naruto looked around and frowned when he saw that Uzume had disappeared. Where had she gone off to? She had been here just a few seconds ago...

He was left with no more time to ponder the situation when the man stopped just a few meters from him. The two Sekirei that had been at his side stopped several feet behind him, perhaps a sign that he was not here to fight but merely talk? The business suited man didn't seem to have any intention of moving from that spot as he looked Naruto over with a superior expression Naruto would recognize anywhere. Sasuke had worn that look often enough.

After studying him further, the man casually dismissed Naruto to look at the others that were with him. Kusano shrank under the man's gaze, while Musubi merely looked at him curiously. When the man's eyes landed on Akitsu they narrowed, she was doing what she usually did, stare at Naruto. The ice user was not even paying attention to him beyond the first glance she had given. When the man's eyes landed on Miya they frowned, then blinked. He didn't look quite sure what to make of the formally dressed beauty with the sword.

Eventually, he refocused on Naruto, and the blond's previous thoughts came true when the man used the middle and index finger of his right hand to push his glasses further against his nose, an arrogant smirk on his face and began to talk. "You are the one they are calling the miracle worker that everyone is talking about, yes?" he asked, even his tone sounded derisive. For a moment, Naruto did nothing, busy as he was trying to overcome the sudden urge he felt to kill this man.

That tone, that smirk, and that god forsaken way he had pushed his glasses was so reminiscent of someone had grown to hate.

"_I decided I wished to be like you as well, Naruto, and for that reason… with Lord Orochimaru now integrated into this body, I plan on finding a new "me", one stronger than Lord Orochimaru himself! Finding a new me, that is the lesson you taught me._"

Naruto almost physically shivered with rage as that man's voice entered his head. That man, who he hated more than anything else in this world. Even now, the blond was almost tempted to use the Edo Tensei to revive that man just so he could torture him for all eternity. It was only because he was starting to get the hang of controlling his wayward emotions that the blond limited his physical reaction for the man in front of him to stiffening.

"Miracle worker?" he asked, tasting the words. Though his tone sounded merely curious, Naruto was still having some difficulty fighting back his hatred. In an effort to keep himself from lashing out and doing something foolish, he pondered the words as he tried to derive their meaning. It sounded like some kind of title, though he could not figure out what the title meant by the name alone. This man appeared to believe he was this 'Miracle Worker' though, a fact which confused him since he had not done anything that he felt was noteworthy.

At least nothing that anyone outside of his tenants and Sekirei know of. In fact, aside from the time he had rescued Kusano he had not done anything that would have drawn attention to himself.

"Miracle Worker?" Musubi questioned as well, poking her lower lip with her index finger as she looked up at the sky. "Is that like discretion?" she asked, causing Naruto to almost snort with amusement. He was actually thankful for his Sekirei's inane comment, for some reason, her words had helped him quell the rage that had been burning in his gut at the sight of this man.

"You mean you don't know?" the man didn't seem to know whether he should be amused or appalled by the blond's lack of knowledge on this subject. His indecisiveness only lasted a moment before he decided on amused, though the look he gave Naruto was more condescending than anything else. "Miracle Worker is the title given to the Ashikabi who had managed to give the scrapped number her wings," he explained in a lecturing tone that sounded like he was explaining something fundamental to a child.

Once more Naruto felt the urge to rip this man's face off. Kami, even his god forsaken personality was like that mans.

"That is you, is it not?" he asked once again with a derisive sniff. "My master, the Ashikabi of the East, Higa Izumi, is never wrong when it comes to gaining this kind of information. You are obviously the Miracle Worker, even if you do not recognized the title. My master is very interested in meeting with you."

Another shudder almost became visible on Naruto. The way this man said 'my master' in such sycophantic and obsessed way. Even that was similar to 'that mans' personality. It was almost enough to make him sick, though he did his best to visibly shove that aside and focus on the information this man had just given him.

Naruto frowned at this new title and name. The Ashikabi of the East, he had no clue what that meant, though he could take a few guesses. His first clue was the ending word in the title. East. Ashikabi of the East. It's obvious meaning was that the man was an Ashikabi located somewhere in the Eastern quadrant of the city. Since he had a title, then the man was most likely of some import to the Sekirei Plan. Perhaps some kind of power behind the scenes or something. Whatever the case was, this Izumi Higa was obviously a powerful figure, especially since another Ashikabi was calling him 'master'.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn, dammit! He had been expecting this to happen at some point, but not so soon. He wasn't ready for this kind of confrontation yet. He didn't have enough information, he didn't know anything about the other Ashikabi, the other Sekireis, he still wasn't even sure what the hell a Sekirei was.

And worse! Naruto still didn't even know if he wanted to take part in this god forsaken plan!

He kept all of this to himself, however, showing none of what he was feeling on the inside. It had been a long time since he had really called himself such, but Naruto was a shinobi, a ninja, an assassin. And during his time as a Konoha shinobi he had grown to be one of the most adaptive ninja in the force. There was no situation he couldn't react to, no mess he couldn't adapt to. He might not have been on the ball when it came to rescuing Kusano, but he was going to make damn sure that the next time a dangerous situation arrived he would bring his A-game and –

– wait. What did he say?

"What the hell is a scrapped number?" asked Naruto as his mind came down from, where ever the hell it had gone to. He hadn't been paying attention to that small piece of knowledge, too busy dealing with the other shocks he was going through, but now that his mind was actually beginning to focus on everything, bringing his A-game as it were, those words he had missed at first came back to him and made him pause.

"Ah," the sound of Akitsu's voice startled Naruto. Turning to look at the ice user along with everyone else, Naruto saw the woman looking down at her feet. "That would be me," she finished quietly. It took Naruto a moment to realize what she had meant, but when he did his eyes widened.

"_I am... broken... I'm... a failure..." _

Those had been Akitsu's words when they had first met. Was this what she meant? He had assumed that the reason she had called herself broken was because she couldn't gain her wings from any normal Ashikabi. Was that what it meant to be a scrapped number? Or was there some other meaning as well? Something more specific perhaps.

A snort of derision made Naruto's head snap back to the man. "You mean to tell me you didn't know?" the business suited man asked, a condescending smile on his face. "You are quite ill informed, it seems. Do you even know what it is you've gotten yourself mixed up in boy?"

Naruto's lips became a thin line, and not just at the boy comment. This pretentious little shit was several thousand years too young to be calling him boy. And of course he didn't know what the hell it was he had gotten himself into! He had only been in this city for five fucking days! And he may have bonded himself to three Sekirei within that time frame, but that didn't mean he understood a god damn thing about them! Musubi didn't seem to know anything about the Sekirei Plan other than the 'fight, and fight, and fight' slogan that Minaka had given him during their one video phone meeting.

Come to think of it, that man's information had been next to useless as well.

Akitsu wasn't a vast source of knowledge herself. He didn't know whether the ice user was just tight lipped, didn't feel like talking, or it was just in her personality to speak as little as possible no matter the subject. Though Naruto would admit he was very sure it was the latter of those three possibilities, that still meant she wouldn't be able to give him the information he wanted.

As for Kusano, well, she was a child. Enough said.

Perhaps he should have questioned Miya in earnest. He was almost one hundred percent positive that the woman knew something about the Sekirei Plan. Naruto hadn't asked her because he wanted to be polite, even with the teasing they had started neither of them really knew each other. It wouldn't have been right to ask her, or so he had told himself at the time. Now he was regretting it.

"Of course I know what I've gotten myself into," Naruto lied with the kind of casual nonchalance that actually made the business suited man pause. If it wouldn't have given away his poker face, the blond would have smirked. The best way to bluff your way out of any situation is by presenting just the right amount of bluster with the correct lacing of confidence. It was a skill he had often used when blackmail didn't work against some of his more... unruly blackmailees.

"Hmm... well whatever," the man said at last, seemingly deciding that he didn't want to waste any time arguing that point with him. "As I was saying before, my master would like to meet with you," he continued, and Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought. There were only a few reasons that this man's master wanted to meet with him, and only one of them made any sense right now. His master, this Izumi Higa, wanted him for some purpose, he wanted to use Naruto for something.

Naruto hated being used.

"If your master wanted to speak with me then why isn't he here?" asked Naruto, almost visibly shivering with pleasure as he saw the man bristle at his blatant words. He would play this man's game for now to get the information he wanted, but that didn't mean he had any intention of actually letting this man dictate their moves. Naruto was an old hand at political double speak and the art of the silver tongue. It was time he put those skills to use.

And maybe he could have some fun poking at the pricks mental defenses while he was at it.

"Do not be so presumptuous," the man regained his bluster by snorting in contempt and pushing his glasses further up his nose. It looked like some kind of habit. Maybe it was a reflex action that all douche bags possessed? "My master is a very busy man. You shouldn't assume that he will go out of his way to meet with you just because he wants to meet with you."

Well, if that wasn't the most contradictory, ass backwards sentence Naruto had ever heard. Still, he was able to get the gist of what this man was saying, and decided it was time to have some fun. Tilting his head and adopting an expression of innocent curiosity, he asked, "but if your master is too busy to meet with me then how is he supposed to meet with me?" in a tone that was laced with mockery that completely contradicted the look on his face.

From the way the man's body visible stiffened, and the twitching of the man's left foot, he had caught the slight Naruto made against his way of speaking and wasn't quite pleased. It almost looked like he would forgo his 'no moving from this spot' position to rush Naruto, but visibly held back. After taking a moment to regain his composure, which consisted of the man snorting derisively and pushing his glasses up his nose again, he spoke.

"My master has scheduled a time and place for this meeting," he said, and Naruto was pleased to not the barely held back anger in his voice. "The meeting will be at noon next Saturday at Hyamaki Hospital." The man had apparently decided he'd had enough of dealing with Naruto, and was now trying to hurry this meeting along to a close. "It's not everyday that my master decides to meet with someone he doesn't know. I hope for your sake that you don't decide to snub my master's generosity." With that one last threat, the business suited man, who Naruto realized he had now never gotten the name of, spun around and began to walk off. As he passed the two Sekirei they once again took position on either side of him and followed suit.

It wasn't until the man was gone that Naruto allowed his posture to sag slightly in a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

"Uzumaki-kun?" Miya's voice rang in his ears and Naruto turned his head to favor her with a tired smile.

"Let's go back home," he said, his voice letting her know that he had no intention of talking about what had just happened. Miya actually looked startled for a moment, but a second later she settled down and gave him a compassionate smile. In silence, the small group began to walk home.

"Naruto?" and of course it would be Musubi who broke the silent tension that had formed, having not even been aware of it in the first place.

"Yes, Musubi-chan?" Naruto asked with a tired sigh.

"What does 'snub' mean? Is that like discretion?"

"Ugh."

No, Naruto just couldn't get a break.


	8. Issues

**Chapter 7: Issues**

**XoX**

The group arrived home an hour later. The sun was still up so it wasn't quite time to start dinner yet. Naruto planned on seeing if he could either help Miya with her cooking when she did, or hopefully take over kitchen duty for the day in order to be away from his Sekirei and everyone else so he could think.

It was another surprising development about Naruto. He had always hated cooking when he was younger, preferring to stick with cup ramen when he had to eat at home. However, after the time of the shinobi came to an end and Naruto became a wanderer, he had picked up an appreciation for cooking. Being an immortal meant that Naruto had a lot of free time on his hands, and since he had so much free time the blond had picked up various hobbies, one of them being cooking.

Originally, Naruto had learned how to cook in order to help him seduce women. Very few things seemed to impress a woman then a man who can actually cook his own food and cook it well, a fact that he had proven time and time again throughout the ages. However, as time went on Naruto began to truly enjoy the act of cooking in and of itself. Much like gardening, cooking was something that he could do himself, it was timeless, ageless, and the only thing that changed were the recipes and new dishes that came out.

It also allowed him to think. Naruto's skills as a chef had gotten to the point where he didn't even need to think about what he was doing while making his way around a kitchen. He was so talented that he could allow his mind to wander as his instincts did all the work for him.

When they entered the boarding house, Naruto noticed that Uzume's sandals were already resting off to the side of the front door. There was a loud bump coming from the dining room, followed by what sounded like shouting. Miya's head snapped in that direction as well. With a frown, he, Akitsu, Musubi, and Miya, with Kusano on his shoulders, made his way into the dining room where they discovered an unusual scene.

Uzume was there, hands on her hips as she looked down at a pile of twitching clothes. It took Naruto to recognize the pile as Seo, mainly because it looked like he had face planted the ground. There was a large lump on his head that was distinctly recognizable as the results of physical violence. Seeing as to how Uzume was standing over him in an annoyed stance and the look on her face, she was most likely the culprit to the suspicious lump.

"Ow," Seo grunted as he pulled his face off the tatami mat and looked at Uzume with an annoyed twitch in his right eye. "Dammit, Uzume, I said I was sorry!" He winced as he touched the lump on his head. "Did you have to hit me so hard?" he asked with a whine.

"Of course I did," Uzume said, a very rare scowl on her face. Come to think of it, Naruto had never actually seen the woman scowl before. Ever. Removing her arms from her hips, the star shirted Sekirei placed them under her bust. "Only my Ashikabi allowed to grope me like that," her eyes narrowed, "and you are most definitely _not _my Ashikabi."

Well, at least now Naruto understood the woman's sudden hostility. He had never seen Uzume angry before, and truthfully had not thought she could actually get angry. But if there was one thing that he was coming to realize, it was that to a Sekirei, their Ashikabi was everything. His own Sekirei were the perfect example of that. Akitsu was completely subservient to him, Naruto didn't doubt that if he asked her to, she would jump off a cliff. Musubi seemed to hold the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi as something almost spiritual, and Kusano, while she might not really understand the whole 'Ashikabi/Sekirei' relationship, loved her onii-chan with all her heart. Even the last thoughts of Yomi, the Sekirei Naruto had defeated, had been of her Ashikabi, calling out to him before she had shut down.

"I already told you it was an accident," Seo grumbled in complain, tenderly poking the lump on his head and wincing each time. Naruto found the small act of insanity amusing if nothing else.

"Right," Uzume drawled out, her voice so laden with sarcasm that it could not really be called sarcasm. "Let me guess, your hand slipped? No, wait, I know. You tripped over a bump on the tatami mat and your hand just happened to reach out and grope by tits!"

Seo looked like he was about to respond, his mouth halfway open, when he froze. In fact, the entire room had frozen over as the dark, malignant presence of malice and hatred slithered into the dining room. Uzume and Seo's heads turned, slowly, oh so slowly, to face the source of this evil, their movements almost mechanic. It looked like they were trying to fight this strange compulsion but couldn't. It was instinct, after all, to look into the face of a predator even though you knew you shouldn't.

Standing in the doorway, Miya looked at the pair with a beatific smile, her eyes crinkled shut. However, their eyes were not quite focused on the woman herself. Slithering out behind her, the clacking of wooden blocks, came the source of the corrupted presence. The purple hannya mask hissed at them, it's mouth open, tongue sticking out in a horrific display and it's eyes bleeding profusely.

Everyone was effected by the mask of terror to some degree or another. Akitsu had stiffened, her head turned away from the sight of supreme horror and the area around her began to fog over. Musubi had hidden herself behind Naruto, her hands clutching the back of his shirt as she peeked over the edge of his shoulders and around Kusano to look at Miya. As for the Green Girl herself, she had hidden her face in Naruto's hair and was clenching his golden locks so tightly he felt they might get ripped off his scalp.

Uzume and Seo had the worst of it. Being the ones who Miya had her attention on, the two were faced to bear the full brunt of her mental torture. Seo had backed himself against the far wall, as far away from the lavender haired woman as he could manage, even then he was still trying to press himself further against the wall. While Uzume had not moved from her spot, her own reaction was just as pronounced. She was sitting on the ground, her knees drawn up to her chest as she rocked back and forth muttering, "oh god, it's eyes are bleeding. I hate it when it's eyes are bleeding."

"Uzume," Miya spoke in that delightful voice that sent shivers down the spine and froze the heart cold. Uzume froze, like an animal that knew the predator had seen it but hoped against hope that if they would just remain still, it would overlook them. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't the case here. "The use of such crude language, especially in the presence of children is strictly forbidden at Maison Izumo."

Uzume said nothing, she looked like she was just a second away from needing a quadruple bypass soon due to her heart giving out. Fortunately that seemed to appease the vision of horror enough that it moved onto it's next victim, leaving the busty Sekirei to almost sag in relief.

"And you, Seo," Miya turned on the man, freezing him in his tracks. The way she said his name, drawing it out with a long suffering and disappointed sigh was almost as terrifying as the mask itself. Seo seemed to think so anyways, if the way his eyes darting about to search out an exit when she spoke was any indication. "It seems you need another reminder that lewd actions towards others are strictly forbidden at Maison Izumo." With the fringe bangs of her hair covering the upper half of her face in shadows, all Seo could see was the evil smile that peeled back the woman's lips. "Remember that while you are under this roof, you must always follow the rules. After all, you never know what might happen if you don't."

"S-S-Sure thing, Miya, ah, ahahaha, ahahahaha!" Seo stuttered and laughed the laugh of insanity. It was the kind of laugh someone had when they started to lose their mind, when their higher mental functions slowly eroded away, leaving nothing more than an empty husk. A vegetable.

"Fascinating."

Miya blinked. The room blinked. As one, all the people there turned to find that sometime during Miya's lecture, Naruto had set Kusano on Musubi's shoulders and had moved just a few inches away from Miya so he could take a closer look at her hanya mask.

"So it's not just a method of visual terror but audio terror as well," he muttered to himself. His hand twitched, as if he wanted to poke and prod the mask with a stick, but was holding back for fear that doing so might break the technique. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he stared into the bleeding eyes of the terrifying spectacle. "It also seems to have multiple variations of itself, the last one didn't have bleeding eyes, or the tongue, or the clacking and hissing. Hmm... I wonder if this is some form of killing intent. Perhaps a killing intent based illusion. Or is it even an illusion..."

Unable to resist the urge anymore, Naruto reached out with a hand to touch the vision of horror that had frozen everybody else in place. However, just as Naruto's fingers were about to reach the object of his fascination and everyone else's horror, it disappeared.

"NO!" Naruto shouted, his eyes widening. He turned to Miya with his specialized Chōgata Inu Inu no Me (Super Large Puppy Dog Eyes), a technique he had spent many years developing and perfecting one century when he had grown bored. It was the most fearsome jutsu in his arsenal, no female to date had ever withstood it's might. And he could ill afford to have it fail him now. He had been so close!

"C-Can you show it to me again?" he asked, his lips quivering as he held his hands in a prayer sign in front of his face. "Please?"

"He-He wants to see it again?" Uzume whispered in shock. "He must have stones the size of baseballs, large, brass baseballs." It was a sentiment that everyone in the room seemed to agree with. At least, everyone in the room who knew what 'stones' meant in this particular case.

Miya tilted her head to the left, looking at him with a curious expression. After a moment, she slowly raised her right hand to her cheek...

… and smiled at him.

"Oh?" Miya pressed a hand to her cheek as her face took on a thoughtful look. "Show you what again?" she said, and if this were an anime, Naruto would have face faulted. This wasn't an anime, and so all Naruto ended up doing was stumbling as he lost his composure and his most feared jutsu of all time disappeared.

"Show me what –?" Naruto cut himself off, blinking several times as he looked at Miya in what could only be considered a combination of confusion, frustration, and desperation. "But you made it, didn't you?" he asked, ignoring the way both Uzume and Seo were waving their arms frantically at him in order to make his stop. "I know you're the one who made that mask! Please, just let me see it for a few more seconds..."

"As I said, I have no idea what you're talking about," Miya smiled beatifically at him. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the woman, an almost scowl forming on his lips. So this was how she wanted to play? Fine, two could play at this game.

Naruto set himself in a pose, feet spread shoulder width apart, left hand on his hip, right hand raised with the index finger point at Miya. He had a fierce look of determination on his face as he went into a pose that most would expect to find from the characters of a shounen manga. It was a pose he had used quite often in his youth, before manga had even existed, and it seemed to be making it's comeback now.

"I'm going to learn that technique," he declared, eyes narrowing further until they were mere slits, making him look like a fox. "It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it may not even be several weeks from now, but I am going to learn, that, technique," he finished, punctuating the last three words in emphasis of just how determined he truly was to learn the secrets behind Miya's hanya mask,

Miya narrowed her own eyes, the normally calm face was now set in a look of challenge. Sparks began to fly from their eyes, striking each other within the small space between them and filling the air with the sound of crackling and the sizzling of ozone. It seemed that she was unwilling to let Naruto just take this technique. That was fine with him. He wasn't like those damned Uchiha, stealing techniques out of hand with those monkey marbles they called eyes. Unlike them he could respect the amount of time and effort it probably took Miya to create that technique. But that didn't mean he was just going to ignore such an incredible ability. He would show her his respect by learning this technique through hard work, he would –

"Uh... hey, you two...?"

– get cut off the by sound of someone speaking. Naruto and Miya both turned their heads, the looks they had been giving each other still in place as they looked at Seo, who took a step back at seeing the identical looks on the pairs faces.

"Yes, Seo/What do you want?" Miya's melodious voice was complimented by Naruto's gruff response. Seo blinked as he looked back and forth between the two. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it just as quickly. After another second the gruff Ashikabi shook his head and gave the pair an amused look.

"You know, when you two do that identical thing it makes you look like an old married couple," he commented lightly, the previous fear he felt from the hanya mask having apparently vanished. Judging from the tone and manner in which he spoke of Miya so easily in spite of what he had just seen, the man must have been a pretty old acquaintance of the woman. He probably had a lot of experience with her technique. Naruto took note of that and stored it into the back of his mind for later perusal when he began working on his own technique. It seemed like prolonged exposure to Miya's hannya mask diminished the effects, at the very least those who had more experience with it were able to pull themselves together faster than those who had less experience.

Point in fact, Uzume was beginning to recover again while Naruto's own Sekirei were still shaking in fear.

Except for Akitsu, she was still looking off to the side surrounded by fog.

"Oh my," Miya pressed her hands against her cheeks. "An old married couple you say?" Naruto was surprised when she gave the man an almost condescending look, it was something he had never seen on her before. "Perhaps it would be best if the freeloader keeps his opinions to himself," she sniffed. Rather than be offended by the woman's words, Seo merely laughed, before turning to Naruto.

"Hey kid, fancy meeting you here!" he greeted Naruto cheerfully, completely missing the way the blond's right eye began to twitch. This was the second time someone used an euphemism with the implication that he was younger than them. Naruto knew he shouldn't let it bother him, he knew he looked young. Physically speaking, he had not aged a day since receiving his curse. If Naruto went to a doctor right now and received a full exam, all anybody would be able to deduce was that the blond was a ridiculously healthy eighteen year old male with an immune system that put all others to shame. He knew that, and he knew that it meant people would assume he was a kid. But god dammit if it didn't piss him off when people acted like they were older than him.

"Seo," Naruto greeted with forced civility. "I honestly didn't expect to meet you again, except for maybe on opposites sides of the Sekirei Plan."

"Ha!" The man barked out a laugh. "I wasn't expecting to see you for a while either, much less here at Maison Izumo." He looked at Naruto with a casual look of calculated indifference. "So I take it you winged the Green Girl then?" he asked, his eyes glancing over to where Kusano was only just now getting over her case of the jitters from Miya's fearsome technique. "Well," he shrugged before turning back to Naruto, not even giving said blond a chance to confirm or deny his question. "If you're stayong at Maison Izumo then that can't be a bad thing."

"Thanks, I guess," Naruto replied easily. Getting his thoughts in order, the blond was quick to bring up a point he had been wondering about. "Seeing as how you managed to get into this house so easily, I can take it you're an acquaintance of Miya-chan's?"

"Miya-chan?" Seo blinked, before laughing. He looked over at the lavenderette in both surprise and humor. "You actually let him call you Miya-chan?" he said, trying and failing not to laugh. In the end, the gruff looking Ashikabi ended up holding his gut as his body shook with mirthful laughter.

Naruto frowned at the response, wondering just what this man found so funny about how he addressed the landlady. Sure, Miya held that air most people associated with those who were to be given the utmost respect, but Naruto had never given any of the people he had known like that even a modicum of respect. At least, not in the way that most people do. And besides, Miya was lucky he hadn't decided to come up with a derogatory nickname for her like he had the others.

"I can't believe she let you call her that!" Seo gasped, still in the throws of vengeful giggles. He seemed to have forgotten everything and everyone else in the face of this new and apparently hilarious development. "The shrew must be going soft!"

And just like that the man's speaking came to bite him in the ass.

"Seo..." Miya's voice warned the man of his imminent demise. At the sound of the woman's voice, the cold, creeping darkness began to once again encroach upon the room. Seo gulped, his eyes widening in fear as he finally seemed to realize his mistake. However, like a man latching onto a lifesaver in the middle of a typhoon, Seo was quick to point out the one thing that might save him. "Insulting your host while inside of Maison Izumo is strictly forbidden."

"W-Wait!" he squeaked, his voice sounding dangerously high pitched. It was too bad Naruto didn't have a camcorder or at least a voice recorder on him, that would have been good blackmail material. "Wait, Miya!" he held up his left hand in a defensive gesture that really wouldn't have done anything in the face of Miya's horrifying technique. However, he seemed to have a trump card. "Naruto's still watching you!"

And just like that the feeling was gone, the hanya mask, which had been just about to creep out behind Miya's lithe form disappeared as if it had never existed. The lavenderette frowned, her eyes flickering from Seo to Naruto as she pursed her lips in indecision. Seo sighed, and made an exaggerated motion of wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Ha... thanks man," he said to Naruto with a smirk. It looked like the gruff Ashikabi was a lot smarter than he sometimes acted. He had been able to deduce that Miya would be unlikely to use her technique in the blond's presence anymore now that she knew he was interested in learning it from just that small exchange. "I owe you one," he continued, seemingly proud that he had managed to find a way to stop Miya from using her mask.

Naruto frowned as he looked at Seo, he didn't like being used by anyone. Still standing next to Naruto from there showdown, Miya huffed in in annoyance that she wouldn't be able to 'enlighten' Seo on the proper way to treat your host. After a moment, Naruto's frown became a smile. "You know, Miya," he said, his tone casual. "I was thinking, we haven't been very good hosts." Miya blinked at him, her head tilting to express her confusion. Naruto's smile widened. "I mean, Seo came all this way over here just to see you, and we haven't even made him some tea yet. I was thinking, maybe I should go make some for everyone while you and he get... reacquainted," Naruto spoke the last part with a smile he had been known for in his youth. A grin that stretched so wide his eyes were forced closed and his whisker marks stretched across his cheeks, giving him a very vulpine appearance.

It was the smile of the long forgotten prankster.

"After all, I'm sure you both have so much to talk about."

The smile that Miya returned Naruto was almost identical, minus the whisker marks. "Why yes, I do believe you are correct, Uzumaki-kun. Thank you for managing to catch and correct my oversight. It seems I will have to... apologize, for not being as attentive a host as I should have," she said appraisingly, and Naruto got the feeling she was quite grateful for the chance to properly browbeat the scruffy Ashikabi before her without Naruto's presence interrupting her technique.

Seo paled as he realized where Naruto was going with this. His eyes darted left, then right, then centered on Miya. "Uh... ah ha, I actually need to be leaving soon. You see, I left my girls back home and didn't tell them where I was going. No doubt their worried about me. I should really be getting along back to them so I can assure them I'm alright. So yeah... see ya! Urk!" Seo tried to turn around and rush out the backdoor that led into the courtyard, only to freeze when Miya appeared directly behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, her hold stronger than a steel bar.

"So, Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan, Ku-chan," Naruto looked at his three Sekirei. "Would you like to join me while I prepare some tea for our guest?"

"Yes! I would love to!" Musubi shouted as she threw her hands into the air above her head. Still sitting on her shoulders, Kusano also threw her hands up in imitation of the older Sekirei while giving out her customary 'mmhmm!' noise.

"Ah," Akitsu was the only one who seemed to actually realize what was going on. Her eyes went from the shivering form of Seo still in Miya's grip to Naruto, then she nodded slowly. "Yes," she said.

"Then let's head over to the kitchen," Naruto said as he began his march, his three Sekirei following him. It seemed he was about to gain one more to his small party joining him on his mundane task when Uzume quickly fell into step with him.

"Hey bro, mind if I join you guys?" she asked. It was clear that she had realized what was about to happen, and wanted to get the hell out of dodge before Miya unleashed her reign of terror on Seo.

"Not at all," Naruto replied with a smile. "In fact, the more the merrier I say."

"He-heh," Uzume gave out her customary chuckle as she sent the blond a grateful smile. "Thanks," she told him.

"Your welcome."

As the group of four Sekirei and one Ashikabi left, Seo found himself getting desperate for some form of escape. He reached out to the retreating group as the door behind them closed, crying out to them in ever increasing horror. "W-Wait! You guys wouldn't leave me here, would you? Guys? Guys! HEEEELLPPPP!"

**XoX**

"You know, I think I'm going to take back all those nice things I said about you," Seo told Naruto as the blond poured him a cup of tea and placed it in front of the man. He didn't even look at the cup as he grabbed it by the body and threw it back like it was alcohol and not a cup of tea. Naruto just smiled at him.

"Perhaps you should let this be an abject lesson for you," Naruto replied to the man's words mildly as he began pouring everyone else a cup of tea as well. When he finished setting everyone up, he poured himself a cup and sat down in his usual seat. Just like always Akitsu was sitting on his left. She still looked a little wary, occasionally turning her intense gaze off him to look at the now unthreatening lavenderette as if she would spontaneously bust out her mask at any second. It seemed that while the ice user never gave her surroundings much stock, Miya's mask of a thousand terrors had terrified her enough that even the normally stoic and uncaring Akitsu was wary of her.

On his other side Kusano was sitting on his left, drinking a cup of orange juice through a straw instead of tea. She had already tried Naruto's and decided she it was too 'yucky' for her tastes. The Green Girl was sitting in between him and Musubi, who was pouting at not being able to sit next to her Ashikabi. She had tried to claim the seat on his left, but somehow, just as the excitable girl in Shrine Maiden garb was about to sit down, Akitsu had appeared in the spot. The action had given Naruto the sudden premonition that this particular issue of seating arrangements would be coming up with much more frequency.

Uzume was sitting at the end of the table. This would have surprised Naruto, but he had correctly assumed that she simply didn't want to sit near Seo due to the whole 'breast groping' incident that had happened before his arrival.

Seo was sitting opposite of him, the man looked quite shaken. Miya must have gone much harder on him than she usually did. If the screams the blond had heard coming from this room were any indication of just how intense it was, then Naruto wasn't sure he could blame the man.

And speaking of the lavenderette, Miya was once more sitting at the head of the table, casually sipping her tea as her perennial smile remained in place. She looked happy, much happier than she usually did. Naruto could only guess that she was inordinately pleased with herself for managing to truly to the fear of god into the scruffy Ashikabi. Of course, seeing the outcome just settled it in Naruto's mind. He was going to learn that technique even if it killed him.

"Oh yeah?" asked Seo with a sarcastic mutter. "And what lesson is that?"

Naruto turned once more to look at the man. "That Uzumaki Naruto does not take well to being manipulated by anyone," he replied, the answer getting a look from not only Seo but Miya and Uzume as well.

"Ha," the man laughed, the sound a bit forced as he shook his head. At least he was making a concerted effort towards overcoming the effects of whatever Miya had done to him. "I guess I should have seen that one coming," he admitted with a shrug. "You don't seem to be the type of person to put up with others crap."

"Not unless I have to," Naruto replied with unusual solemnity. Seo laughed again, this time it sounded less forced. If the blond was surprised by the scruffy Ashikabi getting his second wind so soon, he didn't show it as he once more tried to get the answer he wanted to his curiosity. "So how do you know Miya-chan?"

"Miya-chan..." the man looked like he was going to laugh again, but one look at Miya, whose smile went evil for just a second, had him thinking better of it. Seo shrugged as he turned his attention towards the blond. "I was actually friends with Takehito before he and Miya even met."

Naruto blinked, nonplussed. "You mean Miya-chan's husband?" he asked.

"Yep," Seo began, a reminiscing smile forming on his face. "Takehito and I were good friends in college. He was one hell of an upperclassmen," the man admitted as he scratched the bottom side of his chin. "The guy was a fricken genius. Of course," the scruffy man continued. "He was also a demon whose soul had been rotted, and he was a research idiot who couldn't handle anything besides his profession."

"As opposed to being a lazy nobody who can't hold a job to save his life," Miya shot back with a placid smile that belied her irritation. She didn't seem to like the fact that her husbands supposed best friend was saying such things about him. "I believe being a research idiot as you call him is far better than being the scum of the earth." Naruto noticed with slight humor that she didn't deny her husband having the soul of a demon, there was probably a story behind that.

Seo just laughed Miya's insults off as he turned back to Naruto and became a bit more serious, his smile turning a touch nostalgic with a hint of melancholy. "Despite our difference he was someone even a person like myself could easily get along with. When he wasn't busy keeping his nose stuck in his job."

"Not to mention he was probably the only person who could actually stand Seo-san," Miya added with a soft giggle. Seo just rolled his eyes at the lavenderette. Yes, Naruto decided, there was definitely a story behind all of this. He would have liked to hear it, but didn't want to intrude on what was probably painful memories.

"He sounds like an incredible person," Naruto said, thinking. This was really the first he had ever heard of Miya's late husband except for in passing. The blond had never brought it up, not only because he had no desire to reopen old wounds, but also because it really didn't matter to him. While he would admit to being curious about Miya and her past, most of that was because of his surety in her involvement, or at least knowledge of, the Sekirei Plan. Still, the news about the man she had married was interesting.

Thinking along those lines, Naruto took a quick glance at Miya. The woman was calmly sipping her tea, and it looked like she was only paying marginal attention to the conversation going on around her. Naruto knew better though, he could see the way her eyes would occasionally flicker over to Seo, then him. No doubt she was cataloging every word that was spoken here. The blond also took in the sight of her smile, while it held the same gentleness it always had, there was just a trace of regret, bitterness, and longing in it that had the blond pausing. It was a look he recognized, since it was similar to one he wore quite often himself.

"Hmm," Miya hummed in agreement to Naruto's words as she set her cup down. "My husband truly was an amazing person. He was always willing to help others when they were in trouble, never turning away a person in need." She placed a hand over her heart. "He is someone I will never regret knowing."

Naruto took the time to observe Miya some more. The way she spoke was very familiar to him. He remembered a time so long ago when he had thought like that once. How long ago had that been? When he had been able to still remember the good times he had shared with his precious people before the memories began to leave a bitter taste in his mouth? It had to have been near the beginning of his new life after the war, before he knew he was cursed. That had been about... three thousand nine hundred and ninety years ago, he thought. At least, it had to have been somewhere around that time. His perception of the past was blurry so he couldn't be sure.

"Although," Miya began again, gracefully hiding a smile behind the left sleeve of her kimono as she giggled lightly. "It does sadden me to know that my husband was forced to spend his time with scum like Seo even when we were together."

"Ouch," Seo muttered, though he seemed to take the insult with a grain of salt. To Naruto, it looked like he had gotten so used to Miya making comments like this that he had gotten so used to it to the point where he simply shrugged the heavy words off. "Such harsh words, Miya," he whined. "Do you really hate me that much?"

"Of course not," Miya reassured him with a smile that was about as reassuring as a cat that had found a mouse within it's paw. "You may be the scum of the earth, can't hold a job to save your life, and only ever come to visit when you're running low on food, but you're still Takehito's best friend."

"And you think Miya-chan and I have a strange relationship," Naruto mumbled as he watched the byplay between the two. It was quite apparent that they had a long history. According to what he had deduced, they had likely met through Takehito, though Naruto only knew how the man Miya would later marry had met the woman herself was still unknown. It would be an interesting story, but the blond was not one to bother asking about something like that. If Miya wished to tell him that was fine, but he wouldn't lose any sleep over it if she didn't.

Naruto must not have been as quiet as he thought, because Seo laughed a moment after he spoke. "Yeah well," the scruffy Ashikabi shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance. "Miya just loves to hate me."

"Really now," Miya huffed in obvious annoyance. It was an almost childish look, and went a long way to telling Naruto just how easily this man was capable of riling the woman up. "There's no need to be so rude," she stated, though Seo just waved the words off, before turning his attention back to Naruto.

"To be honest, I'm actually kind of surprised to see you here," he commented. The words were almost casual, but Naruto could detect the hint of sharpness to them. The look on his face, while still lazy, held a much more calculating glint to it than usual. The man was obviously much sharper than he let on.

"Why do you say that?" asked Naruto, taking a sip of his tea.

"Oh you know," the man started. "It's just that with the way you've been going about everything I sorted of expected you to be in the thick things. I mean, you _are _the Miracle Worker, after all."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That's the second time someone has called me that today," he began thoughtfully. So that Higa Izumi character was not the only person who knew of his status, then. Naruto was not sure that was a very good thing. He still knew so little about the Sekirei Plan and Sekirei in general. That wasn't even going into the lack of information he had on the other people in this game. Knowing that he had so little information about the goingons in this city was beginning to bother him. Knowledge was power, after all, and he was distinctly lacking in it.

Despite this, Naruto forced himself to remain apathetic as he took the other Ashikabi in with a casual gaze. Seo seemed to know some of what was going on, and perhaps Naruto could gain some useful information through him. The blond was willing to admit that he may have been a bit hasty in dismissing this man so quickly the last time they met.

"I had not realized I was so famous," Naruto continued, sending off a small, almost unnoticeable probe for information. The comment seemed completely innocuous, it was not even a question. But if Seo was like the majority of people, he would be unable to resist spilling at least some of the information he had.

Seo gave him a lazy grin. "I may know a little more than most," he admitted with a casual shrug. The blond paused, taking a moment to ponder those words. There was just something about the way he had said them that made the blond think 'hidden meaning'. If there was ever a time when Naruto would actually need to use Kakashi-sensei's old adage of 'looking underneath the underneath', then now was that time.

"Am I to take it that very few people actually know of my title then?" asked Naruto, presenting his theory. It was the only thing that made sense to him. Higa Izumi had known of his title, but according to the man's... secretary(?), he had some secret means of acquiring that knowledge. The blond had assumed that meant only the so called 'Ashikabi of the East' and the man working under him had known about his new title. But that didn't seem to be the case.

"Very few Ashikabi's know about your title," Seo freely admitted with a shrug. "In fact, I'm almost certain that I'm one of the only ones who do. However," a small, almost perverted grin spread across his face. "There seem to be a number of Unwinged Sekirei who know about you. After all," the scruffy Ashikabi leaned back as he continued. "They were the ones who gave you that title."

So the title he had gained had not been coined by Ashikabi, but by Sekirei, and Unwinged ones at that. Now that was something Naruto hadn't quite expected. Then again, the title had to come from somewhere. It would be just as easy to believe it had come from an Unwinged Sekirei as it was to believe it had come from an Ashikabi. In fact, when put into perspective it made more sense that his title had come from an unwinged Sekirei. If it had come from an Ashikabi, then no doubt there would be more people like Seo and Izumi who knew of it. Seo had just admitted that there was very little chance of other Ashikabi knowing, and for some reason, Naruto was inclined to believe him. Of course, Izumi knew as well, but he had some way of gathering that kind of information. As did Seo, apparently...

"You learned that from Hikari and Hibiki, didn't you?" Naruto said as he realized just how Seo had gained this information. "Your Sekirei have been hunting Unwinged Sekirei again, haven't they?" he accused. As Naruto spoke those words, he was once again overcome with an intense feeling of... not quite anger, more like, disapproval. He just couldn't understand why this man was allowing his Sekirei to hunt down Unwinged Sekirei. It was wrong, to not allow a Sekirei a chance to find and be with their Ashikabi was an unforgivable crime. How could he not see that every Sekirei deserved a chance to find love? It... it…

… It took him a moment to realize that these were not actually his feelings. Naruto frowned, blinking. He shook his head and closed his eyes so as to better focus inward. He began shifting through the emotions he was feeling, the ones he recognized were not his own, following them to their source. And when he did, Naruto was both surprised and not so surprised, feeling he should have somehow expected it.

Musubi. She was the one feeling these emotions. How odd, while Naruto had always been able to feel his Sekirei's emotions to some degree, and even their thoughts on occasion, he had never been able to feel them so strongly before. It was almost as if she was projecting herself onto him. For a moment there, it felt as if he had become Musubi, and she him.

This, this was unexpected, and unnerving. He had known that the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi was strong, how could he not? But he had never even deigned to think it could be this strong. To think that a bond could be so powerful it could actually impose the will of another on him. It was an unnerving prospect, and just one more problem in the long list of growing issues that he was having with this whole situation.

His thoughts and attention were snapped back to reality when Musubi slammed stood and slammed her hands on the table, making everyone, even Naruto and Miya jump. Akitsu was the only one who didn't jump, but that was more because of her personality and slowness to movement in all things that didn't involve Naruto. Kusano had jumped though, and was now staring at Musubi with wide, blinking eyes.

"How could you?" she demanded of Seo, looking at him with a glare. Yes, a glare. One that could probably melt steel if it were capable of being put into a physical power. It was a look Naruto had never expected to see on his the naïve and childish girl. Musubi was not one to take things seriously, she was the kind of girl who was always happy, always smiling, and was something of a scatter brain. This new look, it was unnerving to see on his normally happy and kind, albeit slightly insane and battle crazed, Sekirei.

"Eh?" Sei blinked, leaning back from the look from where he sat.

"How could you let your Sekirei continue to hunt down those who have yet to find their Ashikabi?" she demanded once again, this time elaborating her question/accusation a little more. "Don't you know how important it is for all the unwinged Sekirei to find their destined ones? By defeating them before they find their Ashikabi, you're denying them the chance to find love!"

"Hey, it's not like I'm the one going out and defeating Unwinged Sekirei," Seo defended himself from the normally excitable girl's accusing stare.

"They're your Sekirei," Musubi accused. "You could easily tell them not to fight Unwinged Sekirei anymore. I'm sure they would listen."

Seo actually snorted at that. "You obviously don't know my Sekirei very well," he told the girl, and Naruto actually had to agree. From what he had seen of Seo's relationship with his Sekirei, much as he may deny it, he was not the one wearing the pants in that relationship. Musubi frowned at the man. With her first avenue of getting the man to listen to her blocked off, she whirled on Naruto and gave him an pleading look.

"Naruto-sama," she began pleadingly. "Please make him see reason. I'm sure if it were to come from you, he would realize I'm right and talk to his Sekirei about what their doing." Naruto almost flinched, not just at the tone in her voice as she spoke, but at the pure, honest feelings coming in through their bond. The bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi was something Musubi truly believed in with all her heart, and the thought that Seo would just let their Sekirei trample over that bond bothered her intensely. More than anything else right now, she wanted Seo to see her side of things and at least make an attempt at reigning his Sekirei in.

It was hard not giving in. almost impossible even. With such intense emotions directed at him, such an earnest look combined with those pleading eyes, Naruto truly wanted to do exactly as she asked; convince Seo that he needed to talk with his Sekirei about not fighting Unwinged Sekirei. This desire, this need to help the girl in her quest was almost overwhelming. Just fighting through the current sea of emotions she was pushing towards him was a task in and of itself.

"I... It wouldn't do any good," Naruto gasped, beginning to feel light headed. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Even if Seo did listen to me, I'm not sure his Sekirei would listen to him." He had seen the way the lightning twins had acted. There was no way they would listen to Seo for something so – to them at least – mundane.

"But – but surely if Naruto-sama spoke to him, Seo-san would talk to his Sekirei," Musubi tried again. The eternal shinobi glanced away from her, unable to look the girl in the eyes.

"Perhaps," he admitted. "But it's not Seo that needs to be convinced." The blond got the feeling that Seo didn't really care one way or the other, though he could just be reading the man wrong and he simply didn't want to get zapped by lightning for saying something his Sekirei might consider stupid. "But it isn't Seo that would need to be convinced," he finished.

"Then – then talk to Seo-san's Sekirei," Musubi pleaded, her hands held together in a prayer sign under her chin. "I'm sure that if it were to come from Naruto-sama those mean lightning twins would listen."

"Why do you think they would listen to me?" asked Naruto, frowning at the girls now desperate last gambit. "I'm not their Ashikabi, I'm just some guy who they happened to run into and someone who stopped them from trying to terminate you. They wouldn't listen to me, hell, they don't even listen to their own Ashikabi!"

"Don't you want to help the other Sekirei find their Ashikabi, Naruto-sama?" asked Musubi, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. This time, Naruto did flinch when he looked at her. "Don't you care about whether or not the other Sekirei find love?"

"I... even if I did," Naruto started slowly, trying word his answer carefully. "I wouldn't be able to change anything..."

"But... but what about the other Sekirei being allowed to find love?" asked Musubi in a tiny whisper. She seemed almost confused, it was as if she didn't understand why Naruto wasn't as determined to help the other Sekirei find love as she was.

What she didn't know was that Naruto had stopped believing in love a long time ago.

"Love?" Naruto would have scoffed at the notion Musubi was putting forth. She seemed to be of the belief that if all of the Sekirei could just find their Ashikabi everything would turn out for the best. At least, that was the general feeling he got from her. However, her comment had brought a number of memories he had buried a long time ago, or so he thought.

_A girl with pink hair, tears in her eyes as she pleaded with him to bring her loved one back. The pain he felt, even as he promised to do just that. That way, even if he was unhappy, at the very least the girl he loved could find her own happiness._

Not every Sekirei would even find their Ashikabi, the one they were apparently supposed to love for all eternity. Naruto had already seen how Sekirei could be entered into bond via forced winging by those Ashikabi who were unscrupulous enough to do so.

_A young woman with dark hair and lavender pupiless eyes, staring down a man who had just destroyed their home and come close to killing him. Her confession of love for him before trying to defend him and getting struck down for her effort._

Musubi just didn't seem to realize that even if every Sekirei found their Ashikabi, they would just be taken away again when they were defeated.

_That same pink haired girl, now a young woman, her eyes lifeless, blood leaking out of her mouth and a gaping hole in her chest, the edges frayed to signify that it was done by a lightning based assassination technique._

What good was finding the one you loved if they would only be taken away from you in the end?

_The woman with dark hair and lavender eyes, staring at him with such love and emotions that were no less intense now then they had been one year ago, even as she bled out, her blood staining the ground and mixing with the rain._

What would it matter if they found their loved ones, their Ashikabi, anyways? Minaka had said it himself, the Sekirei Plan would only end when the last Sekirei was left standing.

_Another woman lay before him, this was even more beautiful than the others. Her silken blond hair lay about her in a halo, and was partially dyed red with her own blood. Large, angelic blue eyes were staring at nothing, the colorful irises were dull as the once vibrant woman's life was extinguished._

More and more images flashed through his mind, all of them on the people he loved, the people he lost. Naruto grit his teeth, and brutally shoved those memories to the side, knowing they would only hurt him if he continued.

"Love isn't enough to save them from the Sekirei Plan."

Musubi flinched, and stumbled back as if she had taken a physical blow. Worse still, the blond felt the girl's pain through heir bond, like taking a kunai to the heart. The pain in Naruto's chest grew in proportion to the girls own pain. He watched as his first Sekirei ran through a gauntlet of emotions, confusion, disappointment, sadness, depression, so many emotions and each one of them made his chest tighten and sting. It was quite possibly one of the most horrible emotional pains he had ever met, running up there with the deaths of his friends.

Before he could say or do anything else, Musubi fled the room, the sound of her hurried footsteps disappearing as they heard her running up the stairs followed by the slamming of a door. Silence descended upon the room following the noise, none of the people there knowing what to say, or in the case of one of them deciding it would be best if he didn't say anything. The only one who did not seem to be affected was Kusano, who was simply to young to truly understand what was going on.

Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes. God he felt like a prick. How could he have hurt Musubi like that? He wasn't sure why his words affected the girl so much, but if what he had sensed through the bond was any indication he might as well have just ripped her heart out. It would have been a mercy killing compared to this. Was this the kind of person he had become? Had his inability to connect and bond with others become such a liability that even now when he had truly bonded to another person in a quite literal sense, he ended up being so callous?

"Uzume," Naruto called out in a tired voice, making the normally perky Sekirei focus on him. Surprisingly enough, she had been the one who looked the most affected by Naruto's last statement. Before the blond had called her, the expression on her face made it obvious she had been struggling with her own thoughts. Maybe she was in a situation where she had an inkling of what the eternal shinobi felt. "Could you please go upstairs and make sure Musubi is alright?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be the one doing that?" Uzume questioned him with a frown. Naruto sighed.

"I think... it would be best if perhaps someone else was supporting her right now," Naruto said softly. After what he had just said, he wasn't at all sure if Musubi would actually want to see him. Hell, if someone had just done what was essentially ripping his heart out with a rusty kunai he wouldn't want to see them. "I'll be up after a few minutes, once she's had some time to calm down without my presence hindering her."

There was another reason why Naruto didn't want to be in her presence right now. Two, actually. The first was this bond. After he had spoken those words the sent Musubi away, Naruto had felt her emotions like a physical blow. It had been as if someone had dropped the Hokage monument on his chest and then decided to have every Akamichi in Konoha use their expansion jutsu and begin jumping on it for shits and giggles. The blond honestly wasn't sure he would be able to do any kind of good with that much physical pain.

The second wasn't quite as selfish. It was that he didn't want Musubi to be affected by his own emotions, if such a thin were possible. Naruto had a theory that if he was capable of experiencing the emotions of his Sekirei, then there was no reason not to think his Sekirei could experience his. So far there had been no indication if that was true, but the blond didn't want to take any chances.

Uzume stared at him for a few seconds longer before, with a sigh, she relented. "Alright, I'll go check up on her," she said, standing up and making her way to the door. She stopped at the edge of the Shoji screen did. "You owe me for this," she gave him one last parting comment before disappearing from view.

"Uzumaki-kun?" at the sound of her voice, Naruto turned to look at Miya. She was staring at him with both of her purple eyes gazing at him with a look that somehow mixed calculating with concern. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this expression, but a part of him felt strangely vulnerable to it. Like he was being stared at from under a microscope.

"I'm fine," Naruto told her, turning his head away to take in the rest of the rooms occupants. As always, Akitsu was looking at him, even during the altercation that had erupted between him and Musubi her eyes had not left him. It was both unnerving and reassuring in a strange sort of way. Kusano still just looked confused, it would be obvious to anyone with mild observational skills that notice. At the pther end of the spectrum, Seo was once again giving him a sharp look. It was another reminder that the scruffy looking Ashikabi, for all his ability to put his foot in his mouth, was a surprisingly canny man.

"Hello! Excuse me!"

Whatever Miya may have been about to say was interrupted when a pair of familiar voices. She frowned for a moment, her eyes lingering on him, before with her usual grace, stood up and began making her way out into the hall. Naruto cast a glance at Seo when he heard a soft thump, and turned to see the man making his way into the kitchen. Frowning, he too was about to stand up when a smething gently bumped against him. Looking down, he saw that it was Kusano, her eyes were closed and her breathing even. She had fallen asleep.

"Akitsu," he said to the ice user, who blinked in acknowledgment. "Would you mind putting Ku-chan to bed?" he asked.

"Ah," Akitsu nodded slowly and stood up. "Ok," she finished. Naruto gave the ice user a very brief smile of gratitude at her acquiescing to his request, before lifting Kusano and handing the Green Girl off to her. While he hadn't said anything, he was pleased that the snow woman was so easy to deal with when compared to Musubi and Kusano.

As Akitsu began to slowly leaving the room, Naruto sighed, stood up, and made his way out into the hall as well. It was just as he was making his way to the entrance that the blond caught the sound of Hibiki's voice.

"We're sorry to interrupt," Hibiki started, and as Naruto came up behind Miya he saw her rubbing the back of her head with an apologetic expression on her face. She hadn't seemed to realize that Naruto was here yet, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how she might react. Instead she was looking at Miya as she spoke. "But is that idiot mooching off you again?"

Once again there was a familiarity to her words, this situation had likely happened numerous times in the past.

"Mooch? Why do you say that?"

Two tic marks appeared on the girls heads, right before they began to lay the beat down on Seo. A large cloud of smoke appeared over the trio with the only thing being visible was the occasional foot, fist or head. Several stars also appeared to shoot out of the cloud, whether they were some kind of special effect, or actually did something no one knew. And for the sake of their mentality everyone watching the scene decided it would be best if they didn't know.

"Because it's what you always do, you free loader!"

As Hikari and Hibiki began to lay the smack down on Seo, beating the ever living crap out of him with fists and feet. Naruto and Miya both sweat dropped. Yes, Naruto decided right then and there, even if he had managed to convince Seo to talk with his two Sekirei, no good would have come of it.

**XoX**

It wasn't that long before Seo and the lightning twins left, the two females of the trio apologizing profusely to Miya for their Ashikabi's unscrupulous behavior. The sight of the two bowing over and over again chanting the mantra 'we're sorry, we're sorry, a thousand times we're so sorry' as they held onto a large fifty pound bag of rice each had been amusing enough that Naruto had almost been able to put the conversation between him and Musubi into the back of his mind.

Almost. Their 'comedy routine' may have been more effective if it hadn't been for the fact that Naruto could still feel Musubi in the back of his mind, her emotions may have calmed down, but she was still rather distraught. The eternal shinobi knew he would have to apologize to her, it was the right thing to do, and even if it wasn't, as long as this situation remained unresolved, he would be unable to think properly because of the fist fighter's feelings being transmitted to him over the bond.

With a sigh, Naruto watched as Miya closed the door and was about to begin making his way to his bedroom in order to, as they say, face the music, when a hand was lightly placed on his shoulder. Stiffening under the unfamiliar touch, he turned, almost startled when he saw Miya standing behind him.

"A moment before you go upstairs, Uzumaki-kun," Miya said, the words sounded almost like a suggestion but Naruto could tell otherwise. Whatever she wanted to say, or ask, it must have been important. Naruto didn't say anything, but he did give a nod of assent, and silently made to follow the lavenderette as she began walking down the hall.

Maison Izumo had a lot of Shoji screen doors, they passed by a number of them before coming out to the one that led into the courtyard. Miya sat down, calves hang over the edge of the raised platform, her feet just touching the ground. After a moment or two of hesitation, Naruto followed suit and sat down, using his hands as support beams as he leaned back.

For a moment everything was silent. Miya was not looking at him but at something else entirely, something only she could see. Her eyes were unfocused as they wandered the halls of her own mind, perhaps remembering something from her past. It was as Naruto was beginning to wonder what she wanted to speak with him about that she asked, "did you mean it?" When Naruto tilted his head questioningly, she finally turned to face him, her eyes fully focused on his. "When you said that sometimes love wasn't enough. Did you mean it?"

Naruto studied the woman before him a bit, studying her as he wondered just how to answer that question. There were so many ways he could answer it, from moving around the subject, to giving a very vague answer that wouldn't really tell her anything, to simply giving a one word answer and expecting that to be the end of her questioning. Within the confines of his mind Naruto weighed the pros and cons of each choice he was presented with.

Finally, with a heavy sigh, Naruto turned his gaze back out to the yard where Musubi and the woman sitting at his side often sparred. "I've been in love before, you know," he started, his eyes wandering over to the Sakura tree he had first met Kusano. "I've loved a lot of people to be honest." After all, there were many different kinds of love, the love of a brother, a friend, a son, a father, a husband, so many endless ways to love another that putting all of the variety of ways into words couldn't truly do it justice.

"And I've met a lot of people who believe that love is the most powerful force in the world, that no matter what odds you face, so long as you are with the ones you love, you can overcome them." The blond frowned as he thought of his own experiences with love. "And in some cases that may very well be true. When people are fighting for their loved ones, they're much more determined to succeed. The love they have for the people they cherish forces them to push themselves beyond their limits. There have even been documented cases of woman gaining incredible strength in order to save their children, I remember hearing one story in particular where a woman managed to partially lift a car when her baby was stuck inside after it had been flipped over. And that's not even mentioning what two people who are in love can accomplish together..."

Almost absently, Naruto thought of the couples he had known back in the Elemental Nations. The one that sprang to mind the most was Sakura and Lee, his first crush and the girl he had ended up loving like a sister, and the Taijutsu master who had eventually surpassed his sensei. During the Fourth Great Shinobi War they had been one of the most powerful pair there, the two of them alone had managed to cut a large swath of the Zetsu clones that had been harassing the Allied Shinobi Forces. Not only that, but they had both been able to hold off the Kingin Kyōdi, the Gold and Silver Brothers, Ginkaku and Kinkaku, after they had been resumoned by Kabuto when the man had finally managed to escape from Itachi's Izanami technique, long enough for Naruto and Kirabi to arrive and help seal the pair away for good.

Their had been many other shinobi couples that had proven to be powerful as well; Temari and Shikamaru, Tenten and Neji, Konohamaru and Hanabi, Moegi and Udon, Hinata and Kiba... so many shinobi/kunoichi pairs that had been able to stem the tides of battle long enough for him and his, at the time, partner in arms Kirabi to arrive and lay waste to whoever stood in the way. Yet even these amazing shinobi, these powerful couples had eventually been defeated.

Sakura and Lee had been killed by Sasuke when Naruto and Kirabi had been forced into battle with a resummoned Uchiha Madara. Temari and Shikamaru had been killed by Kabuto himself, ambushed during a scouting mission to look for enemy weak points and come up with an appropriate counter strategy. Tenten and Neji had eventually been overwhelmed by Zetsu clones after getting cut off from the rest of the Allied Nations forces. Both Konohamaru and Hanabi, and Moegi and Udon had been killed during a mission to seek financial aid from Yuki No Kuni's Daimyo, Kazehana Koyuki. Kiba had been killed during a botched mission to find and kill Kabuto, sacrificing himself so that Hinata could escape with the information of the man's location.

Surprisingly enough, Hinata had survived, though she was killed days later by Sasuke when Naruto had been ambushed by a revived Gaara and Tsunade, and Kirabi by his brother, all of whom had been killed by Uchiha Madara before they could enter the fight. Naruto had arrived just in time to watch her die, unable to do anything more than cry his sorrows to the heaven.

"But even as amazing as love sometimes is, there are some enemies that love just can't defeat," Naruto said, looking over at Miya who was watching him with a gaze that was both studious and uncomfortable. It seemed his words were hitting the woman a bit close to him. Standing up, the blond dusted himself off and gave the woman one last glance. "As I said, sometimes love just isn't enough," he finished, before beginning to make his way back inside.

"Naruto-san." The blond paused at the doorway, turning to Miya with a curious look. That was the first time she had called him by his first name and added the '-san' suffix to it. Given that she had never called him that before, whatever she wanted to say must be serious.

"Yes?" he said, making a hand gesture for her to continue. Miya shifted, perhaps unconsciously, to look at him better, bringing her legs over the lip of the wooden platform and under her thighs in a feminine position.

"If love is not the greatest force in the world, then what is?" Naruto closed his eyes and turned away. He didn't even need a second to ponder that question to know the answer.

"Time," he told her, not deigning to look back and see her response. "There is nothing in this world that can defeat time." In time anything could change, anything could be lost, it was both the beginning and the end. People, culture, laws, the very landscape could be changed if given enough time. Whole civilizations have been toppled by time, the remains of those ancient communities now nothing more than ruins. People were born with time, and in time, they died just as sure as they entered this world. Truly, there was nothing that time couldn't destroy.

Even Naruto was a victim of time in his own way. After all, time might not have been able to kill him, but for all the life he had lived, he might as well have been dead.

With a heavy sigh, feeling the weight of his years, Naruto walked back into Maison Izumo, leaving Miya to sit where she was with a pensive look as she pondered the blond's words. No doubt she was trying to discern some hidden meaning behind Naruto's answer. It was unfortunate for her that she wouldn't find one, because in this instance the eternal shinobi's words had been the truth. And yet, the truth he had given was so unbelievable that it likely only someone who was capable of coming up with the craziest ideas and theories would ever be able to know that he was being honest.

Somewhere in Karakura town, a young high school student with long orange hair, large breasts, and a hairpin sneezed while eating leaks lathered in butter and red bean paste.

As he made his way up towards the stairs, Akitsu fell into step behind him. Naruto glanced casually over his shoulder, taking note that nothing seemed to have changed in the snow woman. Throughout the entire night, with the soul exception of when Miya had unveiled her hanya mask, Akitsu's composure had not changed.

"Ku-chan's been tucked into bed I take it?" Naruto asked, he was sure that was the case seeing as the Green Girl was no longer with Akitsu, but he felt it better to be sure just in case. After all, this was the woman who forgot to wear panties in public.

"Ah," Akitsu tilted her head to the side, then looked back at where she had come from. "Yes," she determined with a nod, her head turning back to look at Naruto. Said blond just gave a nod of his own as he and the ice user made their way up the stairs. When they got there, it was to find Uzume leaning against the wall next to the door to their room, her arms crossed under her bust, and the index finger of her left hand tapping a staccato rhythm against her arm. Upon hearing their footsteps she looked up.

"About time," she said, uncrossing her arms as she pushed herself off the wall. "What took you so long?" she asked with a curious look.

"Miya wanted to talk to me," Naruto told the Sekirei wearing the star shirt. His eyes flickered towards the door, then focused back on Uzume. "How is she?" he asked, the bond wasn't helping as much anymore and he couldn't get a proper read on the girls emotions. They seem to have settled, but with that settling down Musubi's emotions once more melded together in the static rhythm that was Akitsu and Kusano, making it impossible for him to determine her emotional state.

"She's fine," Uzume said with a shrug. "She stopped crying a while ago and I've just been standing out here since then waiting for you." Naruto winced a bit at the 'she stopped crying' bit, but didn't react otherwise.

"Thank you," Naruto said, bowing slightly at the waist to show his appreciation.

"He-heh, no problem," Uzume said with her customary chuckle. She began to walk down the hallway towards her room, patting Naruto on the shoulder as she went. "Now go take care of your girl, bro. You've got some making up to do." Naruto grimaced, not just because of her words, but because he knew she was right. While it may have been done unintentionally, his words had hurt Musubi deeply. He knew that he had to set things right, the only problem was...

… He didn't know how to do that. Naruto had been with hundreds of woman, thousands even. He knew more about how to get a woman into his bed than anyone else alive, and he knew more ways to please a woman than anyone else alive. Hell, he had practically reinvented sex! However, that meant little to nothing in this case, all the experience and knowledge on how to properly seduce and please a woman in bed held no bearing here. This wasn't some random chick he had picked up for the night. If she had been then he wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place. This was Musubi, one of the woman he had unintentionally bonded to, the first one he had bonded to. They were connected on a level that went beyond physical boundaries and into the realm of the spiritual. And whether he liked it or not, that meant they were, for lack of a better term, boyfriend and girlfriend, perhaps even more.

After all, there wasn't a much higher form of union than being bonded together in a way that was so profound Naruto could actually feel her emotions at all times.

"I know," Naruto muttered, more to himself then to Uzume. As the Sekirei in question walked the few feet to her own room, Naruto took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and decided to just get this over with. He had no clue what he was going to do, but when he was determined to do something a little thing like uncertainty wasn't enough to stop him. This was just another mess he had found himself that he now had to get out of. That was all there was to it.

Entering the room with Akitsu following behind him, Naruto took a quick moment to look around. The room was the same as it had been for the past few days they had all been living here. The sun was shining in through the window a deep red color, showing that the days events after the movies had taken quite a while to get finished. It looked like dinner would have to wait for a little while, unless Miya had already gotten started on it. And standing near the window, casting a shadow along the tatami mats as the light hit her form, stood Musubi.

Naruto hesitated. What should he say? What was the appropriate way to apologize. Just saying 'I'm sorry' didn't feel like it would be enough to make things up to the girl. He had really hurt Musubi with his words. There was no way a simple apology would be enough to make things up to her. Even if Musubi was an unusually kind and enthusiastic young woman, the fact remained that she was still a young woman. Naruto doubted that even she would forgive him so easily for what he had said.

Hell, were their situations reversed, Naruto would have had a hard time forgiving her.

"Musubi," he started, taking a hesitant step forward. Beside him the clink of chains let him know that Akitsu was walking with him as well. He wasn't sure if she was just following him because that's what she always did, but he couldn't help but feel slightly grateful for her presence. Maybe it was just because she was so unobtrusive, but the snow woman really was beginning to grow on him.

The girl he had called out to turned away from where she was watching the sun as it set beyond the horizon. She blinked several times as they adjusted to the change in light. After all, staring directly at the sun and then looking into a semi dark room with only the slight rays of sunlight that managed to sneak into the room was a pretty big change in lighting. After a moment, her eyes had adapted enough to make out the two figures in the room, though she only had eyes for Naruto at that moment.

"Ah!" The girl chirped in a cheerful voice, causing the blond to blink. "Naruto-sama! I didn't hear you come in. Have you been standing here for very long?" There was no sign of the previous tears she had shed, or the pain she had felt anywhere on her face. Focusing on their bond, the blond couldn't quite pin down Musubi's emotions and separate them from the other two he had winged, but none of them held any kind of negative emotions. It looked like the fist fighter had well and truly bounced back from her previous depression.

"Uh... ah... ahem," Naruto coughed into his hand, now even more unsure on how to proceed. It would have been hard enough dealing with the girl when she was depressed, but now he wasn't even sure what to do. Was she still sad? Was she just hiding her feelings so well that even the bond couldn't pierce the veil of her facade? Or had she truly recovered so quickly? "I... I haven't been here long, I just got here a few seconds ago," he said, wondering what he should say next. "So um..." he shifted, feeling unusually nervous. "How are you feeling?" the blond almost cursed himself for asking something so stupid, but that was all he could really think of to say at the moment.

"I'm fine, Naruto-sama," Musubi said, tilting her head in puzzlement. "Why do you ask?"

"Erm, well..." she couldn't really have forgotten about what had happened just a little under half an hour ago, could she? "You were pretty, um... distraught, after our conversation. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Well, I was a little upset," Musubi admitted, still smiling brightly. "After I got up to our room I felt pretty sad. I thought about going to sleep, but then I saw the sun beginning to set and couldn't help but admire it. I would have done some training, but I already trained with Landlady-sama today so I thought it might be a good idea if I just relaxed instead. Gotta rest my muscles after all," she finished, knuckling her head and poking her tongue out while she did so.

"Ah... listen," Naruto started, sounding less like an immortal male who had lived through war and constant heartbreak and more like an unsure teenager who didn't know how to properly apologize to his girlfriend for being an ass. For all his experience in life, this was practically new territory to the blond. How long had it been since he had even made an attempt at forming a relationship with someone else? Anyone else? A long time, too long in fact. None of those relationships had ever ended well, you just couldn't maintain a meaningful relationship when you were like him. It was simply impossible.

Dammit. Why did this have to be so difficult? All he had to do was apologize and find some way to make it up to her, right? Then why did he feel so lost and confused? Maybe it was because she didn't even seem to be angry at him. It might have been easier to apologize if Musubi actually was cross with him, and it wasn't like he didn't deserve her ire after what he had said to her. Well, maybe he should just come out and say it, and then go on from there.

"I'm..."

"I did think about what Naruto-sama said," Musubi continued, interrupting the blond before he could even begin. "At first I didn't know what to think," she said, and it was here that she began to walk towards him. "But then I realized what the problem was." Naruto blinked, nonplussed by her words. She was in front of him now, a warm smile on her face that when combined with the slight halo effect being caused by the slowly dying suns rays made the creature before him seem truly angelic. "I realized that Naruto-sama just doesn't understand why it's so important for us Sekirei's to find out Ashikabi."

Actually, Naruto thought he had a pretty good idea of why, or at least a decent one. If nothing else he could determine that an Ashikabi was important to a Sekirei due to the bond they formed, though it's deeper meanings were lost on him. He still didn't know what a Sekirei was, after all.

His thoughts were derailed instantly when Musubi grabbed his left and in both of her's and placed it upon her breast. For a moment all Naruto could feel was the soft roundness of her, well, her, as his palm rested against it. She wasn't wearing a bra, and he could feel her nipple hidden only slightly by the fabric of her kimono top. By the gods above, she really didn't know what she was doing to him.

"Can you feel it, Naruto-sama?" she asked, and Naruto wanted to shout 'yes!' to her, but only just managed to hold his tongue. "My heart? It's beating so fast." The second phase of her question had the immortal shinobi pausing. It took him a second to realize what she was talking about, but when he did, he could feel it. The way her heart was beating, the way it was racing within her chest, the rate continuing to increase as if just being in his presence was enough to set her blood pulsing.

"I can feel it," Naruto whispered, his throat feeling strangely parched. Musubi's heart was no longer the only one that had started to increase. Naruto could feel his heart hammering in his chest, beating in time to the hastened pace of Musubi's own blood pumping organ. He had to wonder, if only to himself, was this also a part of the bond? Was the way his own heart had sped up to match hers due to the bond they shared between them. Or was there another reason he was feeling this way?

"I love, Naruto-sama," she stated, a quiet conviction in her tone. It was just like the last time she had told him that, only without the naked straddling that particular incident had involved. That quiet conviction in her tone that destroyed any and all thoughts of protest, it was the same as the last time. "Whenever you're near me, my heart beats like this; when ever you smile, or laugh, when ever you do things for me like carrying my clothes or washing my back. Even a simple touch from you is enough to set my heart racing. This is my love for you, this is what I feel when I am with you." Musubi looked at him, and Naruto almost felt himself melting on the spot.

Such an intense look of longing should be considered illegal.

Was this another part of the bond? Naruto couldn't doubt her words, even if he may have during her first confession, he couldn't doubt them now. It wasn't just her words, or the conviction in which she spoke them. Nor was it just the beating of her heart and the frantic pace it set. He could feel it, her love for him, it was there, inside of his soul, in that little spot his heart had made for Musubi.

Once more Naruto had no time for thinking further because Musubi had grabbed his face with both of her hands and brought him down so she could place a kiss on his lips. Brilliant wings flared out behind her, pushing against the desk and wall, the wood that made the building straining under the strength that was being pressed against it... Naruto was just thankful he had yet to set up a computer or it would have likely gotten squished.

And then his mind had no room for any other thoughts as his entire focus became consumed by Musubi. The feel of her lips so softly on his own, her arms as they snaked around his neck, her body as it was pressed against his. And in the corner of his heart that had been created for the bond that had been formed between them, he could feel her presence, a bright light of warmth that seemed to cast away the darkness of his life.

It was almost too much for him, he had gone so long without the light that Naruto was not really sure how to deal with it. He loved the feeling it gave him, but another part of him just couldn't comprehend it. It was almost like when you stepped out into the light after sitting in a pitch black room for several months and stared directly at the sun the moment you came out. It was nearly blinding.

When the kiss finally ended and Musubi pulled back, her eyes fluttering open, she gave a smile. "Do you understand now, Naruto-sama?" she asked. "Do you understand these feelings I have for you."

"I... I do..." Naruto murmured, and he did, he really did. After this display it was impossible for him not to. Really, how could anyone not understand that after the way this girl had confessed her love for him?

It was impossible for him to truly understand what came over him in that second, or what possessed him to do what he did. At the moment, Naruto was feeling so many emotions he could only identify a quarter of them, and even if he understood the significance of the others, it was unlikely he would understand the reason they were. In many ways, Naruto was still a child when it came to his emotional development. He had never grown up the way other kids had, being an orphan and a hated one at that. He never had parents to help him develop a healthy emotional mindset and mentality. And while some of that had been fixed after he became a genin, one can't just expect three years of training with his godfather to fix twelve years of neglect.

Perhaps, if Naruto had been allowed to develop afterwords things would have been different. Maybe if the Fourth Great Shinobi War had never happened, Naruto could have grown from the childish state his emotions had been in to those of an adult. And quite possibly, if Naruto's very existence had not become the curse it was today, he might have been able to become the man he had been meant to be. It was impossible to tell now, however, and hindsight was always twenty-twenty.

Whatever the case was, Naruto's body moved with a mind of it's own as he closed the distance between him and his Sekirei. His arms went around Musubi, embracing her, holding her to him as he rode out the emotional storm that Naruto was in no way prepared to deal with.

"Naruto-sama?" Musubi asked, the sound of her surprised and questioning voice was muffled slightly as Naruto held her to his chest. He was a good deal taller than she was, at one hundred and eighty one centimeters he was a decent bit taller than a lot of people in Japan. Musubi only came up to about the center of his chest. Hesitantly, perhaps in response to his surprising action, she wrapped her arms around the blonds waist. He could feel her as she turned her head and pressed her cheek against his chest, undoubtedly she could hear and feel the fast paced beating of his heart that was still matching time with her own.

"Musubi I..."

He tried to say them, he really did. Those three little words that his first Sekirei had bandied about so easily. Perhaps it was because of how moved he was, or maybe he just thought it would be kind to return her gesture. Whichever was the case, Naruto truly wished he could tell her those three little words that likely held far more meaning to the girl in his arms than any others.

But he couldn't. He couldn't tell her that, not when he was still unsure of whether or not he truly felt the same as her. Not when he didn't know if these feelings were genuine or because of their bond. Not when Naruto wasn't even sure if what he was feeling was truly the same as what Musubi felt for him. And perhaps the most important reason he couldn't was because no matter how much he may want it to be true, no matter how much he may want to return this girls feelings, in the end, it would only be a fleeting moment that left more bittersweet memories.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Musubi's head shifted until her chin was resting on his chest as she looked up at him, confusion evident in her eyes. No doubt she was trying to figure out what he was apologizing for.

"Sorry for what, Naruto-sama?" she asked, and Naruto grimaced, before planting a smile on his face, one that he had not worn since before he had found out why he had been so hated in Konoha.

"For what I said earlier today," he lied. There was no way he could tell her the truth, especially when that truth was likely to hurt her more. Sometimes it was better to just keep certain things to yourself, if for no other reason than to spare someone else the pain that would come from that knowledge. And make no mistake, Musubi would be hurt if he said 'I'm sorry, but I don't think I can feel the same way about you that you feel about me.'

Musubi beamed a smile at him. "It's ok," she said immediately. "Naruto-sama just didn't understand, but now that I've explained it to him I'm sure he does."

"Yeah," Naruto plastered on a weak smile that was no where close to reaching his eyes. "I certainly do." And that just made things worse, but because he did understand, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. This girl had just bared her heart and soul to him, and Naruto wasn't even able to do the same, wasn't able to grant her the same level of commitment that she was, and perhaps most importantly of all, he wasn't able to tell her those three little words that would have meant the world to her, those three little words that she herself could say with such conviction that he was left with no choice but to believe her.

Naruto couldn't say 'I love you.'


	9. Of Computers and Perverts

**Chapter 8: Of Computers and Perverts**

**XoX**

_Fire. That was the first thing Naruto saw as he walked through the deserted streets of the place that had once been his home. Konohagakure No Saito, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. What had once been a beautiful city with buildings of various shapes, sizes and makes, was now nothing more than a burning pile of rubble. The many buildings Naruto had come to know during his tenure within it's walls were gutted out, flames rising high above his head and smoke billowing into the air. The old market place that had once been so lively and filled with people doing their daily shopping, gossiping about this and that, where children had once played in the street, running to and fro as they laughed in joy, was now nothing more than a couple of burnt down buildings. The Hokage mansion, the large red tower where the leader of the village resided was now nothing more than toppled remains, red hot flames consuming it and turning what little was left into dust and ash. Even the Hokage Monument, the monument with the five faces of the leaders past and a symbol of the villages will of fire, had been lit up in a blaze of acrid flames that looked hot enough to melt steel._

_Yet despite the heat of the flames, Naruto could not feel them. Despite the fact that his enhanced senses should be gagging on the stench of smoke, Naruto could smell nothing. And despite the fact that he should be choking as ash filled his lungs, every time Naruto took a breath he tasted nothing but fresh, clean air._

_Ah, so this wasn't real, he realized. It was a dream. A rather vivid one at that. Naruto didn't normally have such realistic dreams. Most of his nightmares were often fuzzy, unfocused and unclear, merely vague images that denoted to his failures and inadequacies. This dreams, nightmare, vision, whatever it was, was nothing like the normal horrors he faced when sleeping._

_As Naruto continued his walk through the abandoned village he came to realize that he was not quite as alone as he thought. There, standing just a few meters from him was a vaguely familiar figure. A man. He was on fire, Naruto belatedly realized, his light grey hair shifted and billowed as it was caught within the thermal updraft caused by his own flames. Similarly, the long black cloak he wore was being disturbed by the wind, moving in time with the frantic pace of the fire._

_Covering the bottom half of his face was a mask. It moved, and with that movement Naruto realized the man was talking. "Why?" he asked, his a combination of anger, confusion, and disgust. "Out of all the possible Ashikabi I could get, why does mine have to be a man!"_

Naruto's return to the land of the living was just as slow as it always was, not even a dream as vivid as that could make him wake up any faster. There was no shooting up out of bed covered in sweat, no frantic muscle spasms that came with his nightmare. He had lived for a long time, and in that time Naruto had experienced many nightmares, one for almost everyday he had been alive. The only times Naruto had not experienced a nightmare were those days he seduced a woman to sleep with, which had been the whole point of the seducing in the first place.

As he groggily came back to the land of the living, Naruto thought about that last dream he had, it had been very familiar to another dream he'd had two days ago. The dream that had led him to his rescue of Kusano, and the girls subsequent winging to him. Did that mean this other person was reacting to him as well? God he hoped not, aside from the fact that Naruto wasn't into guys, he didn't really care to have anymore Sekirei. It was hard enough dealing with the three he had currently.

It was still dark outside. As Naruto looked towards the window he saw that the sun hadn't even risen yet. The blond closed his eyes and gave a tired sigh as he realized that dream had woken him up even earlier than usual. Feeling a headache beginning to form, he made to rub the bridge of his nose with his left hand, only to find he couldn't. In fact, Naruto couldn't even lift his arms, either of them.

Blinking, the blond frowned before he realized the most likely reason he couldn't move. Sure enough, there were his two reasons, sleeping as they cuddled into his side. Musubi was in her usual spot on his right, her body closer to his than usual, possibly a by-product made by her subconscious due to their altercation three days ago. Unlike the last few times they had slept together, this time she was wearing clothing, a set of red bloomers and a white gym shirt, the clothes she usually used when training or sparring with Miya. The reason for her wearing clothes now had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Miya. Normally, Naruto would be the first person to wake up, and he would often be the one to make breakfast. Monday that had not been the case, he had been too tired from being hit so unexpectedly with Musubi's pain through the bond and the events that followed that he simply hadn't been able to get up. Miya had walked in on them in order to wake them up. Needless to say she had become quite cross with the three of them when she saw that the excitable fist fighter was sleeping in nothing, not even her skivvies. Like always she was drooling on his chest as she held his arm in a vice grip between the cleavage of her very expansive bust.

On his other side was Akitsu, wearing a black Metallica shirt he had bought some decades ago when the band had first come out. Like always she barely seemed to fit in it, the fabric tightening to such proportions that Naruto was surprised it hadn't ripped yet. Another thing Naruto noticed when Akitsu's bare leg curled tighter around him was that she wasn't wearing panties, which was actually surprising to Naruto. Much like Musubi had been forced into wearing clothes, when Miya had realized that Akitsu wasn't wearing any panties when they slept together she had forbidden the snow woman from not wearing any panties. Naruto knew for a fact that she had been wearing panties when they had gone to bed, meaning sometime during the night they had been removed. He wondered if she had done so consciously or unconsciously during the night.

The blond closed his eyes and released a tired sigh as he let his head hit the bottom of the bed. It was strange how quickly things change. Back before he had met Musubi every day went by so quickly, a hundred years could pass him by in the blink of an eye. And why shouldn't it? It wasn't like one hundred years actually meant something to Naruto, he had seen dozens of those. Sure, things might change during that time, but at the same time, very little actually changed. At least as far humanity went, new and innovative technologies couldn't change how ugly they were, the many laws passed that gave 'equal rights and freedoms' didn't dismiss how people would still find a way to discriminate against each other. Wars were still fought, and lives were still lost. In truth, humanity had never changed.

Now though, a single day seemed to last a lifetime. Each day seemed to bring with it a new experience, the fact that this entire situation was a new experience notwithstanding. He would have never imagined that some of the things he had witnessed in just a few days had been possible. Bonded. He had bonded himself to not just one, but three girls. Three girls who were so different from each other in almost every way that mattered. All of them were so unique that Naruto couldn't even begin to truly describe them, and each day seemed to show him something new. Yet even then, with all of the amazing things that he had experienced, life was not without difficult.

In fact, one might say that there were even more difficulties now that he had bonded to those three Sekirei.

Several problems in particular seemed to have been brought to the fore. Mortality, and all of the differences that it brought with it. Each and every problem Naruto had, had been brought forth was caused by his immortality. Not all of the problems he had were as simple as the fact that he would live for ever and his Sekirei would die either. Compared to some of the other issues that was the easiest problem to deal with.

The bond and all of the problems it brought, and the inability to connect to his Sekirei were by far the largest he had to deal with. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say his struggles at keeping his distance from those he had bonded to was the largest issue. The struggle between what he wanted to do and what he knew he had to do. It was difficult, Naruto knew that he should keep as much distance between them as possible. That way when they died he wouldn't hurt as much as he was already going to now that they had bonded, and yet...

Naruto didn't want that, he didn't want to keep his distance. More than anything else in this world, Naruto wanted someone he could connect with, people he could cherish. It was hard, living forever. In order to cope with the loneliness that came from immortality, he had kept his distance from the world, grown cold, apathetic. It was the only way for him to survive with his sanity intact. Now that he had bonded to his Sekirei, he could no longer claim apathy. With the emotions of his Sekirei a constant thrum in the back of his mind, more and more of his own burgeoning emotions were reawakening. He had experienced joy, happiness, pain, sadness, fear, anger, and many other emotions within such a short time, emotions the blond had thought he had long disassociated himself from. They had been locked away within the deepest reaches of his mind where they could no longer hurt him. Or so he thought.

In many ways this was a problem. He had spent so long going without truly feeling anything that he no longer knew how to deal with his own emotions. More and more Naruto found himself making mistakes, the first issue being when he had gone out of his way to rescue Musubi from those lightning twins, the second being deciding to help Akitsu, the third and many others that had followed being the near botched rescuing of Kusano. While Naruto couldn't say he regretted doing any of these, it had also brought him the current problems he was trying to deal with.

And just as problematic was this new issue Naruto had faced with Musubi. Though the girl seemed to have forgiven him completely for his words the other day, the blond had found himself wracked with guilt. Even looking at the brunette made him almost flinch. It was frustrating! He shouldn't feel guilty, a part of him said. It wasn't like he hadn't spoken the truth. If anything, she should be grateful he had given her such a wake up call before she suffered the same heart shattering pain he had. Yet that part of him that was so keen on telling him this, the constant voice in the back of his head that had kept him sane all this time, had been getting smaller and smaller. Now it was almost a whisper, and as that whisper disappeared, Naruto's guilt increased.

A shift of movement startled the blond. Looking down at the source, Naruto saw Musubi nuzzle against his chest, a comical sight considering she was also nuzzling against her own drool. The blond began to chuckle mildly before seeming to realize he was doing it. Gritting his teeth, he took several deep breaths and tried to center himself.

It might have worked too, but as the blond felt his own emotions begin to settle down, a new one entered the picture. Panic. And it did not belong to him. Naruto only had enough time to identify the source of that emotion as Kusano, before the door to his room opened and the girl in question ran in without closing the door behind her.

"Ku?" Naruto said, blinking as the little girl ran over to the foot of his bed, lifted up the covers and clambered underneath. Her form was visible only as a large lump as she wiggled and squirmed her way forward, climbing on top of him, Musubi, and Akitsu as she made her way to the front of the bed. Naruto sat up, taking the two girls clinging to him with him as he did so just as Kusano's head poked out from underneath the covers and she began clinging to him, her entire body shaking in fear.

"Ku-chan, what's wrong? Are you ok? You're not hurt,are you?" Naruto asked in a rapid fire of dialogue that most would have trouble following. He was already feeling the beginnings of his own panic attack as the girls emotions took hold of him. It was only when he remembered that the emotions he felt were not his that the blond managed to calm down by closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out the mouth. It was a testament to how hard he had been working on not letting the emotions given to him through the bond overwhelm him like they had before. Now it only took a few seconds to regain control of himself.

When he finished, the blond opened his eyes and fixed Kusano with a concerned, but calm gaze as he pulled the still shivering girl close. The girl didn't resist, and seemed to have been waiting for this sign because she was quick to bury her face in his chest the moment he acted. On either side of him both Musubi and Akitsu began to stir.

"Uwhaa... Naruto-sama?" Musubi blinked tiredly, rubbing her eyes with her left hand as she used her right to push the upper half of her torso up. While she did that, Akitsu also woke up, clearing the gunk out of her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. "What's going on?" asked the more excitable of the two, before spotting Kusano. "Ah, Ku-chan! What are you doing here?"

When the Green Girl just buried her head into Naruto's chest further, the blond sighed. No, it seems that no matter what time of day it was, he just couldn't get a break.

**XoX**

"A ghost?" Uzume said with an incredulous look on her face as she sat in her usual place across the table from Naruto. Over a little ways at the head of the table sat Miya, calmly eating the traditonal Japanese style breakfast of salmon, steamed rice, and tamagoyaki as she listened in on the conversation with mild amusement. Sitting next to the blond shinobi himself was Kusano on the left hand side, still shaking like a leaf and holding onto the blond as if he was a lifeline, and Musubi on the right. It had been Akitsu, but when Musubi had pouted one day at not getting to sit next to him Naruto had decided to have the two sit on his right side in shifts. For breakfast, it would be Musubi sitting next to him, Akitsu would get lunch, and the two would switch off every other day for dinner. It was a system that had proven effective enough so far, even though it was only two days old.

It was the morning after Kusano had crawled into Akitsu's, Musubi's and Naruto's bed, and the blond had just finished explaining to Miya and Uzume why Kusano had been found sleeping with him instead of Miya. The whole story had not taken that long, Naruto wasn't one for elaboration, at least not in this kind of instance. When writing his stories, the blond knew how to embellish well, as his book sales can attest to, but when giving what amounted to a report the blond was notoriously concise and to the point.

"Well that explains it," Miya said, her left arm coming up to cover her mouth as she smiled at him. It wasn't hard for the blond to tell from the silent shaking of her body that landlady of Maison Izumo was on the verge of giggling. "For a moment there I thought you had snuck into my room and brought her there yourself."

Naruto's right eye gained a violent twitch as he looked at the pleasantly smiling woman. "I'm not a lolicon, you know?" he told her, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave the lavenderette a pout.

"Ufufufufu..." His response only seemed to incite further amusement from the landlady, even Uzume began snickering at his misfortune. Thankfully neither Musubi nor Kusano understood the references judging by the way they were tilting their heads in an almost identical fashion and blinking in confusion. At least, Naruto hoped to god they didn't understand, the last thing he needed was Musubi making some innocuous comment that caused the two women currently laughing at him even more of a reason to laugh at his expense.

Naruto wasn't quite sure if Akitsu understood, however, even if she did the blond was sure the snow woman wouldn't say anything. Which was good because he really didn't need to deal with anymore people either poking fun of him, or possibly saying something that would cause him no small amount of embarrassment.

Though Naruto had to admit there was something nice about the fact that Miya was at ease enough to tease him. The only other person who really did that was Uzume, but when she messed with him it was usually in the form of witty one-liners and small time comments about his preference when it comes to the clothing of his Sekirei. That, or she just watched the chaos Musubi and Kusano caused build up around him. She seemed particularly fond of watching his life like it was some kind of movie or tv show. In comparison, when Miya teased him it was done with small innocuous comments that Naruto could easily respond to with his own salvo of return fire.

There was also the fact that Miya was the only person among all the members of Maison Izumo that Naruto considered his equal. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was the owner of the house and therefore, technically the ruler of the household, it was in the way she carried herself. Perhaps better than anyone else, Naruto was sure Miya knew at least some of what he had experienced. If nothing else, she was the closest living human he knew of who had truly felt a loss so deep that it left a scar that was almost physical. In some ways, that made him feel closer to the purple-haired landlady than the other members of Maison Izumo.

There was another reason he enjoyed her presence, however, and it brought him just as much peace as it did guilt. Miya was not bonded to him. He couldn't feel her emotions beyond what he saw through simple observation. That, more than anything else, made spending time with the beautiful yet often unassuming woman worth it's weight in gold. Being able to hold a conversation and know that your thoughts and emotions are your own was becoming a commodity for the blond, sometimes he would be speaking with one of his Sekirei and he wouldn't even realize that the entire time he was speaking he had been parroting the thoughts and emotions of the girls he had bonded to. It made his time with Miya all the more important, because it not only allowed him to hold a conversation without losing himself, but it allowed him to begin expressing his own burgeoning emotions without them being affected by his girls.

Uzume was also a viable option, he wasn't bonded to her, after all. But the female Sekirei was usually only around for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the end of the day movie. Sometimes she would stick around and watch Musubi spar, or would poke fun at Naruto about his harem, but for the most part she was either asleep in her room or out at her job. Naruto didn't know what she did, but the few times he had seen her she looked quite exhausted. He would have wondered more about that, but it wasn't any of his business what the out-going Sekirei did so he left it alone.

With Uzume out of the house most of the time, and Kagari no where to be seen at any time of the day, he had turned to Miya. And she did not disappoint. He and Miya would often trade banter during the breaks after she had finished training Musubi for the day, so long as he wasn't doing something with his Sekirei. Or when they made dinner; Naruto had refused to allow the woman to make dinner on her own anymore, he knew she could, of course, the woman was a damn good cook. But he wasn't the type of person to just sit around the house doing nothing.

Besides, he liked cooking. It was relaxing.

Miya had contested him of course, claiming she would be out of a job if he cooked all the time. It was partly in jest, the woman owned Maison Izumo, after all. Naruto had simply countered her by saying that someone who did so much work shouldn't be forced to make dinner for everybody. In the end they had decided on a compromise. They would cook meals together on most nights, and on Sundays Naruto would cook by himself, while Miya cooked on Fridays. During the nights they both cooked, the two would often trade barbs back and forth.

It was all in jest of course. Neither of them actually said anything hurtful towards one another, and both enjoyed each others company. Despite that, sometimes Miya simply ended up saying that caused a proverbial rain cloud to appear over the blonds head.

Like now.

"Anyways," the blond continued, conceding the win to Miya as he got back to their original topic. He probably could have thought of something, but wasn't really in the mood for dealing with her. "Akitsu-chan, Musubi-chan and I searched the house from top to bottom. We thought she might have seen a burglar or something." He honestly didn't think a burglar would be stupid enough to enter this house, Miya apparently had a fearsome reputation in this neighborhood as a woman not that be crossed.

Go figure.

"However, we didn't find anyone let alone a ghost," Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of Kusano's little scare. On the one hand, he didn't think she was the type to lie, on the other, she had been complaining about how everyone else got to sleep with her onii-chan but she didn't. It was possible that she had simply heard a strange noise and used the 'I saw a ghost' trick to sleep with him, Naruto didn't think the girl was underhanded enough to actually use that kind of tactic, but perhaps the girl was sneakier than she looked. It wouldn't be the first time he had been conned into something by a pair of doe eyes, though the last time that had happened was several thousand years ago.

He didn't think that was the case though, you simply couldn't fake the kind of panic he had felt coming from the Green Girl when she had rushed into his room last night. Naruto had known many people, some of whom had been the best actors he had ever seen. While acting panicked and frightened like Kusano had and still was is perfectly possible, faking the emotions involved was not. Emotions are closely linked to arousal of the nervous system with carious states and strengths of arousal relating to a particular emotion. The simple fact was that while people can put on an act and pretend to feel a certain way, no amount of acting can fake genuine feelings and emotions.

Naruto also had to consider the fact that Kusano was a child of only nine years of age. Most of the people he had known who were capable of pulling off such incredible displays of emotion had been some of the kunoichi he knew, and some of the very, _very _talented actresses he had seduced. As a child, and one who wore her emotions on her sleeves for all to see, the idea that Kusano could put on an act was, quite frankly, laughable.

Looking to his left Naruto saw Kusano still shivering as she held a spoon in her hands. She still had yet to become capable of using chopsticks like everyone else. Yeah, he thought to himself, there was no way Kusano would be capable of such incredible acting.

"The ghost was a woman with long hair, wearing glasses," the child Sekirei stuttered in response to his words about not finding anyone. The description wasn't much to go on, but it had been dark and Kusano had likely been panicking so Naruto didn't think much of it. Unbidden and unknowing of his thoughts, the Green Girl continued. "She had a scary laugh too."

Miya blinked. "Did you say a girl wearing long hair and glasses?" she asked, her lips moving downwards into a frown. On the other side of the table, Uzume perked up as she looked at the tiniest Sekirei in the group.

"Hey! That's sounds like –"

"Uzume," there was a distinct tone of warning in Miya's voice when she spoke up. Fortunately for the busty brunette the landlady did not use her hanya mask to deal with the other woman, most likely due to Naruto's presence. Ever since the lavenderette had learned he was trying to recreate her mask, she had done everything humanly possible to make sure she did not use it around him. This had caused a few issues because there were some times when Miya simply could not reign in the others without a little... terrifying reinforcement. For the most part though, it seemed that simple knowledge of what Miya could unleash within a moments notice was enough to keep the obedience of her tenants. Naruto was also sure that she used the mask when he wasn't around, or perhaps even cornered the people she wanted to lecture in private so he wouldn't know about it, though that was pure conjecture on his part.

The reaction of Uzume more or less confirmed what Naruto believed about Miya getting the others when he wasn't around and using her mask than. The Sekirei wearing the star shirt gained a sudden nervous look, her eyes traveled to behind Miya's shoulder and even though she saw nothing, they still looked nervous. "Like no one I've ever heard of," she stated with a smile that was so forced Naruto was not sure it could truly be called a smile. Likewise, the incredibly frightened laughing the busty girl gave served to enhance the general look and feel of fear that permeated her.

Naruto frowned as he looked at the pair, their words and actions confirming Kusano's theory of someone else being in the house at least. It was obvious these two knew about that extra guest, and while the blond could not be sure, seeing as Kagari wasn't around to ask at the moment, but he was sure that the fire user knew of the houses hidden tenant as well.

Not that Naruto could say for sure that Kagari knew anything, after all, he hadn't seen the guy for more than a few minutes at most, and that had been near the start of his tenure at Maison Izumo. The eternal shinobi wasn't quite sure if his theory was true or not, but he had been getting the distinct impression that the fire user was actively going out of his way to avoid him. It wasn't something that he could truly determine without ample proof, but some of the actions the man had been taking made him suspicious. Making sure to never stay for dinner, leaving extremely early in the morning and spending the rest of his time in his room, making some kind of excuse to leave the room whenever the blond entered, it all added up to the fire user avoiding him, though the reasons for said avoidance were a complete mystery to Naruto.

"Ufufu, I'm sure that Ku-chan was just having a bad dream last night," Miya said with a soft giggle. She hid her smiling lips behind the long fabric of her kimono. "It can happen when children stay up later then they usually do," she finished, and Naruto knew what she was referring to. One of the few things that had quickly become a tradition for the house was to watch a movie together, it had started the day after they had gone to the movies when Uzume had suggested they should do something like that again. Miya had, surprisingly enough, been the first to agree, and once Miya had spoken her piece Naruto's Sekirei couldn't help but add their assent to the plan.

Even Akitsu had been rather adamant on another trip to the movie theater.

And so, Naruto had capitulated. Not that there had been much of a choice, even if the blond had the mental fortitude to resist the combined moe of his Sekirei, there were many more capable weapons that could work on him. Miya for one. While the woman did not scare him in the slightest, Naruto found his respect for the woman who owned Maison Izumo growing higher by the day. It had nothing to do with the friendly banter that had sprung up between the two, and everything to do with her ability to read the moods of others and respond accordingly. With the soul exception of himself, the lavenderette had pretty much managed to peg everyone else's personalities within days after meeting them. That took skill. Even more impressive was that she seemed to be capable of multi-tasking her duties, relegating tasks appropriately while making sure she did not skimp out on her own work, and taking the time to spend with most of the tenants living under her roof individually as well as together. For him it was sitting out on the porch and drinking tea in silence, or cooking dinner and sharing in friendly banter. For Musubi it was sparing in the courtyard, Kusano it was helping her garden (though Naruto often joined in this activity as well), and for Akitsu it was making quiet conversation.

Naruto didn't know what they spoke of, but if the looks Akitsu had given him when she and Miya talked were anything to go by, he had a few good theories to go on.

The other problem, and the one that ensured Naruto would cooperate no matter what, was once again the bond. It wasn't just difficult to resist when all three of his girls wanted to do something, and their emotions were shining through the bond so fiercely Naruto often found himself getting swept away like a man on a life raft while caught in a hurricane. It was downright impossible. Even if the blond had the ability to resist, he was not sure it would have mattered. The fact was when his Sekirei wanted something, Naruto would more often then not, give in.

And so Naruto had given in. of course, even though he had given in and agreed that they should all go to the movies again, the simple fact was that they couldn't go to the movie theater every night. Well, they could, but aside from the fact that movie theaters only played new and upcoming movies, it was also expensive. Naruto could pay for them all of course, but then the others might wonder where he got all his money from when he never worked.

It wouldn't do for Miya to get suspicious and possibly search his room and find his Icha Icha books and manuscripts. She was already suspicious enough of the fact that he had not missed a single payment on rent despite never going out to work. He had been able to play it off as his long dead parents being rich and leaving them everything in their will, it also worked in well with his alias as a wanderer, but he knew that if he wasn't careful it wouldn't be long before Miya or someone else became suspicious of him.

With going to the theaters everyday out of the question, Naruto had decided on a compromise. The day they had decided to go see more movies and realized they couldn't do so everyday, Naruto had gone out and bought a new blue ray dvd player and a large flat screen television along with several dozen movies of various genres. It had been a bit costly, and he had been forced to once more explain it away to Miya, but he had managed to get out of a potentially dangerous situation with nothing more than a reprimand not to spend his money so callously.

After that the group had been able to finally see more movies without having to leave the comfort of their own home. They had all agreed to watching a movie each night after dinner in order to spend time together. Even though this new tradition was only two days old, movie time was beginning to look more and more like some kind of family gathering, where all the members of Maison Izumo – minus Kagari – could relax and spend more time together.

Naruto had some mixed feelings about this. He would admit it felt nice to be a part of something like the new tradition of Maison Izumo. Sitting and relaxing with his Sekirei and the other two female members of the household was an enjoyable experience. The fact that every single one of the women, minus Kusano who wasn't old enough to fit into that category, were utterly beautiful made for some nice eye candy as well. But no matter how much fun he was having, that single question that Naruto had since he had first bonded to Musubi and learned of the Sekirei plan continued to burn in his mind.

Just how long would it be until this life of peace and fun disappeared?

**XoX**

The rest of breakfast went by fairly normally, not even Kusano clinging to him during the entirety of breakfast due to her fear of a possible ghost living in the inn was all that different. The clinging, not the fear. In fact, from the very first meeting Kusano had been clinging to Naruto like glue. The only time the girl was not with him was when either one of them were taking a bath, or when it was time for bed. Except for the last night when the girl had snuck into his bed, of course.

After breakfast Naruto found himself cleaning the dishes in the kitchen with his three Sekirei. The entire scene was one of controlled chaos, and an act which should have taken Naruto less then half an hour to complete himself was just now being finished in just a little under one hour. Despite the fact that the blond could have accomplished the same task much faster, he was loath to actually interrupt the activity for reasons he was determined to ignore.

They had managed to work out a kind of system between the four of them. Kusano would bring the dishes from the living room, carrying them over her head in much the same manner that she had with the clothing she had been putting in the dirty clothes hamper when helping Naruto clean his room. Despite the enthusiasm she was working with now, it had taken a bit of convincing before the Green Girl had even been willing to leave Naruto's side due to the whole 'ghost' incident last night. Still, after convincing her to help via Naruto promising to protect her, the small Sekirei had taken to the task with great enthusiasm. Unlike last time where she had put the clothes away, this time whenever Kusano came into the room bearing a plate, a bowl, or some other form of tableware, she would hand it off to Naruto.

Being the one who not only had the most experience in the kitchen, Naruto had given himself the task of cleaning the dishes. The water within the sink before him was filled nearly three-quarters of the way full with warm, soapy water that had mass amounts of foam floating upon it's surface. The blond had rolled up the sleeves of his long sleeve orange shirt and was wearing a pair of orange rubber gloves. Whenever Kusano gave him one of the dishes to clean, he would dip it in the water and use the scrubber to clean it of all the food that was left over from breakfast. Most would probably find the task demeaning or boring, but Naruto considering how long he had lived it could almost be argued that he had grown up doing this kind of stuff. It was as easy to him as breathing.

When he was done, the eternal shinobi handed off the now clean dining wear to Musubi, who was holding a large rag. Her task was drying, a task which she took to with the same enthusiasm she did with everything else. The girl was humming a small tune, one Naruto recognized from the movie they had watched yesterday, One Hundred and One Dalmatians. One amusing fact he had noticed about the girl was that despite the task she was doing, Musubi was still wearing her combat gloves.

The final member of the four – three and a half – person cleaning crew was Akitsu. Her task was putting all of the dry dishes in their proper place within the kitchen, a task she took to with the same slow, methodical way she did just about everything. One Musubi handed off whatever piece of tableware she had just finished drying, Akitsu would hold it up so she could study it for nearly a full minute, before slowly walking over towards whichever cabinet, cupboard, or drawer the item she had was to be placed in. In most circumstances such a slow method of returning objects to their rightful place would have been difficult, but due to how slow the rest of the cleaning process was, Akitsu's usually slow methods fit right at home here.

By the time they had finished it was almost nine o'clock. Naruto yawned a bit as he stretched his hands above his head and listened in quiet satisfaction as his vertebrae popped deliciously. "Well," he started, bringing his hands back down to his side. "Now that that's done I think I'm going to enjoy a nice hot bath."

"A bath?" Musubi said, blinking for a second and tilting her head to the side, before an excited look took to her face. "Can I join you, Naruto-sama? Would you like me to wash your back?" she asked, practically bouncing in place as she no doubt thought about the last time they had taken a bath together. It had also been the only time they had taken a bath together. Naruto had refused to bath with any of his Sekirei after that, even though a part of him had felt guilty another knew this was for the best. He needed to keep as much distance between himself and the three girls he had bonded to as possible. It was too late to do anything about the bonds now, and it was too late to take back Naruto's moment of weakness, back when he hadn't realized just how powerful this bond truly was, that had led to him and Musubi taking a bath together, but that didn't mean he couldn't start now.

"Not this time, Musubi-chan," Naruto said with a small shake of his head. A wry smile formed on his face as the fist fighter pouted. "Besides, didn't you three already take a bath this morning after your spar with Miya?" he asked, well aware that his first Sekirei had once again received some tutelage under the powerful swordswoman disguised as a landlady. The large lumps on her head from where Miya had hit her were proof enough.

"Oh, you're right," Musubi's voice actually sounded surprised, and Naruto didn't doubt that she was. He had been coming to the understanding that his first Sekirei, aside from being a scatter brain, tended to forget a lot of things when it came to anything involving him, combat, or love. The girls tendency to hyper focus on those three subjects, while admirable, increased the already impressive forgetfulness she possessed. Honestly, Naruto was almost surprised that she had yet to inform one of the other residents about his powers of replication, though she could have forgotten about that incident as well.

"I forgot all about that," she continued, knuckling her head and poking her tongue out between her lips. "My bad."

"I kind of figured as much," Naruto said in a dry tone.

"Ah," At the sound of her voice, everyone in the kitchen turned to look at Akitsu, whose eyes were focused on Naruto's, before she looked away, a light blush staining her cheeks. "I wanted to wash Ashikabi-sama's back too," she admitted, looking down at the floor with a slightly downtrodden expression.

Naruto had to bite his lip to keep from acquiescing to her demands. While it was difficult not to give in when Musubi asked him to do something, it wasn't impossible. A part of the reason for this, Naruto thought, was because so long as he gave an explanation of some kind, the excitable fist fighter was perfectly happy with whatever decision he made. In stark contrast, when it came to Akitsu, denying her anything was damn near impossible. Naruto thought it was because of her personality, she was so submissive and unobtrusive, she would do anything he asked without hesitation and without question. In short, she reminded him of Haku, the boy who had been both the first real enemy he'd ever had and also given him the most important lesson he could ever have, a lesson that would become his motto later on in life. It was that resemblance more than anything that made resisting Akitsu hard if not impossible.

"Ah... um..." Naruto had to work his mouth for a few seconds as he ran through a quick meditation exercise to control his feelings and desires before he became capable of giving an answer. "Sorry," he apologized, "I was actually just going to take a really quick rinse, so it would be a waste for you guys to join me."

"Ah," Akitsu looked up at him, her head tilted to the side. "I see," she nodded, seemingly to herself.

"Right... so um," Naruto trailed off for a moment and frowned. One wouldn't think saying 'see you later' would be so hard, especially considering he would see them again as soon as he finished bathing. "So I'll see you guys in a little bit, okay?"

"Kay! Have a nice bath, Naruto-sama!" Musubi replied to his words, waving with both hands. Beside her Kusano was mimicking the older Sekirei as she watched the blond with a smile on her face. Well, Naruto noted that while the whole process of cleaning the dishes had taken away all of the fear his littlest Sekirei had been experiencing. That was a good enough reason to take the extra half an hour cleaning the dishes as far as Naruto was concerned.

"Right," the blond murmured, lifting his left hand in a brief wave as he turned around and walked out of the kitchen, the living room, and into the hallway. The moment Naruto stepped into the wooden tiled hall, he almost ran into Kagari who had been walking to the entrance from his room. It was only thanks to the two of them halting in their tracks that they avoided a head on collision.

"Hey, Kagari-san," Naruto greeted the only other male in the house with the same casualness that often came from the current playboy himself. "I haven't seen you in a while." It was a complete understatement, the man had avoided him like the plague ever since their rescue of Kusano in the forest of her own creation. Naruto wasn't sure what this guys problem with him was, but as always the blond was able to put it out of his mind. It wasn't any of his business what Kagari's issues were, and if the man wanted to keep away from him, then so long as he did nothing to affect Naruto or his Sekirei the blond could acquiesce to the white-haired male's request.

"Ah... um... sorry," Kagari started, his left hand twitching almost violently. His arm moved up for but a moment, before it moved back down. Naruto thought it was a conscious effort on Kagari's part not to scratch his chest, a habit he had noticed the fire user do when they had rescued Kusano. He also took note of the way Kagari's cheeks began to flush red and his breathing picked up. "I've been... really busy so... so I haven't had much... time to stick around and... relax..." the man spoke in between breaths of air.

Naruto frowned. "Work? You look like you shouldn't even be out of your room," he stated, looking the other male up and down. "Seriously Kagari-san, you look like shit. Are you sure you're feeling alright? Maybe you should call in or something and get some more rest." Even as he made the suggestion, Naruto tried to find a reason for the man's strange behavior. It could have been exhaustion, Naruto knew that aside from working at a host club, Kagari was also the Guardian of Unwinged Sekireis. While the blond had no clue how many Sekireis there were, it still sounded like a full time job, especially if the master of Yomi was the standard when it came to Ashikabis.

However, the blond ruled that out almost immediately, if it were just exhaustion the man suffered from than a good full eight to ten hours of sleep should cure that problem easily. Then again, Naruto was partially basing his theory off of a shinobi's physiology. Perhaps Sekirei had more in common with the average humans than he had originally thought?

Could Kagari be sick? It was possible. Naruto still knew next to nothing of a Sekirei's internal structure and organs. He had assumed that if MBI had somehow made them stronger, then they would have gone all out and given them an incredible immune system that was capable of destroyed and breaking down all forms of illness and poison. But if the fire user was sick then perhaps that was not the case. Of course, being a creature of fire, Naruto also had to wonder if Kagari would be able to get sick regardless. While the blond couldn't be sure, he was almost positive that the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei ran an abnormally high temperature thanks to his elemental nature. If that were the case though, then any form of disease of illness on earth would simply burn out of his system before it could infect him, and the same went with almost all types of poison. So if that was not the case, then what was?

"I'm fine," the blond was brought out of his reverie by the sound of Kagari's voice. "You don't need to concern yourself with me." He looked over at the only other male at Maison Izumo to see the fire user make to walk past him, only to take a stumble a second later and fall to his knees.

"H-Hey!" Naruto was actually beginning to feel the stirrings of worry. The blond took a step forward to see if the fire user was alright when he hesitated in his steps.

Why did he care about this man? They had rarely ever spoken to each other before now. In fact, the only time they'd had any lengthy conversation had been back in the Arboretum, and that had only been about Kusano and the few questions the fire user had asked after wards when he saw that Naruto had defeated Yomi. They knew nothing about each other, nothing serious anyways. Naruto knew that Kagari was Homura, or perhaps it was Homura that was Kagari, the semantics weren't much of an issue to someone like him who had lived under numerous identities in his life. The fact was he knew that Kagari was the Guardian Sekirei and had the ability to manipulate fire, but other than that the only thing Naruto knew about the man was that he worked at a host club.

Naruto was likely even more of a mystery to Kagari. This was done on purpose, of course. The blond had not told anyone about his true past and secrets. Miya might know a little about him due to his own moments of weakness, Musubi also knew a bit, but no one else, and he intended on keeping things that way.

So then why did he care? Maybe it was all of the emotions the bond had brought out. Naruto was well aware of his own emotions emerging, denying his own feelings when they had already caused him to make a number of rookie mistakes would be the height of stupidity. Still, he hadn't realized they had already come so far out in the open that he was concerned about someone he barely even knew. They were affecting him more than he thought. That still didn't quite explain why he was concerned for the fire user. Maybe it was because they were living together? Yes, that must be it. He and Kagari might not be friends, but they were tenants living under the same roof, and as such it was only right to feel concerned about your fellow housemate.

With his all of his thoughts put in place and his mind set, Naruto finished taking the few steps that set him apart from Kagari. It hadn't been more than a few seconds since the blond had his small inner debate, and in that time the fire user had managed to rise to his feet, albeit he was leaning against the wall, one hand clutched to his chest, a grimace on his face, and was breathing quite heavily. It was just proof to Naruto that the guy was not feeling well and should be in bed.

Reaching out Naruto was just about to place his hand on the other man's shoulder and suggest he head back to his room while he made something light for him to eat, however, the moment he made contact Kagari's own hand lashed out and slapped his away. Naruto had seen the move coming the moment Kagari's shoulder twitched to telegraph it, and by then the blond had already pulled back, jumping backwards several feet.

The very moment his feet touched the ground, the blond shinobi was already standing in a loose combat stance, his chakra thrumming as he prepared to summon a kunai. Kagari also seemed to have gained a new life of his own, straightening up and glaring at Naruto with an intense look that the blond couldn't quite place. It was a combination of anger, hatred, and disgust; though Naruto didn't think the look was actually directed at him. Namely because there was another emotion in the man's eyes, one that almost took Naruto by surprise.

Shame.

"What the hell was that about, Kagari?" asked Naruto, shaking his head to rid himself of the strange emotions he was feeling. He must have been getting better at controlling himself because it only took a second before the boiling pot of emotions was brought down to a simmer.

"Sorry," Kagari grimaced as he seemed to realize what he was doing. His left hand came up and rubbed his chest for only a moment before it was forced back down. "I don't like people touching me," he continued.

"Then you probably should have said something before," Naruto told him with a frown. He didn't believe Kagari for a second, there had been something else that caused him to react like that, the man was definitely hiding something. Narrowing his eyes for a moment, the blond shook his head and dispelled his previous thoughts. Of course the man was hiding something, he was a Sekirei. Maybe his anger had something to do with that, the blond began to theorize. Perhaps Sekirei only liked it when their Ashikabis touched them?

No, Naruto frowned as he realized something. If that were the case than Musubi would never allow Miya to touch her. He would have made a theory that it might be because their both females, but than, he and Kagari were both males so that couldn't be it. Then again, perhaps that could be why. Maybe Sekirei males were more aggressive than the females? It was possible, he supposed. Though that theory still left a lot of unanswered questions. Like, why he was reacting so badly to Naruto when he wasn't even a Sekirei. If it this was some kind of territorial dispute, then he could see why Kagari might be reacting like this. There were a lot of species of animals that were very territorial, perhaps Sekirei were like that? Maybe whatever MBI had done to them had brought out humanities dormant animal instincts? Maybe Kagari felt another alpha was encrouching on his territory?

No, that couldn't be it either. Naruto wasn't a Sekirei, and therefore there was no need to get territorial. It wasn't like he could steal away the man's potential mate or whatever it was that an Ashikabi was to a Sekirei, which was really one of the only reasons most males got territorial in the first place. So then what was it?

Ugh, the blond shook his head as he realized he was over thinking things again. What did he care if Kagari was feeling territorial? Naruto wasn't a Sekirei and therefore it wasn't any of his business.

"I'm sorry," Kagari apologized, and it seemed to take quite a bit of effort to get that much out. Was the fire user really that upset with him that he sounded like he was choking on his own words. "I'll try to be more considerate in the future." Straightening out, the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei seemed to gain his second wind and began walking past Naruto, making sure not to even so much as brush against the blond even in his haste to leave. "Now, you'll excuse me, I really must be going."

Naruto frowned as he watched Kagari head over to the entrance of the house, pull on his shoes, and leave. He thought about going after the man, stopping him, and forcing him back into his room. The blond was sure Miya would not like it when she saw Kagari come home looking like the walking dead he was sure to be a few hours from now. But after thinking it over decided not to. After all, what Kagari did in his own time was none of Naruto's business.

Still, that had to be one of the strangest encounters he'd ever had.

**XoX**

After the incident with Kagari, Naruto had finally managed to make it to the bath house, clean himself off, and get a little bit of time to himself. He had to admit, if there was one thing about Japan that he had truly missed it was most definitely the baths. For the Japanese, bathing was not truly a means of getting clean but relaxing. An important fact about taking a bath when in Japan is that the body must be thoroughly cleaned before one enters the bath, and only after that may they enjoy the bath itself.

His time in the bath had not been as long as he would have liked. But then, so far Naruto had been unable to truly enjoy the bathhouse that Maison Izumo offered thanks to his Sekirei. They were a lively bunch that was for sure. Strangely enough though, they were not with him at the moment. Naruto had been about to make lunch when Musubi told him she wanted to make him something special. He had been a little hesitant, not because he thought her cooking was bad or anything, in fact, he had rather enjoyed her curry, but because it was something he usually did to relax.

Unfortunately he had once again underestimated both the power of the bond between them, as well as the excitable girl's moe. When Naruto had been faced with the combination of the girls almost extreme desire to make him something and a look that somehow managed to combine both raw sex appeal and innocence, the blond immortal had found himself completely unable to do anything than give in. the fact that all three of his Sekirei had ganged up on him only made it that much more impossible for him to resist.

At the moment though, they weren't cooking. When Uzume had heard that they had decided to cook, she had told them that they needed something special to wear before going to the kitchen. The busty Sekirei in the star shirt had than taken his three Sekirei up to her room where they had been locked in for the past ten minutes. Naruto didn't quite know what they were doing, but he was fine with that. He had something he had been wanting to do since Kusano had come into his room claiming to have seen a ghost, and he unfortunately could not do it with anyone else present.

Well, he could, Akitsu had already seen this ability, but Naruto didn't want Musubi or Kusano to see it. One of them was unable to keep a secret, she had already proven that by coming close to revealing his Shadow Clones several times before Naruto managed to stop her. Nowadays he kept his eyes on Musubi just to make in case her mouth ended up getting the best of her again. Kusano had yet to be proven untrustworthy, but then again she was also a child. Children were notorious for being unable to keep secrets.

Sitting down in a cross-legged position with his back against the tree he had first seen Kusano, Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His breathing began to slow, he was breathing so slowly in fact that unless someone was really looking for the rise and fall of his chest, they would assume he was dead. As Naruto's breathing began to slow, his body became still. Not stiff, but relaxed to the point where all movement simply ceased. The reason for this was because in order to gather the natural energy in order to enter Sennin Modō, one had to remain perfectly still. This was because the natural energy of the world was highly unstable and not meant to be used by humans, so in order for a human to gather the natural energy they had to harmonize themselves with the world around them, to become at peace and one with nature. It was a feat that very few could actually accomplish, and should one fail to properly gather the natural chakra they risked turning into a toad statue. To date, only three people had ever managed to earn the title of Sennin, or Sage.

Naruto was one of those people, more then that, he was what one could call a true master of Senjutsu. Becoming one with nature was one of the few things in this world that had kept the blond sane during those long years of loneliness. More then his hobbies, more then the sex, it was his harmonizing with nature that brought him the closest he could now come to feeling at peace with himself. Due to his constant gathering of Senjutsu and harmonizing with nature, it only took him exactly one second to gather enough natural chakra to enter Sennin Modō.

As Naruto let the natural energy begin to flow through him, the blond could already feel the changes taking place within him. The natural energy flooding his body began to meld with his own chakra, enhancing and increasing incredibly potent chakra to previously unimagined levels. It was always interesting to feel how natural energy melded with his own chakra. It had, in all honesty been a surprise to the blond that he could still use Senjutsu chakra, though Naruto just chalked that up to the fact that the only requirement to learn the Sage Arts was a high chakra capacity, and he had that in spades.

For a moment, Naruto allowed himself to bask in the feeling of being one with nature. When he had used Sennin Modō to determine that Kusano was in the Arboretum, he had not been allowed the luxury of enjoying the feel of harmony that came with gathering natural energy. He had not had the time. But now that there was no danger to be had, no time table to push him along, the blond took the time to properly cherish his bond with nature. Like it was every time Naruto entered Sennin Modō, it was amazing. To feel the incredible closeness that he now felt with everything around him. Naruto was the tree at his back, the grass under his body, the flowers sitting in the garden. He was one with all of it just as it was one with him. It was moments like these where Naruto could truly be at peace.

However, Naruto did have a reason for entering Sennin Modō beyond wanting to become one with the natural world around him. And with the knowledge of what he had to do in his mind, Naruto began to get to work. With Sennin Modō allowing him to sense the chakra of others, Naruto began to feel out the chakra of those living at Maison Izumo.

It was surprisingly easy to sense these Sekirei, Naruto noted. Perhaps it was because they didn't have the same amount of control over their chakra as the shinobi of his era, or maybe they just all had more chakra, but each one of them burned brightly to his senses, like a couple dozen stars flaring brilliantly in the night. He could sense the Sekirei all around him, not just at Maison Izumo, but every Sekirei within a thirty four kilometer radius. There were twenty eight in total, each one with a different feel to them. Naruto didn't focus on those ones that were farther out, he could feel them, but his focus was on the house near to him.

He could easily feel his own Sekirei. If anything, he could feel them far more clearly than he ever had before, and not just their presence within his senses, but their emotions as well. He could feel Musubi's giddiness at something Uzume was showing her, it was sure to impress her Ashikabi. From Kusano he could feel her excitement at what she had been given, undoubtedly her onii-chan would like it. Along with those two he could also feel Akitsu, and her desire and hope that her Ashikabi-sama would like what she had on.

Huh, so Uzume was giving them something to wear. How odd.

Uzume was also with his Sekirei, a bright force within his mind. Her emotions were much more indistinct. He was not bonded to her so it was hard to tell what she was feeling, but the foremost emotion in her mind was amusement. Perhaps she was planning some kind of prank on him? If so he wondered what kind of clothes she had given his girls.

Redirecting his attention elsewhere, Naruto searched out the other presences in the house. Miya was in her room, her emotions unusually solemn. Surprisingly enough, he could feel her a lot more easily than he could Uzume. The first thing he noted was that she was strong, ridiculously so in fact. During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Naruto had fought with monsters, people who were so powerful they could barely be considered human. The Sandaime Raikage with his incredible chakra capacity, damn near unbreakable skin, and enough strength to be capable of going toe to toe with Gyūki on even grounds. Kabuto, with his own version of Sennin Modō granted to him from his training with the Snake Summons of Ryūchi Cave. The Kingin Kyōdai and their incredible chakra capacity, ability to use some of Kurama's chakra, and the treasured tools of the Rikudou Sennin, Benihisago and Kohaku no Jōhai. Sasuke and his potent chakra and powerful Mengekyo abilities, Tobi and his strange Jikūkan ninjutsu, and many, many others. He had seen and fought all manner of power houses, each with their own unique abilities that made them deadly in battle.

Miya's power was enough to rival the one person Naruto had not been able to beat on his own. Uchiha Madara had been on another level from all of the others that the blond had ever fought. His chakra was more powerful than anything he had ever felt in another living being, his Mangekyo abilities were unreal, his skills in Ninjutsu were on a level that no one else could have ever hoped to achieve. The man had been power incarnate, and when combined with his Rinnegan and the abilities of Senju Hashirama, Naruto had been out of his league. It had only been with the help of Killer Bee that he had managed to not only survive that encounter, but also permanently seal the man within a powerful Fuīnjutsu of Naruto's own make.

The fact that Miya actually had that much raw power to her was not just incredible, but also incredibly terrifying. Naruto still had more power then she did, but that was more a stint of his curse than due to his own natural chakra capacity. Still, just because the woman was crazy powerful didn't mean anything. If nothing else, Naruto could rest secured in the knowledge that she was his friend and wouldn't try to hurt his Sekirei.

Naruto soon brought his attention elsewhere, not wanting to intrude on the woman anymore than he already had. For some reason, sensing her through his Senjutsu like that made him feel dirty, like he had intruded on something private. Finally, the blond's attention moved towards where it had been going to from the start. The last resident of Maison Izumo and, if his theory was correct, Kusano's ghost.

The last person he could feel was definitely a Sekirei, a woman if he was judging the feel of her power right. She had a much odder feel to her power than the others, it was a little weaker than the other Sekirei in Maison Izumo, and it felt less... alive? No, maybe not so much less alive as it felt partly mechanical. Naruto couldn't quite figure out why her power felt like it was part machine, especially since he couldn't actually feel machines through Senjutsu, but every time the blond tried to come up with something, that was the only word he could think of to describe the feel of her power.

Shaking his head, Naruto began to confirm all of the facts he had now managed to confirm by finding Maison Izumo's hidden resident. One, there was another person who was living with them and they were in hiding. Naruto wasn't sure why they were hiding, but considering he hadn't seen hide nor hair of them despite having lived at the boarding house for several days, the woman's need to hide must have been caused by something big. Not that he cared, it was none of his business after all. Two, Miya and Uzume, and most likely Kagari as well, knew this person was living with them. This didn't bother Naruto much, they obviously had their reasons for harboring the woman, just as they had their reasons for not telling him and the others. Three, that meant they were participating in keeping the woman's existence a secret. And four, whoever this person was was a Sekirei.

Now he just had to decide what he should do about this new knowledge. He could just ignore it, of course. Miya was obviously keeping the Sekireis presence hidden for a reason, and there were many possible reasons that Naruto could think up off the top of his head; anything from being on the run from MBI to being potentially dangerous to herself or those around her. If that were the case, then perhaps leaving the girl along would be the best option.

Naruto did not feel comfortable knowing that there was someone else hidden within Maison Izumo, however, and so the first option was unusable as far as he was concerned. That meant he could either go with option two or option three. Option two involved talking to Miya and asking her about it, a possible option but one that came with it's own problems. For one thing, if Naruto told the landlady that he knew there was another Sekirei hidden in a room somewhere, not only would he have to explain why he was snooping around, he would also have to tell the woman about his ability to sense Sekirei. That meant option two was also out. Naruto had every intention of keeping his powers and abilities as much of a secret as possible for as long as possible, which hopefully meant he would never have to reveal them.

That left the last option, confronting the person hiding in the boarding house on his own. This was the choice Naruto was leaning towards the most. Maybe Musubi's excitability was affecting him more than he thought, or maybe he was just growing less cautious as more and more of his emotions came to the fore. Back before the Fourth Great Shinobi War, the blond had never been one for caution and planning. He had been a man of action, a point him at the enemy and let him go kind of guy. In many ways, he had been a lot like Musubi. Naruto didn't know if the girl in question was somehow bringing out the old him, or if maybe her own emotions were still reflecting themselves onto him. What he did know was that he disliked the idea of having an unknown person living with him in the same house.

Option three it was.

Shutting down his Sennin Mōdo to it's barest settings, the rings around his eyes faded for the most part. When he opened them they were still his normal blue, but the pupils had a bar-like quality to them. It was something he had worked out for himself, an ability he had learned when he wanted the sensing abilities afforded to him through the use of nature chakra, but not the strength that came from entering Sennin Mōdo. By removing almost all of the Senjutsu chakra from his body except for the area around his eyes, Naruto could retain his ability to sense and see chakra.

Even better, when Naruto was in this mode, what he called Seeji no bubun Tenkan (Partial Sage Transformation), he could gather natural energy while moving. This was due to the fact that he already had natural energy in him, and therefore a built in resistance to the energy itself that prevented him from turning into a toad statue. It was an impressive creation, if he did say so himself, and one that showed how far he had come with his Senjutsu training. Naruto was sure that not even the Toad Sages themselves, Fukusaku and Shima, would have been able to come up with an ability like this.

Following the energy signature Naruto went back into the house, up the stairs, and turned right. He found himself staring at the wall on the right next to the stairs on the second floor. The blond frowned for a moment as he let his hold over the nature chakra fade, his eyes going back to normal. He looked at the wall for several seconds, wondering how he had missed such an obvious secret entrance. Seriously, aside from the fact that the wall had very seams running along it on all sides that showed the wall could be moved, most likely by spinning it around via some kind of spokes or some other kind of rotation device, there was also the fact that the second floor of Maison Izumo was missing a room. The room Naruto shared with Akitsu and Musubi was number two hundred and two, Uzume's room was two hundred and three, and there was one more empty room after that, number two hundred and four. That meant the second floor of Maison Izumo was missing the room number two hundred and one, a fact that Naruto felt he should have noticed long before now.

Of course, Naruto couldn't take all the blame here. A lot had happened, after all. With so much having happened in such a short time, it was a wonder the blond's skills of observation had been able to make as many connections as they had in regards to the other residence – particularly with Miya – as it is. It wasn't like Naruto had been given the time to truly think about why Maison Izumo seemed to be missing a room. Still, he felt that this was something he should have noticed right from the onset. A missing room was such an obvious clue that there was more going on then meets the eye that Naruto should have at least questioned the fact that there was no room number two hundred and one. It was another rookie mistake, and it made Naruto realize just how badly his own skills had deteriorated. Truthfully, it made him worried. If he could make such an obvious mistake, then what else had he missed? And not just in regards to Maison Izumo and the Sekirei Plan, but everything else in his life as well.

With a small frown and a shake of his head, Naruto dispelled those thoughts. There was nothing he could do about those other issues right now. However, there was something he could do to correct the current one now facing him.

Placing one of his hands on the left side of the wall, Naruto pushed. Much like he had expected, there was some kind of spoke, or perhaps a rod that had simply been placed in the middle of the wall that allowed for rotational traction. In either case, the wall was quick to yield to his push, rotating around the center so that the left side where his hand had been providing the force moved inwards while the right moved out towards him. Seeing the darkness of the room before him, penetrated only by several lights that Naruto recognized as being from a number of monitors, the blond walked in through the secret entrance.

Much like Naruto had expected the small room was very poorly lit, the single light fixture that Naruto could see on the ceiling was going unused. Instead all of the illumination came from the many dozens of monitors that were stacked along the walls in columns and rows around the three sides of the rooms that the door was not located on. Naruto could count at least two dozen computer monitors of various shapes and sizes splayed along the wall in what could only be called organized chaos. Despite the fact that the monitors looked like they had just been thrown together with no regards to aesthetics, the blond could tell that there was actually a purpose to their placement. Interspersed among the monitors Naruto recognized box-like modems and hard drives, all of which he recognized as belonging to some of the more advanced computer systems in the world. The very little amount of floor space available in the room was being covered by a lumpy futon, which had empty packages of snack food and cans from what Naruto recognized as energy drinks. In short, the entire room looked like a hackers paradise.

Sitting at the far end of the room, next to one of the larger monitors was a woman. Much like all of the other Sekirei he had met, this one was quite beautiful. She looked to be in her early to mid twenties, dressed all in white. Her outfit was some kind of long dress with a higher then normal neckline, it was bare at the shoulders, and slit up the sides nearly to her hips with a small diamond shape gap at the top of her breasts to expose just a hint of her cleavage. She had two sleeve like additions that apparently attached to her dress underneath her armpits and hung low over her hands. She had dull auburn hair that fell low down her back and was framed on either side by a pair of plaits that she had thrown over her shoulders, and her eyes were concealed by a pair of large round glasses that hid a pair of dark red eyes. She looked surprised, her mouth open in shock as the upper half of her body turned to face him. However, the moment her eyes landed on Naruto, her face turned a deep shade of red that was partially hidden by the low lighting.

"Wow, this is an interesting place you have here," Naruto commented lightly, no sign of stress in his voice or on his face. It was a carefully constructed mask that he had perfect when he was not feeling quite as calm as he wished, and right now, the blond was downright unnerved. Looking at the various monitors scattered around the room, Naruto saw that many of them were showing images of the various areas of the house, including the tree where he had been sitting just moments prior.

Just how long as she been spying on him? Was she some kind of spy? Or perhaps some a double agent or something. No, if she were a double agent then she would have revealed herself to him and tried to ingratiate herself with him. He could also rule out her being a spy. Miya would never let a spy into her house. Unless of course, she was a spy working for Miya herself, but if that were the case then the woman before him would not be spying on the tenants of the house, would she?

Well, maybe she would spy on him. He knew that Miya was curious about him, it wasn't obvious to anyone but him, but part of the reason the landlady spent so much time with him was because she wanted to learn more about him. While Naruto was able to avoid giving anything truly incriminating away, he had allowed more to slip out than he initially intended, especially after that night Seo had shown up at Maison Izumo. Since then the woman had made it a bit more obvious that she was curious about him. Perhaps his refusal to reveal his own secrets had made her ask this woman to see what she could find out about him? However, even as Naruto thought that he noticed another monitor that showed Miya sitting sieza on the floor in front of a shrine, her head bowed as smoke from the incense she was burning drifted lazily in the air in front of her, and immediately ruled the thought of the landlady having this Sekirei spying on him out. She would never allow someone to spy on her, so it was unlikely she even knew what this woman was doing.

"You know, it's rude to be spying on people, especially when you're living with them," he told the woman, whose breathing had begun to pick up. She was taking deep breaths, her shoulders visibly heaving even in the low lighting. Naruto frowned as he noticed that, but put it out of his mind for the moment. He took another step forward.

"So may I know the name of the Sekirei that's been spying on me?" he asked. Said Sekirei blinked, her expression managing to convey surprise even as the pace of her breathing began to increase.

"M-Matsu," she rasped out, sounding like she had run a marathon in one hundred degree heat. The flush on her cheeks were beginning to get brighter, the redness actually glowing within the barely illuminated room.

"Well, Matsu," Naruto began as he took another step forward. He was on a roll now, his mind determining the quickest way to get the information he wanted from her, which was why she was spying on him. There were a number of interrogation techniques he could use, anything from mental and physical torture to seduction and psychological word games. Since the person he was interrogating was a Sekirei, he had decided to go with psychological word games. He would have gone with seduction, but wasn't sure it would work on a Sekirei. "I suppose since you were so kind as to give me your name, it's only right I give you mine. I'm..."

"Uzumaki Naruto," the woman interrupted as she turned to him. She was using her arms to hold the upper half of her body up, but they were trembling so badly they looked like they might give out at any moment. "Age: eighteen, height: one hundred and and ninety five centimeters, weight: ninety one kilograms, build: lean athletic, hair color: blond, eyes: blue, Sekirei he's winged: number eighty eight, Musubi, number zero seven, Akitsu, the so called scrapped number, and number one hundred and eight, Kusano. Has only been in Shinto Teito for exactly nine days, but has already winged three Sekirei and has earned to title of Miracle Worker due to his winging of former scrapped number, Akitsu. On top of that, very little is known about Naruto other than that he is a wanderer who has visited a number of different countries within the past several years."

Naruto's hand twitched, almost summoning a kunai into it. If he had been wary about this girl before, now he was downright paranoid. While most of that information would have been easy for her to obtain since she had apparently been spying on him for some time, some of that was not. As far as he knew there had been no mention of Akitsu being a former scrapped number during any of the conversations he'd had in Maison Izumo. Which meant she had been doing far more than just spying on him while he was at Maison Izumo.

The only good thing Naruto could determine from this was that Matsu had said he was a compete mystery, meaning whatever information she had managed to gather, she had only been able to find the information he himself had spread for others to follow. That was good, it meant that the people under his, ahem, employ were doing their job and eliminating any and all information and images that could be found on him that he didn't want. Still, it was almost negligible when compared to the fact that this Sekirei had been spying on him for so long.

During the woman's recounting of all the information she had on him, Matsu had begun to crawl forward on her hands and knees, stopping when she was just barely a foot in front of him. Her eyes never left his as she tilted her head and looked up at him, and it was now, when she was this close to him that Naruto realized there was something wrong with her. No, not something wrong with her, something familiar. He had seen this kind of reaction before.

In Musubi just before he winged her.

And it was in that moment of realization that Naruto noticed everything else about her that he had been to been to focused on acquiring his information to notice before. The way her cheeks flared brilliantly within the darkened chamber as she looked at him. Her half lidded eyes hidden underneath the fringe of her bangs and behind those round spectacles. That seductive way she was sitting, leaning forward on her hands and knees with her arms pushing her cleavage together. The scent of her arousal filling his nose, a heady scent that made Naruto's head spin. It wasn't long after taking in these observations that his eyes widened in realization.

"In other words, a very mysterious person," Matsu continued as Naruto took a cautious step back. As she spoke, her left hand came up to press her palm against her breast, right above her head. "You, who are a complete mystery to everyone, is the Ashikabi of this Sekirei, number zero two, Matsu." She crawled forward another step, and Naruto took another step back. "Now," she said, her eyes taking on a gleam that was actually beginning to unnerve the blond. "Please calm this hot body with your thick, hot, DNA."

Finally, she pounced.


	10. Acceptance of a Heartfelt Desire

**Chapter 9: Acceptance of a Heartfelt Desire**

**XoX**

"What the hell!" Naruto shouted as Matsu sprung towards him from her position on the floor. She flew into the air, her hands in front of her, and her fingers making strange grasping motions that Naruto could recognize for miles away. They were the same motions that Jiraiya made whenever he was thinking something perverted.

With a very many shriek, Naruto dove under the flying Sekirei seeking to pounce on him. Rolling over his left shoulder, the blond kipped back up to his feet and spun around to face this new and perverted threat.

"Ufufufufu!" Matsu laughed as she landed back on her hands and feet, crouching down like some kind of animal. Her left hand came up and grabbed the side of her glasses, adjusting them and causing the light from the monitors to reflect off of them in a gleam that made the woman look surprisingly ominous. "Don't play so coy, Naruto-tan! Come on! Let me gain my wings so we can begin the experimentation!" At the word 'experimentation' Naruto felt a shiver tingle down his spine. There was something creepy about the way she said that, a surprise, considering he was almost sure the woman was not talking about doing something vile and atrocious to him like, say, cutting open his insides to see what made him tick.

Then again, his theories on what she _did _intend on doing to him could be considered vile and atrocious depending on who you asked.

As the red head began charging towards him like some kind of animal Naruto's mind began working at the speed of a super computer. He needed to find some way to restrain this Sekirei before she could get her pervy little hands on him. God Naruto was beginning to wish he kept more ninja tools on him. Why oh why did he stop carrying his ninja wire? Looking around at the room, the blond attempted to find some object or implement he could use to restrain this girl.

A curse escaped his lips when he realized that, despite the utter mess Matsu's room was in, there were no loose wires or chords that he could use. That sucked. If there was at least a few, or even just one, loose wire or chord available to him, then Naruto could have this strange, perverted woman tied up before she could say Sekirei. Unfortunately, there were none, and Naruto no longer carried ninja tools on him at all times. Why would he need to? It wasn't like there was anything out there in the world that could actually kill him.

Oh how he wished he could take those words back now. While this woman might not be able to kill him, there were definitely a number of unpleasant, or pleasant, things she could do to him that Naruto was not quite sure she wanted to be doing.

Just how had this situation fallen so far out of hand? All he had wanted to do was find out who was spying on him, confront them, and get answers to the questions he had. Had he known that there was a perverted Sekirei reacting to him like this, Naruto would have stayed as far away as possible. He already had enough shit to deal with in his life, he didn't need another Sekirei adding to his problems thank you very much.

Once more the woman made to pounce, and Naruto's body tensed as he made to duck. Matsu seemed to have anticipated this, because rather than jump into the air, she moved lower, as if she was expecting him to try and roll under her.

Had Naruto any intention of doing that, the results would have been the exact opposite of what he wanted, him tumbling into the girl in a heap of limbs, which would have given Matsu the perfect opportunity to do whatever it was she wanted to do to him. Thankfully, Naruto was much better at anticipating the movements of his enemies during battle and planning on the fly accordingly. It had been one of the biggest factors that had made him known as the most unpredictable shinobi in the world. While this particular situation wasn't actually a battle, it was close enough that Naruto's mind was already in his battle mode and he had already anticipated what the woman before him would do.

Rather than roll into the woman like Matsu obviously wanted, Naruto's tensed legs extended themselves into a push. The red head, already moving forward pretty quickly, was unable to do anything as Naruto flipped over her, his body spinning like a corkscrew before landing on his feet near the entrance. As for Matsu herself, she had actually tried to change the direction she was moving in order to nab the blond, but her forward momentum had already carried her to far and she was left to smack directly into one of the many monitors in his room.

"Ow!"

Naruto only glanced at the woman for a moment, seeing her busy rubbing her now sore face due to her running face first into a monitor. That was as good a distraction as any, and the blond made sure to use that time wisely by bolting from the room.

"H-Hey! Come back here! I just want to do a little experimentation!"

Naruto ignored the shouts coming from the room, instead choosing to run down the hall at breakneck speeds. He didn't quite know where he was going yet, but he figured the first thing he needed to do was get away from the woman that had just tried to rape him.

The windows moved by him in a blur as the blond ran. Belatedly, he realized that the end of the hall was a dead end, and it probably would have been a better idea to actually go down the stares. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't quite in his right mind at the moment, and thus the thoughts only occurred after the fact.

It was just as Naruto was coming up on Uzume's room that the door opened and said star shirted female walked out with a large grin on her face. At least, there was a large grin on her face until she looked over and saw Naruto bulldozing his way towards her. The slow widening of the brunette's eyes were the only sign of surprise she was able to give before the blond ran smack into her. He would have tried changing directions, or at least jumping over the girl before crashing into her, but neither of those options were possible. If Naruto used chakra to cease his forward movement, he was more than likely to simply rip the planks of the floor off the ground, and the hallways simply wasn't high enough for him to vault over her.

"Get out the way!" Was the only thing Naruto was able to shout before plowing into the busty young woman before. With a surprised squawk, the two took a tumble to ground, rolling and tumbling along the hard wooden tiling. When they finally came to a stop, Naruto was on top of Uzume, straddling the girl's hips with his hands on either side of his head. Uzume opened the eyes she had closed when they fell down, which soon widened when they saw just how close Naruto's face was to hers. Their noses were nearly touching.

"Uh..." Naruto opened his mouth to say something, anything that could get rid of the embarrassing and awkward atmosphere. "Um... hi?" he said somewhat weakly. Seriously, did he really just run from one girl trying to rape him and end up running over another. This entire situation was beginning to reach such ridiculous proportions that Naruto wasn't quite sure what to do. His life was beginning to look more and more like one of the very novels he wrote.

And just how did his life end up like this anyways? All Naruto wanted was to live his life without being bothered by the stupidity of humanity. Was that too much to ask? Apparently so, because not only had he gotten himself caught up in the very thing he wanted to avoid, but he had also essentially created his own harem and had another woman that had just finished trying to rape him like the kind of female characters he would expect to find in an Eroge.

This had to be Karma. Yes, that must be it... No, not even karma could be this bad. It had to be a Curse God. That had to be it! There was a Curse God after him. It was probably a little girl wearing a frilly red dress, green ribbons and liked to spin around. There was no other explanation. Only someone like that could possibly curse him like this.

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled, bringing his attention away from thoughts on Curse Gods and references that few people would probably understand. The busty young woman looked like she had recovered, at least partially. There was a bit of a blush on her face, most likely do to the fact that she had a male on top of her currently straddling her hips in a way that would no doubt look incredibly sexual from the perspective of any on looker. Still, she was also giving him a teasing grin, one that did not bode well for Naruto.

"I didn't expect you to try and seduce me so soon, bro," she said with a wink, her grin turning saucy. "You do know that I already have an Ashikabi, don't you? If you really want to get in my bed, then you'll also have to seduce them, and unfortunately my Ashikabi doesn't live here so that's not going to be happening any time soon."

Naruto took several seconds as he pondered her words. It wasn't that he hadn't heard them, but more that he was still dealing with the fact that his life seemed to be descending into madness before his very eyes. However, when the blond finally did register what was she said, his own eyes widened and he jumped off the beautiful Sekirei as if burned.

"Gah! I'm so sorry, Uzume," Naruto apologized, bowing haphazardly. "I didn't mean to crash into you like that! I was just trying to get away from –"

"There you are!" Naruto froze in fear, his body stiffening as he turned around almost against his will to see the person he had been running from closing the distance between them, her arms outstretched, hands making the same grasping motions as before. Her breathing was just as harsh as before, perhaps even heavier than it had been when she had first started trying to get him. Matsu seemed to be almost in a trance as she moved towards him, walking slowly and with stumbling footsteps like she was some kind of zhombie, only instead of wanting to eat his brains, she wanted to rape him.

Uzume took her eyes off Naruto and turned to see who this newcomer was, and her eyes quickly went wide with surprise. "Matsu!" she shouted, her voice sounding like an odd combination between shock and panic. "What are you doing out of your room?"

"Fuhuhuhuhu!" Matsu wasn't listening to the surprised girls cries, indeed the red head seemed to have not even noticed the other female in the room as she stalked towards the blond shinobi. Though Naruto himself did note it and store the information in the back of his mind for posterior inquiry. Hopefully he would be able to make it out of this situation in such a way that allowed him to ask his questions with both his life and his purity intact.

Oh, wait. He had lost his purity a long time ago. Damn. Well, hopefully he would be able to get out of this without losing what little purity – read, none – he had.

"Come on, Naruto. Quell this body with your DNA, your hot, thick, white strands of DNA." Naruto shuddered at the words. It was quite obvious that this girl was not talking about a kiss. Was this what females everywhere had faced when Jiraiya had been alive? If so it was no wonder the man could never get laid except for when he paid a woman astronomical amounts of money.

By this point in time, Uzume was not the only Sekirei to have exited said woman's room. Musubi had just come out after hearing the noise. "Hey, Uzume," the fist fighter started as she walked out of the bedroom. "What happened? All I saw was you getting hit by some kind of blur and – oh!" The girl cut herself off mid sentence when she saw her Ashikabi and gave the blond a beaming smile. "Naruto-sama! Hello!" Much as he had come to expect from Musubi, the naïve girl hadn't even noticed the perverted woman closing in on her Ashikabi with less then pure intentions.

The second one out was Kusano. The girl waddled out of the room right behind Musubi, her eyes taking in the scene around her. She seemed confused by what was going on, her young mind obviously not able to understand or read the situation. At least she had the excuse of being young, Musubi was just that scatter brained.

Her eyes did light up when she saw Naruto standing there, eying the red head cautiously. "Onii-chan!" She began waddling her way towards the blond in excitement, somehow managing to grab hold and cling to his leg even though he was constantly taking a step back for each step Matsu took forward.

"Not now, Ku-chan," Naruto mumbled almost to himself, still staring at the pervert in front of him warily, ready to bolt at a moments notice. "Onii-chan's busy at the moment." The little girl did not seem to take kindly to that statement if her puffed up cheeks were any indication. She glared up at Naruto, her little arms still wrapped around his left leg, as she released a 'fuuughh!' noise from the back of her throat.

Not that Naruto was actually paying attention, busy as he was trying to figure a way out of this situation. It was only when Akitsu came out, her face just as expressionless as it always was, that Naruto's mind was able to come up with an appropriate plan to get himself out of this situation.

"Akitsu!" Naruto shouted, gaining the snow woman's attention. "Restrain that woman!" he pointed over to Matsu, who blinked several times at the sudden change that had come over the blond.

"Yes master," Akitsu said immediately, no sign whatsoever of the usual hesitation that was often found in her voice. The air around her began to fog over, the temperature in the hallway dropped several degrees. Just as suddenly as the fog came, Matsu found her hands and feet shackled with a set of icy bonds.

"Eh?" Matsu blinked as she looked down at herself. "Eh!" With her legs now bound together she found herself beginning to topple, and with her arms similarly shackled she was unable to regain her balance. "EH!" Thus, with a loud squawk of surprise, Matsu fell onto her side on the wooden floor. She wiggled around, attempting to either find some means of escape, or simply some kind of natural reactions, perhaps a combination of the two.

"Thanks, Akitsu-chan," Naruto said as he let himself finally relax. Was it just him, or had this entire one minute runaround of trying not to let this Sekirei rape his lips been more tiring than his fight with Yomi?

"Ah," Akitsu blushed at being acknowledged by her Ashikabi. She looked down at her toes demurely, her hair overshadowing her eyes, leaving only the light pink that stained her cheeks. "You're welcome," she said quietly.

"Alright," Uzume began, placing her hands on her hips as she tried to make sense of this situation. "Just what is going on here? Why is Matsu out of her room?" she asked, and from the way Musubi and Kusano were looking at the scene in confusion, they likely wanted some kind of explanation as well, though they would need to have considerably more explained to them if they wanted to understand anything.

"What's a Matsu?" asked Musubi, proving Naruto's previous thoughts with just that one question. She was pressing her right index finger to her lips as she looked around at everybody curiously. "Is that like discretion? If so I think I'm getting the hang of that now." Uzume and Naruto looked at the girl with almost identical blank expressions. Akitsu didn't even seem to notice, busy as she was looking at Naruto with a blush staining her features. And Kusano was just nodding her head with what her older Sekirei sister was saying.

Naruto sighed as he felt a head ache beginning to form, he was getting a lot more of those nowadays. Head aches, that is. "Matsu isn't a thing, Musubi-chan," he said tiredly. "Matsu is a Sekirei. And the Sekirei with the name Matsu is the girl currently tied up on the floor by Akitsu-chan's ice." Musubi blinked, then looked over to where Naruto was pointing and stared at the red head that was still wiggling around on her back in surprise.

"Oh!" Musubi smashed a fist into the palm of her open hand. "I get it now! So that's Matsu!" She looked at the woman again and tilted her head in confusion. "Hey, why is she tied up on the floor anyways?" she asked, and Naruto almost groaned at how oblivious the girl truly was. Was he really like this when he was kid? Was this why everyone got so annoyed with him when he asked questions? He really hoped not.

"She's on the ground because she tried to assault my virgin lips," Naruto stated, gaining a weird look from Uzume, and a confused one from Musubi and Kusano, both of whom obviously didn't understand that statement. Akitsu just looked the same as always.

"Your virgin lips?" Uzume stated incredulously. "I've heard some weird things in my life, but that just takes the cake. There is nothing virgin about your lips," the conviction in her voice as she said that had Naruto pouting. Sure, he might have kissed tens of thousands of girls in his life, and yes, his lips and tongue might have done more things to most woman than anyone else would ever be capable of, but that didn't mean this perverted red hadn't been about to steal his chastity. It wasn't about semantics or technicalities anyways, it was about Matsu trying to assault his lips with her own, and possibly assaulting even more than that.

"You don't need to say it so bluntly," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"He-heh," Uzume smiled at the blond. "Don't worry, there's nothing bad about not having 'virgin lips' as you call them," she said, making quotations in the air. "If anything you should be proud, your Sekirei seem to enjoy those lips of yours quite thoroughly." Her words seemed to provoke a response from his own Sekirei.

"Oh do I ever!" Musubi shouted, her excitement practically visible as a physical manifestation as she pumped a single fist into the air. "I love Naruto-sama's lips! Their so warm, and soft, and moist, and they make me feel soo good!" Her last few words, along with the way she seemed to almost innocently moan them out, a paradox that only Musubi seemed capable of doing, caused the blond to blush rather heavily at the insinuation. The worst part about what Musubi said was that she had no clue as to just how many ways her statement could be taken.

"He-heh." Uzume seemed to have a few thoughts on that though, if her laugh was any indication.

"Fuhuhuhuhu..." And so did Matsu, though that did not surprise Naruto in the slightest considering just what she had tried to do to him.

"Ah," Akitsu seemed to snap out of her glazed over state at those words and came back from her happy place. She looked over at Naruto, and once more blushed, this time to the roots of her hair. "Yes," she nodded in agreement with Musubi's words, and then went back to her happy place again. Her reaction only seemed to spark more chuckles from Uzume, and another round of perverted giggling from Matsu.

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand?" asked Naruto, running a tired hand through his hair as he tried to bring everyone's focus back towards the fact that a red-haired Sekirei had just tried to rape him.

"Fuuuuu~!" It unfortunately wasn't to be, however, when the angry(?) sounds coming from his little Sekirei brought all attention to her. She was glaring up at Naruto with puffed up cheeks and a red face. Really, Naruto didn't think he had ever seen her look so angry, or angry at all for that matter. It was kind of disturbing if he were honest with himself.

"Um... Ku-chan?" Naruto started uncertainly, only to let out a loud yelp of surprise and pain as the little girl sunk her teeth into his thigh. "Ouch! Dammit, Ku, why are you biting me!" The blond shouted as he tried to wiggle the girl off. He didn't want to use too much force because he might end up hurting her, but that didn't stop him from at least trying to wriggle himself free from her grasp. In response to both the blonds actions and words, the vicious little animal that had once been a cute girl began to chomp down on his flesh like it was a chicken leg. "Ack! For Gods sakes, Ku, stop biting me!"

"Fupid Omii-han!" Kusano growled, her voice muffled due to her still having a chunk of Naruto's leg in her mouth. "Fu-chan ants er fisses too!" It took him a moment to figure out just what she had said due to how muffled her words were, but when he did the blond grimaced.

"Ku-chan, I can't kiss your right now," he tried to say placatingly. From the growl he received it didn't take a genius to figure out that it might have been a better idea for him to have stayed silent. Still, he tried to at least explain his reasoning in the hopes that the little sprite would at least understand. He should have known that children didn't like reason and logic. "You're just too young for that kind of thing. Perhaps when you get a little older, ne – OWCH! By the sage that hurt! Kusano, you need to sto – OH GOD! ARE THOSE YOUR MOLARS DIGGING INTO ME!"

The searing pain as Kusano apparently decided to use more extreme methods of torture on the blond, combined with his constant unsuccessful attempts at getting the girl off, caused the eternal shinobi to lose his balance completely. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, falling on his back as the Green Girl that Naruto was no longer sure could be called a girl continued digging her molars into his thighroid.

"Ah! Naruto-sama!" Musubi yelled out in surprise as she saw the blond fall. "Are you ok?" she asked in worry as she rushed over towards her Ashikabi and the vicious creature known as Kusano continued to chomp away at his leg.

"Ok? OK!" Naruto shouted more in pain than in anger, though Musubi still flinched. "I've got a brat chewing on me like I'm some kind of chew toy!" As if in response to his comment, Kusano's biting began to sink even deeper into his skin, causing Naruto to cry out. "BY THE MOTHER OF THE SAGE OF SIX PATHS! GET! HER! OFF! ME!"

"J-Just calm down, Naruto-sama!" Musubi cried, looking panicked as she flailed her arms around. By this point in time, Akitsu had come up and was looking at the scene as she tried to determine the best way to remove Kusano without injuring either of them. "I'll get her off in just a second! Ku-chan, you have to get off Naruto-sama now. You don't want to hurt him anymore than you already have, do you?"

"Ah," Akitsu started in an attempt to help her Ashikabi with his current predicament. "Bad Ku. Stop biting." Naruto wasn't even sure if he should give points to the ice user for trying. If anything, the pairs words only seemed to increase the little sprites ire, and Naruto once more cried out in pain as Kusano's molars sank into his leg.

"He-heh, this is the most entertainment I've ever had," Uzume said as she stood beside a still tied up Matsu with a large grin on her face. She was obviously taking great enjoyment of the blonds pain, and seemed to be in no hurry to help him. "I can't wait to tell my Ashikabi about this, their going to flip when they hear it. What do you think, Matsu..." Uzume trailed off and blinked when she realized that the woman she had been talking to was no longer there. How had she not noticed a woman tied up by icy bonds leave? How had she even managed to leave?

"Eh? Where did she go?" Looking around, the Sekirei wearing the star shirt found Matsu just a few feet away from her previous position. Some time during their one sided conversation, the red head had managed flip over onto her stomach, er, chest, and was now doing her best impression of an inchworm as she slowly crept across the floor, drooling and giggling madly.

"Yes! Now that he's immobile I can finally have him! Just wait, soon I will be able to experiment on you all I want! Fuhuhuhuhu!"

Uzume promptly felt a sweat drop form on her head. "Maybe this situation is beginning to get a little out of hand," she said to herself. "Perhaps I should help Naruto out, he's a good guy after all." She thought about it for a moment, but then shrugged the thoughts away and smiled. "Naw, this is just too entertaining to stop now."

"Ara? What's too entertaining to stop, Uzume-san?" asked an oh so sweet voice from behind her. Uzume froze, her eyes going wide and fear permeating her body. Slowly, she turned her head to see the source of that voice standing just not even an inch behind her. Miya was smiling the same as always, her eyes crinkled as she took in the scene before them. Uzume was just thankful the woman had apparently decided not to unleash her hanya mask yet.

"Oh my," the lavenderette said, holding a hand to her cheek as she continued watching the scene of chaos before her. "Everyone is certainly quite lively up here, aren't they?" she asked, and Uzume snorted as she decided to ignore her previous freak out and turned back to the scene. It seemed that Miya had decided to take what enjoyment she could out of Naruto's suffering as well.

"That's one way to put it," she replied to Miya's words as she looked at the scene, her smile returning. Naruto was still crying out in pain and screaming for his Sekirei to help him get the little girl off him, Musubi was freaking out, and Akitsu was just standing there staring at the scene in confusion as she tried to figure out what to do.

"No! Why is this so hard!" Matsu was still inching her way towards Naruto like some kind of worm. "Must! Get! Winged! I need! His! Babies!"

"I wonder..." Uzume said as she put a finger to her chin. "How log do you think it will take for them to even realize you're here?" she asked Miya.

"Hmmm," Miya blinked, taking her hand off her cheek and adopting a confused expression. "I'm not sure. Do you think I should get their attention?"

"No," Uzume shook her head, giggling when Musubi ended up falling on top of Naruto, her breasts smashing into his face. "No, you shouldn't."

**XoX**

"I'm really sorry about causing so much trouble," Matsu said, rubbing her head sheepishly as she did so. "Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Sekirei number zero two, Matsu. Pleased to meet you all." The red head bowed towards everyone as was customary in Japan, though since they were all sitting around the table all she could do was bow her head.

"The pleasure's all mine," Naruto replied somewhat dryly. Absently looking to his left, Naruto made sure that Akitsu was sitting next to him in case the woman tried to jump him again since she had proven to be the only one capable of restraining another Sekirei so far, even if she had been just as useless as Musubi when it came to getting Kusano off of him. Speaking of, the blond looked over to where Kusano was sitting on the other side of Musubi, who was sitting on his right. The little girl seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder, still quite upset at hearing that his other Sekirei had gotten to kiss her onii-chan and she had not. He sighed, that was a situation he didn't even want to think about. Naruto could only hope Kusano got over it eventually, because there was no way he would be swapping spit with her anytime soon.

"My, it seems nothing is ever boring when Uzumaki-kun is around," Miya said with a gentle smile that hid her amusement. Naruto sighed, already sensing the amount of teasing this most recent debacle would get him. Really, it wasn't his fault that the perverted red head couldn't keep her hands to herself and tried to rape him. He had done what anyone else would have done in that situation.

Ugh, who the hell was he kidding. No other red hot blooded male would have run from a hot woman wanting to have sex with them. _He _wouldn't have run from a hot woman wanting to have sex with him. At least, not in most circumstances. Unfortunately, this situation was not most circumstances, and went far above and beyond what most people would call a normal situation.

"I would just like to say that none of this was my fault," he stated, his tone tired.

"Not your fault?" asked Uzume, her voice a mixture between incredulous and amused. "How is this whole situation not your fault?"

"I didn't ask her to chase me, you know," Naruto groaned. "Matsu looked like she wanted to rape me. I had to get out of there. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Hmph," Matsu huffed to herself. "Maybe you should have just let me rape you," she muttered quietly.

"What was that, Matsu?" asked Miya, her beautiful smile turning to the red head. Matsu froze.

"N-Nothing, Miya!" The red head squeaked in fear as the aura of malicious anger and hate appeared behind the the lavenderette. Gulping, Matsu was quick to point out something that Miya, in her need to stamp out all things illicit and forbidden, had forgotten about. "Naruto's still in the room!" She shouted, causing Miya to look over at where said blond was leaning on the table in preparation to see her hanya mask once again. Realizing that the only male in the room was once more trying to steal her technique, Miya cut off whatever power she was using to call it. The feeling of despair disappeared, along the the mask that had just started creeping out from behind her. The woman in question huffed in frustration, no doubt annoyed that her favored weapon to wage war against all things forbidden in Maison Izumo had been taken away from her. Matsu and the rest of the room sans Naruto just sighed in relief.

"Anyways," the landlady continued after taking a moment to regain her previous gently demeanor. Her gentle smile returned as she looked at the secret tenant of Maison Izumo. "I hope you have calmed down now, Matsu-san," she said, making Matsu puff out her cheeks and turn her head in annoyance, though from the pink tinge on her cheeks, she was more embarrassed than annoyed.

"I said I was sorry," the red head pouted, looking for all the world like a petulant child that had just had their favorite toy taken away. "That wasn't even how I wanted to introduce myself to Naruto-tan," she muttered, using the childish mispronunciation of the diminutive '-chan' suffix when referring to Naruto. She seemed to be truly disappointed in herself, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder just how she had originally planned on meeting him. A moment later he decided he wouldn't tempt fate any longer when she said, "my original plan was to wait until everyone had left the house, or were at least on opposite sides of the house when Naruto finally took a bath, and then pounce." The girl didn't even seem to realize she had spoken out loud until her eyes widened and her hands slapped themselves over her mouth.

"Oh my," Miya muttered in obvious disapproval. "You do know that illicit relations within Maison Izumo are strictly forbidden." The frown on the lavenderette's face and she soon smiled. "Why, if you actually did do something like that then I would have no choice but to cast you out on the street," she said, and it seemed to Naruto that with her being incapable of using her hanya mask thanks to him, she had turned towards blackmail in order to get what she wanted. Though Naruto why such a threat had enough to actually convince the perverted Sekirei to stop her untoward advances.

"No!" Matsu cried out as she flung herself on the ground in front of Miya, her figure prostrated in a bow with her nose touching the floor as if she were in the presence of her lord. Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at how frantic the girl sounded. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't kick me out, Miya! I promise I won't do it again! I'll be good from now on, I promise!"

"How can I trust that what you say is true?" asked Miya, her mouth a thin line of disapproval. Naruto had to admit the woman was a great actor, even he was having trouble telling if she was lying or not. However, the blond was sure that the landlady was fibbing in order to get Matsu's cooperation. After all, she had gone through all the trouble of hiding the red heads presence, even from him and his Sekirei. Surely after going through so much trouble to keep the woman a secret, she wouldn't just kick her out.

Matsu didn't seem to think that way as she frantically and repeating bowed low and mumbled out apologies and promises to the woman who owned Maison Izumo. "I give you my word," the red head was saying. "Just please don't kick me out, I beg of you."

"Ara, ara," Miya began, waving off Matsu's concerns with a gentle smile. With her intimidation and blackmailing tactics done, she returned to be nothing more than a beautiful yet unassuming landlady. "Very well, though I do expect you to uphold that promise in the future." As Matsu's head began to bob up and down frantically, the sword wielding widow turned to look at Naruto. "Now then, perhaps Uzumaki-kun would care to explain just how it is he managed to find out where Matsu-san lives," she said. It wasn't a question.

Naruto swore as he realized that his impromptu tracking and interrogation might not have been the best idea. It was another rookie mistake, he realized. He had been so caught up in figuring just why someone was hiding in Maison Izumo that he had forgotten to plan out what would happen after wards. Even if the situation had turned out differently, and Naruto had gotten all of the information out of Matsu that he wanted, Miya and the others still would have found out and he still would have been questioned. And worse still, this had been the exact situation he had been hoping to avoid by confronting Matsu now.

Was he really losing his touch so badly that he was willing to take such impulsive actions? Obviously his actions spoke for themselves. What he had done was both stupid and lacked proper forethought. He was supposed to be better than this. Naruto might not have had Shikamaru's genius for strategies, but during the war he had trained himself with the shadow user extensively in strategy and tactics. Before he died, Shikamaru had taught him everything he could on anticipating the movements of your opponents and thinking about everything fifty moves in advance. It had, in fact, been Naruto learning strategy from the best that kept the Shinobi Alliance from losing outright after Shikamaru's death.

Maybe this was what happened when you went thousands of years without true conflict. Not since the Fourth Great Shinobi War had Naruto been in any kind of battle where he needed to worry about strategy. The only thing in his life that had required constant cunning and forethought was keeping himself hidden from the world, and that had been easy to learn about doing because he had been there during the invention of the computer, he had watched as the internet became accessible to every home with a computer and not just the military, had seen when the first satellite had been launched into the air, and had studied everything he would need to keep his identity and existence a secret. He'd had several decades to properly plan out all of his moves, learn about all these new innovations and technologies, and gather the necessary information he would need to blackmail the most powerful figures in the world. It hadn't been easy, but with the amount of time he had, and his own intelligence, it had been perfectly doable.

This recent problem with Sekirei and the Sekirei Plan was nothing like that. Naruto hadn't even had the time to properly think of what this situation meant for him, much less learn the ins and outs of the plan itself. This event had been sprung on him just nine days ago, and the blond was still trying to regain his balance from the dramatic shift in his life.

Fortunately, while Naruto may have rusted when it came to long term strategy, he was more than capable of speaking with a silver tongue. He had been using political back speak for decades now, and could easily deflect and/or redirect a conversation to where he wanted it to go. Thinking fast, the blond said, "it wasn't that hard," with a small shrug of his shoulders. "After Ku-chan mentioned the ghost, and the reaction you two gave me," he pointed to Miya and Uzume. "I assumed that there was someone else living in this house that you were determined to hide for some reason. After that, well, it didn't take very long to realize just why the second floor doesn't have a room two hundred and one."

"I think the real question," he continued, giving both Uzume and Miya an accusing stare. "Is why you two felt the need to hide the fact that there was another tenant hiding away at Maison Izumo. I hope you both realize that all of this could have been avoided if you had just come out and said there was someone hiding with us and that she didn't like to be bothered." Uzume grimaced, and even Miya seemed to look contrite and chastised by his words. Now that the tables had been turned, Naruto did not hesitate in pressing his advantage.

"Well?" he asked, leaning on his right forearm which he had set upon the table, and tapping a steady beat with his index finger.

"I do apologize for not notifying you that there was someone else living within Maison Izumo, Uzumaki-kun," Miya began slowly. "However, we all have our secrets, as you well know."

Naruto managed to withhold a grimace as he recognized the subtle jab at his own hesitance to reveal his past. He knew that everyone was curious about him, and Miya was even more so. He also knew that the landlady had not truly asked him anything incriminating due to her respect for his privacy. "I do understand that," he began. "And I'm not saying you're wrong either. I am merely pointing out that this could have been avoided if you had just told us about someone else living here when Kusano first mentioned seeing a ghost." At the word ghost, Kusano seemed to gain a shiver that ran up her body and down her spine. Naruto ignored her for the moment, his sole attention fixated on the purple-haired landlady.

"Yes," Miya could not withhold her grimace. "I suppose you are correct. My apologies, Naruto-san," she said, using both his first name and the more formal '-san' suffix to apologize. Both Matsu and Uzume looked between the two in surprise, though whether it was because of Miya apologizing or something else entirely Naruto couldn't say for sure.

"It's fine," Naruto sighed, closing his eyes as a wave of exhaustion hit him. What he wouldn't give for at least one day without being surrounded by so much chaos. "I guess, I can understand why you didn't tell me." And he did, there were only a few reasons they could be hiding someone, especially if that person was a Sekirei. None of them were very pleasant. "I am sorry as well, I was out of line just now." He bowed his head towards Miya, "please accept my most humble apology."

"Accepted," Miya said in the same formal tone Naruto used, though her words were laced lightly with surprise. Perhaps she had not been expecting him to be so accepting of her answer, or maybe she had not expected him to apologize. Not that Naruto cared about the reasons she was surprised, or that she even was surprised in the first place. Honestly, he was too tired to deal with this now. For some reason, this whole fiasco had left him exhausted, and right now all he wanted to do was sleep.

"What I want to know is why Matsu reacted so badly to bro here," Uzume stated, most likely in an attempt to change the subject. She eyed Naruto curiously as if he were some puzzle to be studied. "I mean, he literally needed to have Akitsu restrain her, and even than she still tried to get him." Over where she sat, Matsu blushed at the other Sekirei's words.

"I am really sorry about what happened, Naruto-tan," she said, sounding contrite. Naruto noticed that she really did seem to be angry and embarrassed at herself for reacting so poorly. "I had known I was reacting for a while now," she admitted, her eyes darting over to Naruto and her blush increasing. The blond in question couldn't help but wonder if it was due to her embarrassment or her reacting to him. She stuck her tongue out and wetted her lips before continuing. "But I had been hoping to study Naruto-tan for a little while longer before confronting him. I honestly don't know what came over me,  
>she looked down at her hands on the table, her face gaining a contemplative expression. "When Naruto-tan first came into the room, my entire body felt like it was on fire, just reminding myself to breath was difficult." She looked back up and stared at a now uncomfortable Naruto. "And when you started talking to me I, well, I just lost it. I knew right then and there that I had to have you."<p>

"Uhh... ah..." Naruto was at a loss for words. Not due to embarrassment at Matsu's own words, at least, not completely, but at the fact that he seemed to have caused such a strong reaction in the girl. Truth be told, the moment he had entered the room, he had noticed his own body responding. He had ignored it at the time, having wanted answers and been in no mood to even think about his own arousal. A part of the reason he had run from the girl was not just because of what she had tried doing to him, but also because of what he probably would have done to her if he had allowed them to kiss. Even now, Naruto could feel himself responding to her. It was the whole reason he was currently using a combination of water and wind chakra to create an effect similar to a cold shower over key parts of his body even as the conversation continued taking place.

"It... it's alright," he stuttered out at last. Taking a deep breath, Naruto felt ready to continue. "You wouldn't be the first Sekirei to have reacted so strongly to me."

"Really?" asked Matsu, seeming to perk up at hearing that she wasn't the only one who had reacted like that to the blond.

"Hmm..." Naruto hummed in agreement. "When Musubi began reacting to me, her body had nearly shut down from overheating. She could hardly even move at the time." Matsu looked extremely interested in hearing about this particular news, and the blond was almost positive it was not just because it meant she wasn't the only one to have such an overreacting reaction to him. Though just why Matsu found that interesting Naruto didn't know.

"What about Akitsu-tan?" asked Matsu, eying Musubi and then the ice user.

"Akitsu didn't react to me at all," Naruto admitted. When several eyes narrowed, the blond held up his hands. "I think it's because there was something blocking her ability to be winged. That guy who worked for Higa called her a... a scrapped number." He frowned upon remembering those words. He still didn't know what a scrapped number was, though he was sure Akitsu's blocked ability to be winged had something to do with her being a scrapped number.

"That would make sense," Matsu said while nodding. She adjusted her glasses, which seemed to gleam in the reflected light of the sun. Thankfully, this gleam seemed more like the kind a researcher would have when there was a mystery to be solved, and not that of the perverted hentai who wanted to get into his pants. "After all, as a scrapped number, Akitsu-tan wasn't supposed to even be capable of having an Ashikabi." She turned her eyes on Naruto, this time studying him with some other than perverted or embarrassed glances. "That's why Naruto-tan gained his nickname as the Miracle Worker."

Naruto frowned, but ignored the title for now. "So just what is a scrapped number?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. Beside him the clinking of Akitsu's chains could be heard as the woman shifted in her seat. "I still haven't even been told why what I did was so unusual." And he meant aside from the fact that he had been forced to use his chakra in order to break what was blocking her. He doubted anyone here even knew about that, while they could use chakra of some sort, there were no other natural humans besides himself who could now actively channel chakra. And he had done his best to keep that mostly a secret. Musubi might know of his cloning technique, and Akitsu knew he could gather nature, but he had never told them about chakra and all of it's uses.

"A scrapped number is a Sekirei who can't be winged," Matsu answered immediately, before glancing over at Akitsu and amending her statement. "Or at least, they are no supposed to be capable of being winged. Supposedly, a scrapped number is a Sekirei who was winged preternaturally, meaning they were winged during the adjusting process without the mucousal contact needed to gain their wings by an Ashikabi, but the truth is no one really knows what a scrapped number is," the red head admitted. Naruto closed his eyes as he took in this knowledge and began piecing together what he had learned in his mind. If a Sekirei was winged during the adjusting process then it meant they would be unable to gain an Ashikabi. This was a two fold problem for the Sekirei in question as far as he could see, for one thing, they would be unable to find their Ashikabi, a problem in and of itself due to the fact that an Ashikabi was more than just a partner for battle, but were also in many ways like a wife or husband, perhaps even more than that. On a more logical and cold level, if a Sekirei could no longer have an Ashikabi, then it meant they would be unable to unleash their full power, their Norito that Naruto had been told about. Thinking of things from both perspectives, it made sense that Akitsu would claim she was broken. Not only would she not be able to find her mate and gain her wings, but she would be unable to unleash her full power.

But that brought up another question. If Akitsu's problem had, in fact, been that one of the adjustors at MBI made a mistake and she had somehow gained her wings without an Ashikabi, then it meant that even Naruto should not have been able to wing her.

Unless of course Naruto's own chakra had healed whatever damage had been done to her during the adjusting process. That was quite possible as well, his own chakra was unnaturally potent and had powerful regenerative properties. It was perfectly possible that when Naruto had forcefully pushed his chakra into her body that the chakra itself had healed all of the damage she had suffered. That in itself was a surprise, however, since while Naruto's chakra was not deadly in anyway, he had thought it's healing properties had been restricted to just being useful to him. After all, he had tried healing another person once with his chakra and gotten disastrous results. But then, that person had not been able to use chakra, so maybe that had been the reason he couldn't heal her, but could heal Akitsu. In which case, his previous theory was correct. Still, even if his theory was sound, that left a lot of unanswered questions.

"The only person who may know what a scrapped number is are the lead adjustors who knew more about Sekirei's then everyone else," Matsu's voice brought Naruto back towards the present. Focusing on the red head, he listened as she spoke. She looked nervous. "And, well," she spared a glance towards Miya, something that Naruto noticed immediately. It only lasted for a second before her eyes turned back towards the blond, "one of the leading adjustors is..."

"No longer among the living," Miya answered when Matsu trailed off. Naruto turned his attention to Miya, who had a sad smile on her face. "My husband, Takehito, was the lead geneticist in charge of the Sekirei Plan. That's how Matsu and myself first met." Her words had caused Naruto to study the woman more carefully. The way she had spoken carefully removed any and all mentions of her own power. He was sure that Miya was a Sekirei, the power she had was on a scale that went far beyond anything he had felt in thousands of years. There was no way she wasn't a Sekirei. At the same time, it was equally clear that she did not want him to know about her status as a Sekirei, a surprise considering he had already told her that he knew she was not a normal landlady.

Granted, he had not outright said 'I know your a Sekirei' but the intention had been there. It had been his peace offering, a way of letting Miya know that he knew she wasn't normal and that he meant no harm. So either she knew that he knew and was just playing her games, completely possible from what Naruto had seen so far. Or she didn't know and was still trying to keep up the facade. Not as likely as far as Naruto was concerned. It had to be the first theory.

"I see," Naruto hummed, bowing his head in Miya's direction as both acknowledgment and apology. "I suppose that would make sense. After all, if your husband worked for MBI as the lead geneticist for the Sekirei Plan then it would explain why you have Matsu and Uzume living here." And Kagari, though he was still keeping that he knew of Kagari's secret a secret. His eyes narrowed, however, when he recalled what the woman had done he had first brought in Kusano. "If you knew about the Sekirei Plan form the very start, then that meant you also knew that Kusano was a Sekirei when I first brought her here after we had rescued her from the Arboretum."

Kusano stiffened at his words, and buried herself in Musubi's ample chest.

"Oh my," Miya smiled as she held a hand to her cheek. "I do apologize for that, but you can't expect me to recognize a Sekirei on sight, can you?" she asked, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes. So she wanted to play at that game did she? That was fine with Naruto, he was an old hand at this game, and Miya was several thousand years too soon to beat him.

"Yeah, I suppose your right," he relented and adopted a thoughtful pose, his right hand holding up his left arm at the elbow as his left hand began tapping his chin in an absent beat. "I mean, just because your husband was the leading geneticist at MBI doesn't mean you would be capable of spotting a Sekirei on sight. I mean, you _are _just a normal landlady after all." He gave the woman an innocent smile that hid his pleasure when he saw Miya stiffen at his words. "Right?"

"Of course, Uzumaki-kun," Miya said with a smile of her own. "You can't expect a poor widower like me to know what my husband is working on."

"And yet, you know about the Sekirei plan," Naruto countered.

"Just because my husband told me about some of the things he was working on, doesn't mean he tells me everything," Miya replied with a blindingly bright smile.

"That's very true," Naruto said, before sighing. "I suppose I just imagined you looking at the back of Kusano's neck the moment we had entered the house." When Miya sat up straighter, Naruto smiled. If subtle doesn't work, it was best to go with a sludge hammer blow. Just a little more pushing and he would have won this battle. "That was before you had pointed your sword at me, by the way."

"Ah... um..." Matsu and Uzume stared incredulously as they saw Miya at a loss for words. They probably weren't used to the normally powerful looking woman so indecisive before now. Quickly coughing into her hand, Miya recovered her décor, though Naruto knew he had already won. "You must have been imagining it," she said, and with that, the blond confirmed his victory.

"I take what I said before back," Uzume whispered as she watched the finish between Naruto's and Miya's banter. "Baseballs are no where near big enough. Basket balls, that's the only thing they could be. Giant, steel basketballs."

Naruto gave Uzume a mild glare, but decided not to say anything in order to bring the previous conversation back into focus. "When you seemed surprised when I informed you that Musubi reacted in a similar way to me that you did," he said to Matsu, an obvious question in his voice. Just in case she did not know what he was asking, the blond decided to elaborate. "Is such a reaction unusual for Sekirei?"

Matsu nodded as she grabbed the sides of her glasses and adjusted them. "Yes," she told him. "In fact, it's more than unusual. When a Sekirei reacts it's natural for them to feel a bit of heat, and maybe be short of breath. I know that before truly coming into your presence, I felt hot and my heart tended to race a little bit whenever I looked at you."

"You mean whenever you peeped on me," Naruto deadpanned, causing the red head to laugh sheepishly. "Just how many cameras do you have set up at Maison Izumo anyways?" he asked.

"Matsu has camera's set up everywhere! Fuhuhuhu!" Matsu exclaimed with what Naruto had decided to call her perverted old man giggle. He narrowed his eyes.

"If you have them everywhere, that means you also have a camera in the bathhouse," he stated. Matsu began to nod her head eagerly, at least she did until the cold feeling of malice began leaking from Miya.

"Matsu-san," the woman began. "You do realize that peeping on people while they are bathing is a very illicit action, and illicit actions are forbidden within Maison Izumo." There it was again, creeping out from behind the lithe and beautiful woman that was currently releasing unimaginable levels of hatred and malice. Naruto had not seen it since last night, but he would recognize that hanya mask anywhere. Beside him, Akitsu had turned her head away, the small cup of tea in front of her freezing over. Musubi had taken to clinging to Naruto while Kusano was clinging to Musubi. "I do hope you plan on taking those things down," Miya smiled. "Otherwise, I may have to kick you out."

"Eek! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll take them down right away!" Matsu wailed at the sight, bowing her entire body repeatedly. "Just please keep that, that, THING away from me!" When that didn't seem to work, she used what was becoming the tried and true method for getting rid of the hanya mask. "Naruto-tan's still in the room!" Indeed she was right, Naruto was not only in the room, but had somehow moved directly next to the hanya mask, replacing himself with Akitsu at the same time, all without Miya even noticing. The mask disappeared in an instant, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes at the woman. His challenging look was returned by Miya, and sparks soon began flying between them as the two fought in a war that only they knew of. One in which both were determined to be the winner.

"Dear god," Uzume whispered as she watched Naruto staring down the fearsome landlady. "Just when I think they can't get any bigger." She shook her head. "Beach balls, beach balls made of steel. No, steel isn't strong enough. Titanium beach balls. That's what they are. Large, titanium beach balls."

"Do you have to be so crass, Uzume?" asked Naruto, sighing as he decided there were more important things to worry about than Miya's awesome technique. For now at least.

"He-heh," Uzume grinned and winked at the blond. "At least I didn't mention what beach balls I was talking about." Naruto just sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time as he sat back in his seat next to Akitsu. His own Sekirei must be gaining an immunity to the mask by now, because they had already recovered from the sight of it.

Before the blond could say anything further to berate Uzume, Matsu decided to make a change of subject. "If Musubi-tan's and my own reaction are anything to go by, then Naruto-tan must be a very strong Ashikabi," she said, her eyes looking at the person in question before turning to Akitsu still sitting at his side. "Considering he even managed to wing someone who wasn't supposed to gain her wings, I don't think I can say I'm very surprised by this." She then turned her attention back to Naruto and looked at him with a surprisingly demure expression. "If we're done talking, can I please get my wings now?" she asked.

"Urk."

"Oh wow, you've got another Sekirei! Isn't that great, Naruto-sama!" Musubi cheered, seemingly thrilled by the thought of her Ashikabi adding another member to his harem. "And this one's a single digit too!" Yes, his first Sekirei was quite overjoyed.

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled as she gave the blond a probing look. "Wow, it's pretty impressive to see you adding another one to your harem. Most Ashikabi's ever get one Sekirei to react."

"Ugh, thanks, I guess," Naruto replied tiredly. While Musubi might be excited by the thought of him gaining another Sekirei to add to his harem, the blond was most definitely not excited. He had enough trouble as it was dealing with the emotions of three Sekirei and his own budding feelings, how much more difficult would that become if he bonded to a fourth Sekirei? Would he even be able to recognize his own thoughts and feelings? How would he know if what he felt wasn't coming from one of his Sekirei? How much would he be able to take before losing himself to the bond? It wasn't something he liked to think about, but Naruto often held such thoughts these days, wondering how long it would be before his own personality was subsumed by his Sekirei's.

There was also the fact that Naruto didn't want another Sekirei. If he allowed another female to bond with him, if he let this new girl into his heart like that, it would only be setting himself up for more heartbreak down the road. Already the thought of losing the three girls he had bonded to, the knowledge that they would eventually leave him was like having one of Akitsu's ice spears being thrust into his chest. It hurt, he didn't want to admit it, but the knowledge that they would eventually die was painful.

It also wasn't fair to the Sekirei. Naruto had already determined that the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei was almost like some form of matrimony, only ten thousand times more powerful. With a Sekirei, it really would be till death do us part. There was no going back, no second chances, no do overs. When a Sekirei bonded themselves that was it, they couldn't bond to another. Being bonded to someone like him was unfair to the Sekirei. After all, when they were all old and wrinkly and unable to shit without help, he would still look like a barely eighteen year old male. How would they feel when they were forced to see him day in and day out for the rest of their lives, young and ageless, while they withered away? He already felt incredibly guilty about doing this to Akitsu, Musubi, and Kusano, was it really right for him to force another to experience this kind of hardship?

"But, um, don't you all think I have enough Sekirei?" asked Naruto, getting Uzume and Musubi to stop cheering and look at him in shock. Matsu also looked like she was in a state of shock, though hers seemed to be more of a form of dismay than anything else. Miya on the other hand had opened her eyes and was now studying Naruto intently. The only people who had not reacted to his words were Akitsu, who was still staring at him, and Kusano, who just didn't understand what was going on.

"NO!" Matsu was the first one to react, shouting at him as she quite literally hurled herself across the table. Equally fast, Naruto was already reacting. He rolled backwards, kipping up to his feet as he flicked his left hand at the red head. A long strand of steel wire was launched out of his sleeves. Another flick and Naruto had the wire weaving itself around Matsu. A pull followed, and the red-haired Sekirei found herself falling the floor with a grunt as her arms and legs became completely wrapped in steel. Naruto was glad he had the forethought to grab his ninja wire from his room before coming downstairs for this conversation.

Yet even though she was hogtied and unable to do much more than wiggle, she still struggled. "Please don't reject me!" She looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please, your my Ashikabi! I want you! I need you!"

Naruto grimaced, his body lurching as it reacted to her words. He fought with his own feelings, however, knowing that this was the right thing to do. He didn't want to hurt anymore than he already would, and he didn't want to hurt anybody else when they realized he was cursed. This was the right thing to do, it was... it... it had to be.

"How could you even think of not winging her, Naruto-sama!" Musubi seemed to be in a combination state of shock and denial. The look only lasted for a moment before she slammed her hands onto the table and glared at him. "We talked about this! She's reacting to you! You two are connected! She loves you! How can you not return that love!"

"I... It's not that simple," Naruto whispered, shaking his head at her. He didn't blame Musubi for being angry at him, she didn't understand. How could she? Aside from being raised in a lab, she didn't know of the life he had lived, of the hardships he had faced, or the realizations he had come to. Hers were the eyes of innocence, unjaded from seeing the truth of the world. She believed in the power of love, that so long as the love people had for each other existed, they could triumph over anything. She didn't understand that only could only take someone so far.

"What's so hard about it!" she asked, her voice far louder than any of them had ever heard it, even when compared to the night she had gone off on Seo. "She loves you, she's reacting to you! You are her Ashikabi!" Naruto took a step back, his head shook back and forth as he tried to deny both her words and his own feelings on the matter. These weren't his feelings. They couldn't be. This had to be the bond. His Sekirei were the ones making him feel like this. It was denial, he knew, but at the moment denial was all he had.

"Naruto-san," Miya said, once again speaking to him more formally, her tone much more solemn than any of them had ever heard it. She was studying him with a critical eye now, dissecting him with her vision as if she would somehow be able to glean the truth by just looking at him. "Are you sure it is a wise idea to deny a Sekirei her chance to bond with you?" she asked carefully. "I know you have... problems, but are they really worth giving up on allowing yourself a chance to find happiness?"

Yes, yes they were. His problems made happiness impossible, any that he might find would only be a fleeting feeling, a bittersweet memory, the cause of a nightmare. Finding a few decades worth of love was not worth the heartache that would follow. He knew this, he had already experienced it before. So yes, his problems were worth giving up on finding love. That's what he wanted to say at least. He wanted to tell Miya that love was a pipe dream, a fools errand, an impossibility. That there was no such thing as love, especially for someone like him. Yet, no matter how many times he opened his mouth, the words refused to come out.

Why? Why couldn't he say it? Why couldn't he tell her what he thought? It was the truth, wasn't it? Yes, it had to be the truth. He knew this, knew it in his very bones, in the depths of his soul. So then why couldn't he say it? Why then, did he want to believe otherwise? Why did he want to believe that what Musubi thought was true? Was it the bond? Could that be it? It had to be, right? That was the only viable explanation. It couldn't be him, these couldn't be his feelings. Because if they were, then that meant he hadn't learned his lesson. And he had, hadn't he?

A tug on his left pant leg directed his attention to Akitsu. "Ah," the ice user started, staring up at him from where she continued to sit. "It's horrible, not being able to be with your Ashikabi," she said. "I wasn't supposed to even have an Ashikabi, but you saved me. What you are trying to do now is worse then what I myself had experienced when I had been told I could never gain my wings." She paused to look over at Matsu. Everyone else stared at her, this was the most they had ever heard her speak in a single moment. And it seemed she wasn't done, because a few seconds later she looked back at Naruto. "You are not just not allowing Matsu-san to be winged by you, you are denying her the chance to be winged at all. You are her Ashikabi, the one she is destined to be with. If you do not wing her, she will never find her true Ashikabi, she will never be able to be with the one she is destined to serve. Are you really able to deny her that happiness?"

For a long moment, no one else said anything. Musubi and Uzume were staring at the snow woman in shock, though whether that was from her words or from the fact that she had spoken more words in a single paragraph then all of the other times she had spoken combined was unknown. Miya was studying Akitsu now, a proud smile on her face, while Kusano was nodding her head along with the ice user while humming her 'mhmm!' in agreement to the woman's words.

As for Naruto, he just continued to stare at the woman in a mix of shock and guilt. Shock at the normally quiet and completely subservient Sekirei actually saying something so deep, and guilt at what her words told him. Better then anyone else, Akitsu knew what it was like to be discarded. It was just as he said, she was like Haku, and just like the ice user that had given Naruto his motto back when he was a Konoha genin, this ice user knew the same pain he did. And she was telling him that what he was doing to Matsu was even worse than what had been done to her?

"He-heh, way to go, Akitsu," Uzume cheered, breaking the silence. She was looking at the ice user with a new gaze. Before she had probably never seen the woman as anything other than Naruto's shadow, or the former scrapped number. But now it was like she was looking at Akitsu for the first time.

"Akitsu-san," Musubi sniffed as she wiped several tears from her eyes. "That was so beautiful. Wish I could be as eloquent as Akitsu-san." It was probably a sign of just how affected everyone was that they did not stare at Musubi in surprise at the fact that she had not only used a word like 'eloquent' in a sentence, but used it correctly as well.

"Yes," Miya nodded in agreement, directing her proud smile at Akitsu. "If my husband were still alive, he would have said exactly what you have."

Naruto's shoulders began to slump as the weight of everyone's words sunk in. Was that what he was really doing? Was it not that he was giving Matsu a chance to be winged by someone she could love to the end of her days, but in actuality denying her the chance to find love at all? To be denied a chance at being with her Ashikabi, or heaven forbid someone who was not her Ashikabi forcibly winging her. Was he really so cruel as to allow that to happen?

Had these questions been asked before Naruto had bonded to Musubi, he would have said yes. However, after nine days of spending time with Musubi, of winging Akitsu and Kusano, of experiencing the joy he felt at learning more and more about each other, and feeling their joy in turn as they learned about him, the blond was beginning to see things in a different light. Even if the bond truly was the cause of his new feelings and beliefs, even if what he was feeling and thinking were not his own thoughts, Naruto found that a part of him simply didn't care. He wanted to believe Musubi, wanted to believe that love was enough to triumph against anything. Even if the blond knew otherwise, he wanted, just this once, to be proven wrong.

Taking Akitsu's hand in his own, Naruto gently pried the woman's fingers from his pants. He sent her a smile and squeezed her hand, causing the ice user's pale cheeks to turn red. Letting go of her hand, Naruto had to move forward until he was standing right in front of a hopeful Matsu. She had stopped struggling some time ago, probably watching the proceedings to see what would happen and how hard she would have to struggle to get what she wanted, and was now staring at him with a look that was so hopeful Naruto felt another arrow of guilt piercing his heart.

Kami he really was a bastard, wasn't he? He had been about to deny someone their chance to bond with the one person they could truly connect to in the disguise of wanting her to bond with someone she could share a life with. It was almost a shock to him to realize just how low he had sunken, how far into the depths of his own darkness he had fallen that he would deny this girl a chance to be with him just because he was afraid of getting hurt. Sinking down to his knees, Naruto just looked at the young woman who seemed like she was about to start wiggling towards him at any moment.

"Is this really what you want?" he asked quietly, his voice giving away nothing save for the small quiver in it. "Do you really want someone like me to be your Ashikabi? I'm nothing special, just a broken man whose been wandering this world for too long." It was a slip of the tongue, one that Naruto didn't even notice. Thankfully, no one else did as well. No one else, except for Miya that is, and said woman narrowed her eyes as she began to ponder what those words could mean.

"Yes," Matsu breathed, her eyes searching his, beseeching as she stared at him. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I want you to be my Ashikabi! Your the only one I want to be my Ashikabi. So please... please make me yours."

"Right," Naruto's shoulder slumped just a little bit further as he made his choice. It would hurt, but he couldn't deny her this chance. If she truly wanted to be with him, then he would allow it. Even if he ended up breaking in the process.

His right hand reached out towards her back where his ninja wire had managed to tie itself together. The knot itself was actually impossible to untie, it was designed that way to keep prisoners and others from using any escape jutsu to get out or wiggle themselves free. Not even Naruto could actually untie the knot, though he could certainly break it with his strength. In front of so many people he couldn't do that, so he took the subtle approach. His hand worked the knot, making it look like he was undoing it, when in truth Naruto was creating a thin blade of wind chakra that slowly cut through the steel of the wire. In less then a second, there was a loud 'snap!' as the knot broke and the wire came undone, quickly unfurling itself from around Matsu.

Miya narrowed her eyes.

Matsu's eyes shone with both relief and slight perversion. Her muscles tense and she looked like she was about to pounce.

Naruto put a stop to that by standing up and offering his hand.

"Stand up," he told her softly, looking into her dark red eyes with his blue. She looked back, confused, and so Naruto decided to elaborate by saying. "If we're going to do this, then we're going to do it right." It took a moment, but Matsu's eyes a lit with understanding and she hurriedly grabbed his hand and let the blond pull her up. When she was on her feet, Matsu quickly began dusting off her dress, then turned to face Naruto.

"This is your last chance to back down," he warned her. She just smiled in response and quickly closed the distance between them. Her arms slid around his neck, her body pressed itself against his, her breathing picked up once more and her face began to flush as her eyes became half lidded. Naruto could smell the heady scent of her arousal, an unusual combination that he couldn't quite place, but much like Musubi's own unique, found himself enjoying it all the same. It was comforting an almost comforting scent.

"With our kiss," the red head spoke, her warm breath hitting Naruto's lips. "This number zero two, Matsu, will be your Sekirei." No more words were spoken as Matsu pressed her lips to Naruto's. Already prepared for this, the eternal shinobi placed his hands on the Sekirei's hips and kissed back.

Once more, Naruto felt his chakra being drained from him. Even after feeling it happen three times it still felt strange. Behind Matsu, her Sekirei crest emerged, and with it bright, golden wings appeared behind her back. The wings were much different from any of the other ones Naruto had seen so far. They looked more geometric in shape, the edges were crisper, sharper, hard lines and angles that could not be produced by anything organic.

And then the wings dispersed, and Naruto was left only with the feel Matsu's lips against his. They were warm, moist, intoxicating. As the kiss continued, Naruto felt the woman kissing him getting bolder. Her tongue moved past his lips and tried to slip in between his teeth, her body was starting to grind against his, her left leg was hooking itself around his own legs.

Wait. What?

With movements that were swift, and sure, and surprised the crap out of Naruto, Matsu used her leg to cut Naruto's out from under him. The blond fell to the ground, hitting the hard floor with a loud 'oof!' as he took the red head with him. For a moment, the blond was seeing double. Why were their two Matsu's? Blinking, it took him a second to uncross his eyes and see that there was only one Matsu. Her face was also much clearer now, the details he had missed before now sharpened and enhanced.

He did not like that look on her face.

"And now," Matsu started, giggling as she wiggled and squirmed against him, her glasses gleaming ominously in the light. "It's time for the experimentation!"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked as his mind registered and processed the words of the woman straddling his waist. After a second of blinking, the blond finally seemed to realize his predicament and tried to get out of it. "N-Now Matsu," he started, beginning to back away from the perverted woman, or at least trying to. Considering she was straddling and clinging to him, his attempt didn't go so well. "Do-Don't you think we should take it slow?"

"Fuhuhuhu," Matsu's perverted old man giggling sent shivers down the blonds spine. "Come on, Naruto-tan. Don't be shy now, it's time for us to get to know what another intimately as Sekirei and Ashikabi. Fuhuhu, fuhuhuhu..."

"It has nothing to do with me being shy," Naruto stated, almost pouting that she would even insinuate such a thing, even as he continued to contradict his words by squirming away. "I'm just concerned about what Miya might do to you."

"Miya?" Matsu blinked. "Why would Miya do anything?"

"Oh, I don't know," the voice of Miya came from behind Matsu, causing her to freeze. The sound of cold steel being pulled from it's sheathe resounded throughout the room, and the red head gulped as Miya's blade came to rest against her neck, caressing her jugular. "Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was almost positive that I have expressly forbidden any illicit activity within Maison Izumo."

"Ah ah ha, r-right," Matsu laughed, not her perverted old man laughs, but a nervous laugh of fear. "Wh-Why do I have this thing on my neck?"

"I would like to ask you cease any and all illicit activity, Matsu-san," Miya told the red head in her pleasant and beautiful voice. It was enough to put the fear of god in the heart of Matsu. "Please get off Uzumaki-kun now."

"Ah hehehehe... r-right," Matsu said, and then paused. "Um, Miya?"

"Yes?" the woman asked, her pleasant expression still in place.

"C-Can you please take this thing off my neck? I'm afraid if I move around I might accidentally slit my throat."

Miya blinked. "Ara?"


	11. Turning Point

**Chapter 10: Turning Point**

**XoX**

It was not even fifteen minutes after the entire incident with Matsu is over that Naruto found himself sitting on the veranda drinking a cup of warm tea. The tea combined with the peaceful and quiet atmosphere as the blond sat in seiza and looked out at the expansive courtyard managed to sooth his frayed nerves. The whole experience just a few minutes prior had been one for the ages. Never in his life had Naruto felt so much conflict within himself. That is not to say he had never felt conflict before, but most of his own struggles hadn't been internal but external. Fighting the bad guys, rescuing the princess, saving the bridge builder from the evil conglomerate company, things like that. The only time Naruto had ever struggled internally was when he fought against his darker half.

And he supposed Kurama could be considered an internal battle on a technicality, since the great Bijuu had been sealed into him.

Even than his battle with his other half had not been anywhere near as conflicting as this. Maybe it was because his battle with his dark self had actually been more of a battle and not of a struggle. Yeah, he may have been facing himself, but it had been in such a way that Naruto had been able to disassociate himself from that of his darker half. This recent issue had not been a battle, it had been a struggle against his own feelings. The thoughts and emotions he had been trying to deal with had nothing to do with the dark side of himself that he had fought at the Water Fall of Truth, and everything to do with his own inner turmoil. It had been hard, one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Perhaps that was because Naruto was not used to dealing with his emotions and feelings, preferring to shove them to the back of his mind and locked them up in a vault tighter than the seal that had held Kurama had been. With them now being forced out, no doubt due to the bond he had with his Sekirei, Naruto was being forced to deal with them in short order.

For some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to complain, or even regret what was happening. It was just another way the bond was changing him, he guessed. Whether that change had something to do with his own emotions being pulled from the depths of his mind where he had hidden them, or the emotions of his Sekirei simply subsuming his own conscious didn't seem as important now. In fact, Naruto found that the idea of his mind getting subverted by his Sekirei to be almost negligible.

Kami he really was apathetic.

Turning his attention away from his own thoughts, Naruto took a small sip of his tea and looked up at the sky. It wasn't even midday yet, the sun was shining brightly overhead, with only a few sparse sprinkling of cumulus clouds scattered about like fluffy white pieces of cotton candy. The day was quite beautiful, he had to admit. It would have been the perfect day for an outing. Too bad Naruto was far too tired to even think about going out somewhere. It wasn't a physical exhaustion so much as a mental one brought about by the strain of his recent struggles, but he supposed that was neither here nor there.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked a gentle voice that Naruto was coming to recognize almost as well as his Sekireis. He turned his head slightly to see the lavender haired beauty clad in her usual kimono standing behind and slightly to his left, her hands clasped in front of her as she stared at him with a gentle smile that had her eyes crinkling shut. Putting on a small smile of his own, albeit, one that looked a touch too tired for someone who looked so young, Naruto patted the wood paneling beside him.

"Miya-chan," he said, somehow managing to slip into his bright persona with a bit of extra effort. "I was wondering when you would come."

Miya raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, though whether she was truly surprised by them was anyone's guess. "You were expecting me?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"Of course," Naruto replied, playing this game of dancing around each other with her. "Quite a bit has happened today. Ku-chan thinking she saw a ghost, said 'ghost' turning out to be a Sekirei who has been hiding out in your house, said Sekirei reacting to me in a most... erm, perverted manner." The blond paused, taking a moment to realize just how much of an understatement that was. The woman had literally tried to jump him. Shaking his head, he continued. "There is also the fact that Matsu has apparently been peeping on me and all of Maison Izumo via spy cameras she set up in every room." Naruto made a quick note to himself that he needed to do a quick sweep of his room to make sure he got rid of any hidden surveillance cameras that might be there. It didn't matter who it was that was doing the spying, Naruto hated it when people spied on him.

Miya's right eye twitched at the mention of Matsu's spy cameras, no doubt she was annoyed about the perverted Sekirei actually installing spy camera in some of the more private places like the bathhouse. Naruto was almost sure Miya had no problems with the other places Matsu had placed her cameras. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Miya actually encouraged the red head to install cameras in his room. Naruto got the feeling that the landlady, despite all of her gentle and kind nature, was just as bad when it came to peeping on others as Matsu was.

"It is true that a lot has happened," Miya began, her eyes still looking at Naruto as the blond turned his attention back to the courtyard. Perhaps it was in an effort to ease some of the slight tension that had picked up between them since the whole incident had ended, but Miya let loose a soft giggle. "Maison Izumo has certainly become lively since Uzumaki-kun and his flock have come here. It's almost saddening to see such beautiful maidens having their hearts played with like that, and now he's got Matsu-san in his clutches as well." Miya put a hand to her cheek and sighed dramatically. "Oh Takehito, what would you think if you realized that your dear wife was surrounded by such debauchery in her own home?"

Naruto snorted at the woman's jab at his apparent habits as a player who played with the hearts of women. "Considering you had Kagari-san living here before I did and he actually works as a host at a club that women go to in order have a bunch of players lavish attention on them, I don't think you have any right to make fun of me. Now, sit down and drink your tea," he finished, pushing the second cup of tea he had made across so floor so Miya could see it. The lavenderette looked at the cup of steaming liquid, giggled, and made her way over to him. She sat down on his left, with about six inches of space between them. Close enough that she could offer him comfort if needed, but far enough that no one could possible mistake them for anything other than friends.

"My flock, huh?" Naruto said to himself, tasting the word the landlady had used to describe his growing harem. "A wagtail reference I take it?" he asked, turning to look at Miya, who just smiled in return.

"Well, they are a bunch of little birds waiting to spread their wings, after all," she said, hiding her smile by taking a sip of her tea. As the cup left her lips, the smile disappeared and the two descended into an uncomfortable silence. Naruto knew that Miya had not come here to make small talk, she had a reason for coming to him, and if he were to follow the law of common sense, then it most likely had something to do with the recent incident with Matsu. He watched the woman out of the corner of his left eye, noting the way she was struggling. Her posture was a little tense, most people would never notice it, except he wasn't most people. Her eyes mostly focused on the horizon, but would occasionally glance over at him, only for her to worry her lower lip and look away. She wanted to ask him something, obviously, but was probably unsure on how to go about asking. He had already proven to be great at circumventing questions when he didn't want to answer, and she was most likely trying to find a way to stop that from happening.

Well, he wouldn't be the one breaking this silence. Naruto wouldn't stop her from asking her questions, but he also wouldn't help her along with them by bringing whatever it was she wanted to ask up.

"Is it really so bad?" she finally decided to break the silence by asking something. Naruto tilted his head, indicating that she needed to be a little more specific if she wanted him to answer. He knew what she was talking about, of course, but as he said, he had no intention of helping her along when it came to prying into his life. "To have so many of my kind bound to you?" apparently she knew that he wasn't going to be giving her any help either, because she had decided to elaborate with her question.

"You know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you admit to being a Sekirei," Naruto commented.

"Is it? Oh dear," Miya replied with a slight smile. "I do hope I haven't startled you with this information."

Naruto snorted and shook his head. "I think I'll manage," he said dryly.

"You still haven't answered my question," Miya prodded him. It seemed she had managed to pick up on his stalling tactic and was in no mood for it.

"Yes and no," A heavy sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he began deciding on just how he should answer that question. "It's difficult to explain," he began, frowning as he tried to put his reasoning into words. It was more difficult than he had expected. "The idea of being with numerous beautiful women is the dream of every straight male," the blond began with a bit of humor in order to give him time to come up with his answer. "Even though harems are considered taboo in this day and age, it's still the desire of many males."

"Oh my," Miya started as she placed a hand on her cheek and looked away with a slight tremble. "It seems Uzumaki-kun really has given into his lustful urges. Should I be worried about Uzumaki-kun attempting to seduce a poor widow like me?" she asked, her expression taking on a look of worry. Naruto rolled his eyes at the woman for being so dramatic.

"Well if I did make an attempt at seducing you, it probably wouldn't last very long before you gutted me with your sword," Naruto shot back. "So I don't think you need to be worried about anything." From the smile on Miya's face, the blond knew his words may not be quite the joke he had made it out to be. It just reaffirmed his beliefs that he should never try to seduce Miya.

The smile on Miya's face left a moment later and her lips thinned slightly. "Perhaps it would be a good idea for Uzumaki-kun to quit stalling," she said softly, and Naruto sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to allow him to take circumvent her question. However, just because she was adamant that he answer her, didn't mean he was going to come out and reveal everything to her. He had learned the true art of lying without really lying. The key to telling someone a lie was to tell them the truth, or at least part of the truth, enough so that they wouldn't be able to question that what he said was a lie, but not enough that they would know the true secrets he was hiding.

"I've loved before," Naruto started, determining the path he would take with his answer. "Years ago, I once believed just like Musubi did. I loved, and cherished, and formed powerful bonds with people I had grown to consider precious to me. They may have been nothing like the bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi is, I couldn't feel their emotions like I do with Akitsu, Musubi, Kusano, and now Matsu, but still..." Naruto sighed and shook his head. "The bonds I had formed with them were strong, strong enough that if necessary I would have been willing to give my very existence to ensure their happiness."

Miya was looking at him now, both of her eyes open as she studied him with a critical gaze. He had caught her attention, he knew. Naruto had never been this forthcoming with his past, always sticking to strange things he had seen and done during his travels, but never mentioning his origins. There was no question that the woman was very interested in what he had to say.

"Something must have happened," she prompted when Naruto remained silent. "I take it that something happened to them, the people you formed these bonds with?"

"They died," Naruto said, his tone clipped, emotionless as he forced himself to remain clinical. "I was unable to protect them, I wasn't strong enough, wasn't smart enough, I lacked the power to truly do anything to help, and because of my incompetence they were killed." The blond looked down at his hands and upon noticing how they were trembling, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and forced them to stop. "After that I realized that to love another was to invite heartache. The only way to avoid feeling the pain of someone you love leaving you was to not love at all."

"I traveled a lot after that," looking down at his hands and towards the courtyard. "Never staying in one place long enough to form bonds, never allowing myself to grow close to anyone. I would get lonely occasionally," he admitted. "But when that happened I would just find a woman willing to spend the night with me, having a warm body next to me at night seemed to help keep my nightmares at bay." It was a true testament to just how interested Miya was in learning his past that she did not even tease him for giving into his 'lustful urges' as she was wont to do.

"I traveled the world and did my best to never let myself truly feel," he smiled a depreciating smile as he leaned backwards, placing his hands behind his back and using his arms to support himself. "I was alive but I never let myself live. I suppose you could say it was my hope that by deadening my emotions, I would no longer be able to feel pain." He chuckled a bit, but the only emotion it held was bitterness. "Maybe I was trying to fool myself into believing that so long as I ignored my own feelings I could pretend there was nothing wrong with me."

And there it was, Naruto had always known that he was broken, no one could be as apathetic as he truly claimed, no one could do the things he had done, watch the things he had seen and remain sane. It wasn't just the Fourth Great Shinobi War, that had damaged him, probably even irreparably. Yet even then, after Naruto had realized that everything he had loved was gone, he had at least tried to move on, tried to live a life his friends would have been proud of, tried to create the world his sensei had dreamed of, a world of peace. How long had he traveled the world back then? Going from town to town and trying to spread his beliefs about peace and understanding? He didn't really know, there was no way he could truly know. It had happened such a long time ago that he could only remember what happened during those days. Those days where he had finally given up on humanity. When he had realized that no matter what he did, no matter how hard he preached, how many 'miracles' he performed, humans could never learn to understand one another. Peace was a lie. And love would never be strong enough to triumph over everything. How could it when there was so much hatred in the world? So much greed? How could peace ever be achieved when humans were so flawed the refused to understand that everyone was the same? The answer was it couldn't, and Naruto doubted that would ever change.

He could still remember that day so clearly, the day he had given up on his dreams and turned cold. It haunted him in his dreams just as much, perhaps even more, than the horror of losing his precious people during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

The feeling of a hand being placed upon his own snapped the blond's attention back to reality. He looked over to see Miya giving him a gentle, understanding smile. "I can only imagine how much you must have suffered to form such beliefs," she said, turning her body around so she could fully face him. She placed her other hand on his, it was the first form of true physical contact they had, and Naruto had the feeling it was the first time Miya had even touched a male that was not her husband.

"I think I can understand a little," she told him, her smile turning a little sad. "When my husband first died, I had felt so lost. For a long time I was unable to do anything, I didn't know what to think, or what to feel. In many ways a large part of me died with my husband. When I lost him, not only had a part of me died, but I felt overwhelming guilt that he had died while I lived. During those first few months I had wanted nothing more than to die." Miya paused, and Naruto used that time to put his thoughts in perspective.

He was surprised that Miya was willing to tell him this. The blond was sure she had not told this to anybody else, and he was even more sure that she had never intended to tell anybody about this. That begged the question about why she was telling him. Was this her way of returning the favor for him revealing a little more about himself? Or perhaps it was because she felt connected to him due to their mutual experience with the pain of loss? It could have been either of those reasons or any number of other ones. He supposed that, in the end, it didn't quite matter _why _she was telling him. What was important was that she was willing to tell him of all people about her past. A part of him felt honored. That this powerful woman was willing to tell him about her own pain, even though it was probably just as difficult for her as it was for him, told him just how much trust she was willing to place in him. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Maybe it was because he usually tended to stray when other people tried to load their problems on him, maybe he just felt like an intruder despite the fact that she was revealing her past to him willingly. Whatever the case was, Naruto decided that he would put aside his own discomfort in order to listen. Who knows, perhaps she was telling him simply to get this off her chest? Maybe she had kept her own pain hidden for so long that she needed someone to confide in, and if Naruto knew her pain than wasn't he the best option to talk to?

"You must be strong if you managed to overcome that kind of hardship," Naruto commented, and at his words, Miya took her hands off his and turned away, looking out at the sky with a soft smile.

"Not as strong as you might think," she admitted lightly, though with an undercurrent of emotion only someone like Naruto could place. "In fact, if it hadn't been for Seo of all people, I don't think I would have ever been able to recover."

"Seo?" Naruto blinked several times, nonplussed by this new knowledge. "That scruffy Ashikabi you constantly call 'trash' and 'scum'?" Now this was something he had never seen coming. While Miya never outright said it, he was sure the landlady held, if not hatred, then at least extreme dislike for Seo.

Miya giggled at him, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "The very same," she said, calming down as she looked back out at the courtyard. "Despite the fact that I would constantly tell him how I didn't want to see him, he would still come in and check up on me every single day just just to make sure I was ok."

"I see," Naruto said, his own mind working around her words. "I suppose that's why you put up with him even though I can tell you don't really like him all that much." It was clear that neither Miya nor Seo really got along very well, they still remained sort of, somewhat, slightly, cordial with each other. At first, Naruto had just thought it was due to their relationship with Miya's husband, but perhaps there was more to their relationship than anyone else really knew. With that in mind, the way they acted towards each other made sense.

"Well, that, and he happened to be my husbands best friend," Miya said with another giggle. "It would be rude of me to deny helping someone my husband had befriended just because he's scum. Ufufufufu!" As Miya began to giggle some more, Naruto promptly felt a large drop of sweat beginning to form on his head.

Ok, so maybe Miya didn't really like Seo and only just put up with him because of his friendship with Takehito. God women were so weird.

"Let them in," Naruto blinked, then turned to look over at Miya. She wasn't looking at him, but at the sky above them, a gentle smile on her face that crinkled her eyes. "It's clear to me that you are a kindhearted young man who needs help. You have suffered so much that you're denying your own feelings and not giving yourself the chance to heal." She turned and directed her smile at him. "Let them into your heart, and I can guarantee you won't regret doing so."

Naruto stared at the woman for a little while longer, going over her words. She made it sound so easy, like all he had to do was reach out and accept them into his life and everything would be ok. And perhaps to most people it was, were he a normal human who had suffered something as simple as heartbreak then maybe letting himself fall in love would make everything better. If nothing else, the bond that formed between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi would normally be strong enough to heal all wounds of the heart. If things were as simple as he had led Miya to believe.

But things weren't so simple. It wasn't just a matter of giving in and letting himself love the four he had bonded to. They were mortal, and as such any bonds he may form, any love he may find, would eventually disappear from his life. That was his curse. To never be able to form a bond with another person without feeling his heart break when they died, to be unable to fall in love because any love he may find was too fleeting to last more than a hundred years at most, to never be strong enough to protect his precious people, because no matter how much strength or power he had, there were some things that even he could not protect people from.

Time. It all came down to time. Naruto had all the time in the world and no use for it. Everyone else had so little time and wanted more. No matter what happened in this world, time would continue moving, flowing, a never changing concept, an unstoppable force. THE unstoppable force. It was the one thing that no one could defeat, the most powerful force in the entire world, no, the entire universe. Because even the stars were born and killed in time.

"Maybe you're right," Naruto found himself saying, his eyes closing as his own mind warred with itself. Would be so bad, he wondered, if he allowed himself to fall in love? To love and be loved in return? A part of him knew the pain that awaited him at the end of this journey. If he let himself fall in love, allowed these bonds to run their course, he would only get hurt in the end. But wouldn't it be worth it? Even if it was only for a little while, even if this was only a temporary escape, wasn't love something worth fighting for? He wanted to feel love. By the sage did he want to feel love. Naruto didn't even care if it was the bond that had caused these emotions that now stirred within him. It didn't matter if these weren't his thoughts, his feelings. Naruto acknowledged that he wanted to be able to love. To find love, to learn to love, to make new bonds with others. To protect what was most precious to him. Akitsu, Matsu, Musubi, Kusano. Maybe if let them they really could heal his heart. Even if it was only temporary, it would still be nice.

"Of course I'm right," Miya said, her perennial smile back in place. "Really, Uzumaki-kun, you should know better than to question a married woman when it comes matters of the heart." Naruto couldn't help but let out a chuckle at her words. Grinning, he looked over at the woman with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Indeed, how careless of me," he said, chuckling a little more. "I should have realized by now that no man can understand matters of love better than women, especially for one as incredible as Miya-chan." He adopted a thoughtful expression, tapping his right index finger against his chin. "Does that mean I should ask Miya-chan what the best way to get into a woman's heart? Perhaps she would let me practice with her so I can get it right," he finished, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at the woman in question.

Only to receive a smack to the head.

"Owch!"

"Now, now," Miya said pleasantly. "You should know better than to say such things to a widow like me, Uzumaki-kun. I may end up taking offense to them."

"Duly noted," Naruto grimaced as he absently poked the small lump that had begun to form on his head. How did she hit so hard without using any momentum to increase the strength of her strike? He looked at the implement she had whacked him with and frowned. "Just where did you get that ladle? I could of sworn you had not been carrying it when you walked out here." He was of course, referring to the steel ladle the landlady was now tapping against the palm of her open hand like it was some kind of blunt weapon. She couldn't have had it sealed, no one but him knew Fuīnjutsu. Could she have hidden it up one of her sleeves? They were certainly wide enough. Or maybe she had the fabled female pocket dimension. The dimensional pocket all woman are said to possess that allows them to carry thousands of items no matter how large within their clothing. He thought it was a myth that came from anime, but maybe there was more truth to those stories than he thought...

"Perhaps you just need to pay more attention, Uzumaki-kun," Miya replied cheerfully, causing Naruto to huff. As Miya began giggling at him, no doubt taking some kind of innate pleasure at having got one over on him, the loud sound of feet thumping down the halls had the two turning their heads to look at the open entrance to the house just as Uzume burst into view.

"There you are!" She shouted at Naruto, causing the blond to wonder why she was so excited. Even Miya had an eyebrow raised.

"Something up, Uzume?" asked Naruto, looking at the busty star shirted Sekirei curiously.

"Heh, you bet your butt something's up," she started with a grin. "I have something I want to show you." And with that, she walked over, grabbed the blond's arm, and hauled him to his feet. "Now come on! Get off your butt or you might miss it!"

"W-What?" Naruto started in surprise, stumbling as the woman dragged him away from a laughing Miya and into the hallways. "U-Uzume, where the hell are you taking me? What am I going to miss!"

Uzume didn't stop dragging him as she looked back at him with a large grin on her face. "Something you're going to love!"

**XoX**

"Ta da!" Uzume began as she made a dramatic gesture towards Naruto's Sekirei as they all lined up in a row. Grinning, she looked at the blinking blond as he stood in front of his four Sekirei. "So wat'cha think? Pretty nice, huh?" She said, grinning wickedly at the blond as he stood there looking stupified.

"Are those maid outfits?" he asked bluntly. Indeed, all of his Sekirei sans Kusano were wearing what looked to be maid outfits, though perhaps the term 'naughty maids' might be more apt when describing their clothing. The outfits themselves seemed to consist of a brief black dress and an apron. The skirts came up abnormally high on their thighs, enough so that if his Sekirei were to bend over they would give him a panty flashing for the ages. The upper half of the dress was low cut and displayed just enough cleavage to tantalize and tease the senses, and the apron itself only tied around the back near the hips and not at the neck like the usual apron. Instead it was tucked into the front where their cleavage was exposed so that it allowed for the dress to show off his Sekireis assets. The outfits were finished by a collar that wrapped around their necks and fastened with a lacy bow, but were not connected to the rest of the outfit, and a bonnet, the headpiece that came standard with most maid outfits. The dresses themselves were all in different colors. Musubi's was light pink, Akitsu's was an ice blue, and Matsu was wearing a dark red maid outfit. All in all they looked like a hentai's wet dream.

"What do you think, Naruto-sama?" asked Musubi, twirling around to show off her outfit and inadvertently giving the blond a perfect flash of her panties. The blond found himself blinking as he tried to process the marvel before him. He had seen Musubi naked a number of times. Hell, he had slept with her naked and the only reason they had stopped was because of Miya. The sight of Musubi in a maid outfit should not be enough to make fry his brain like this. Still, there was just something about this girl in a skimpy little maid costume...

"They're so nice, aren't they?" she finished her twirl and struck a pose. Kusano seemed to get into the same spirit as Musubi and soon she was striking an identical pose as the excitable Sekirei. Not long after that the two began twirling about in some kind of strange dance.

"Naruto-tan," Matsu's whine brought the blond's attention to the other woman, and Naruto found himself gulping as the red head bent forward so that he could see down her shirt and began hefting her chest with the palm of her hands. "What do you think of my outfit?" she asked with a pout that seemed both childish and seductive.

"Urm... uh... um..." Naruto found himself not only at a loss for words, but was also having difficulty deciding who to look at.

"Ah..." Naruto's head snapped towards his left as Akitsu decided to get in on this charade. She grabbed a hold of his hand and the blond almost had a heart attack when Akitsu, shy, subservient Akitsu, pressed his arm directly into her magnificent cleavage. "Do you like my clothes, Ashikabi-sama?"

"Urk," Naruto felt his head starting to spin as he found himself surrounded by so much feminine flesh that Jiraiya would have died from blood hemorrhaging were he in the blond's place. "You look, uh... I mean, all of you look... well..." Dammit! Why was this so hard? He had wooed thousands of women in his life! Handing out compliments were as easy to him as killing! It was he who made the woman fall into stuttering messes, not the other way around! "You girls look uh..." the blond tried again, only to blink when he realized Akitsu's outfit was slightly different than Matsu's and Musubi's. "Is that a choker around your neck?" he asked, then blinked again. "And why are your hands shackled together?" Naruto didn't even bother commenting on the fact that the ice user was still wearing her normal chains around her neck. By now he was so used to their presence that they just didn't register anymore.

"Ah," Akitsu looked down at her gleaming steel where her hands were shackled together. "I like them," she admitted, and Naruto felt his eye begin to twitch.

"He-heh, cat got your tongue, bro?" asked Uzume, her grin widening even further as it took on a 'cat that ate the canary' quality to it. The blond managed to get over the brain damage he had received by seeing so many magnificent female specimens at once to send the feisty tomboy a glare. So this was the girls plan. Dress up his Sekirei in sexy maid outfits and have them come at him at once in order to leave him a stuttering foolish mess? Well, he couldn't have that. It had been a long time since anyone had something like this over on one Uzumaki Naruto! He wasn't some eighteen year old virgin who had never experienced the pleasures of the flesh! He was the one who gave the women unimaginable pleasure. He would show this girl what happened when you messed with Uzumaki Naruto!

The blond's potential plotting for revenge was halted when something grabbed onto his right pant leg and began pulling. Looking down Naruto saw Kusano looking up at him in what was thankfully not a maid costume. Unlike his other Sekirei, the Green Girl was wearing some kind of bird outfit. It was rounded and puffy, and reminded Naruto of those ridiculous costumes one might expect to see in a school play. Belatedly, the blond recognized the costume as a wagtail. The girl was looking up at him with large green eyes, and Naruto felt familiar old feelings beginning to stir.

"Heh, well don't you just look cute," Naruto grinned as he placed a hand on Kusano's covered head. "So what are you supposed to be? A wagtail?" he asked, his grin widening when the little girl nodded her head up and down and replied with an enthusiastic 'uh huh!'. With the arrival of Kusano and her costume, Naruto felt his own mental fortitude realign. Smiling up at his Sekirei, he said, "all of you look amazing." He felt a moment of satisfaction when Akitsu and Matsu both gained a light flush on their cheeks. He would have been disappointed when all Musubi did was cheer, but considering how naïve that girl was, he supposed he should just be thankful she at least recognized the compliment for what it was. He looked over at Uzume and smirked when he saw the busty tomboy looking at him in shock. That should serve her for thinking she could mess with him.

"So what's the occasion?" asked Naruto as he turned back to look at his Sekirei.

"We're going to be making Naruto-sama lunch!" Musubi crowed, pumping her fist into the air. Once more Kusano decided to get into the act as she too pumped her fist into the air as well.

"Ah," Akitsu nodded slowly as she agreed with Musubi. "Yes," she said.

Naruto blinked several times. "Lunch?" he asked, tilting his head.

"That's right, Naruto-tan," Matsu said, claiming his attention. "We've all decided to show our love for Naruto-tan by making him lunch."

Naruto looked at the red head skeptically. "Can you even cook lunch?" he asked. While he knew Musubi was a decent chef, even if the only thing she could cook was curry, Matsu didn't really look like the type who would know her way around the kitchen. In fact, Naruto doubted Matsu would be able to tell a spatula from a ladle.

"Of course Matsu can cook," Matsu said, puffing her cheeks out as she pouted at him childishly. The red head pointed a finger at him, one hand on her hip and feet spread apart in a stance that looked like something you would see in a manga. "Just you wait Naruto-tan! Matsu will show you! I'll cook the best lunch you've ever had! By the time you finish eating my food you'll be begging me to be your permanent cook! You'll fall so in love with my cooking that you'll lose control and all that pent up lust you possess will break out and you'll ravish me on the kitchen table! Ohohohohohoho!" Having finished with her... speech, Matsu raised a hand to her mouth and began to laugh in a manner that Naruto had seen from female antagonists that were often found in mangas. He promptly sweat dropped, and watched as Matsu began dragging his other Sekirei down the stairs. When they disappeared down the stairs, Naruto sighed, and began making his own way downstairs, a still grinning Uzume following him.

He sincerely hoped that letting those four cook for him wouldn't end in disaster.

**XoX**

"Oh dear. Matsu-san, what happened to you?" asked Miya, one hand raised to her mouth and her eyes open in honest surprise. Naruto looked up from where he was sitting at the table and watching the news to see Matsu, her entire face blackened by soot and ash, and her hair looking burnt. Considering she had been in the kitchen helping Musubi and the others cook, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.

"Ah, well," Matsu looked away as an embarrassed flush appeared on her face. "Matsu was helping out in the kitchen and Matsu think Matsu just turned the heat up on one of the stoves too high. It um, ahem, it sort of blew up in her face." The blush on her face increased to even greater hues, so much so that it stood out in stark contrast to the blackened soot that covered it. "Akitsu-tan and the others told Matsu that she should probably wait out here."

"Oh my, are you alright, Matsu-san?" asked Miya, her voice reflecting her concern. Matsu grimaced a bit, but quickly waved off the woman's worry.

"Matsu's fine, hehe, don't worry about me," she started, quickly making her way over to the table in an effort to make the woman focus on something other than her failure in the kitchen. However, just because she attempted leaving Miya's presence, didn't mean all of her problems had ended.

"Had some trouble in the kitchen, I see," Naruto commented as the red head sat down with a plop, smiling when the woman's cheeks flashed pink. With a groan, Matsu hid her head in between her arms as she set them on the table. Chuckling at the girls misfortune, the blond said, "see, cooking is a lot harder than it looks, isn't it?"

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled as well from her place across from Naruto. She was sprawled out, her legs stretched out under the table and her hands being used for support as she leaned back. The busty Sekirei had been a bit quiet for the most part, likely still dealing with the surprise of having Naruto get over the sight of his Sekirei in her cosplay outfits. "Matu's not really the type of person you would expect to see in a kitchen.

"Ugh, not Uzume-tan too," Matsu groaned, her voice muffled by her arms. "Alright, fine, so Matsu don't have any talent at cooking. Are you happy?" she asked, sounding miffed that she was actually admitting she couldn't cook.

Naruto chuckled some more. "Well, I wouldn't say I'm happy," he stated with a small smile. Setting the elbow of his left hand on the table, the blond leaned forward and propped his cheek on the butt of his hand. "But I am glad you realized that cooking is a tad more difficult then it looks." It took a lot of hard work to learn how to properly cook. When Naruto had first started he had been horrible at it, so bad that one time he had actually managed to burn water. However, through perseverance and hard work, he had eventually began learning the ins and outs of working in the kitchen. To be honest, he was actually surprised Musubi knew had to cook so well, even if all she could make was curry.

"Hmph!" Matsu huffed as she sat up, crossed her arms under her bust, and looked away. "If Musubi-tan and Ku-tan can do it, then Matsu should be able to do it too!"

"Ku-chan's probably only being given small tasks," Naruto stated boredly. "And Musubi only knows how to make curry. She probably had someone teach her how to make it and practiced it so often that making it has become second nature to her." He looked over at Matsu and raised an eyebrow. "Can you say you've done the same?"

"Well, no, but still," Matsu pouted at him, her lower lip sticking out in a childish display. Naruto chuckled one more time, before switching gears and deciding to talk about something else.

"So hey, Matsu," he began, making the girl stop pouting and turned her attention back to him. "Just why have you been hiding out in Maison Izumo?" he asked, allowing his curiosity to finally get the better of him now that the incident caused by her reaction had passed. Both Miya and Uzume had been rather adamant in claiming that Matsu didn't exist. He couldn't help but be curious about why they were so intent on keeping the red heads existence a secret.

"Ah, well," Matsu rubbed the back of her head when she began to laugh sheepishly. "You see, when I left MBI I may have gotten into a spot of trouble." She began to blush, and her hands moved away from their current positions to cover her face in a futile attempt to hide it. "No, more like a lot of trouble," she amended almost reluctantly.

"So you're a fugitive?" asked Naruto, only partially surprised by this information. After all, it wasn't like there were that many people Matsu would need to hide from. Off the top of his head, Naruto could only think of one other person besides MBI that Matsu may have needed to hide out from. Izumi Higa, the Ashikabi of the East.

"Mou, you don't have to put it so bluntly," Matsu mumbled with a pout. When Naruto just deadpanned she turned her head to the side. "In the end, I had to come here in order to hide." The blond blinked, and then glanced over at Miya who had now taken a seat at her usual spot at the end of the table in front of the television. When she noticed his gaze, the landlady offered a smile.

"As I said before," she started. "It was my husbands policy to never turn away someone in need."

"Well I can definitely see why Matsu would come here for protection," Naruto said thoughtfully. If the red head was on the run from MBI then the only place she would really be safe was with someone who had enough power that the people at the top would deem obtaining her to not be worth the effort. It said a lot about Miya's power. If Miya's strength was such that MBI was unwilling to go after Matsu for whatever crime she had committed for fear of bringing the landlady's full might on their heads, it meant that either Miya could match the entire might of MBI or it would take far too much effort and resources to capture Matsu. Whatever the case was, it only confirmed to him that Miya was not someone who you wanted to get on the bad side of.

Returning to the matter at hand, Naruto focused on the red head once more. "So just what did you do to make yourself a fugitive from MBI?"

"Ah!" Matsu let out a strangled gasp. She looked at Naruto with slightly wide eyes. "Um, well..." A quick glance over at Miya caused the blond's focus to split, and as he watched the lavenderette shake her head, his eyes narrowed in thought. Now Naruto was curious. It was clear that Matsu had done something monumental if Miya was still intent on keeping it a secret from him. He couldn't help but wonder as to what the red head had done that would warrant so much secrecy.

He would have pondered the question some more, but at that moment, Musubi and the others came out of the kitchen and walked into the room, each of them carrying two large plates piled high with curry.

"Lunch is ready!" Musubi called out as she walked over to the table and set her plates of food down, one in front of Naruto and the other off to his left. She then sat down as well, it was her turn to sit next to him today so she sat directly on his left. The naïve Sekirei gave the blond a beaming smile as she sat down. "I hope you like the food we made for you, Naruto-sama."

Naruto gave the girl an easy smile. "I'm sure I'll love it," he assured her as Kusano put one of her plates in front of a smiling Miya and the other on his right, before sitting down next to him. Akitsu also finished serving Uzume and Matsu, putting a plate down in front of the two before grabbing the one that had been precariously balanced on her head and setting in down in the spot she would be sitting at. When everyone was seated, they began to eat.

"So how is it, Naruto-sama?" asked Musubi as she watched the blond take a bite of the curry. Naruto looked up at the girl, then, as if feeling the eyes of others on him, looked around to see that Akitsu and Kusano were also staring at him very intently. It wasn't so disturbing to see Akitsu doing that, but it was a tad unnerving to see Kusano giving him such an intense look. Still, Naruto managed to keep his composure as he smiled at the girls.

"It's great," he complimented. "You three really are amazing chefs." Akitsu looked over at him, blushed heavily, and then looked down at her place. Musubi had a much more cheerful reaction.

"That's because curries my specialty!" The excitable fist fighter crowed as she pumped her fist in the air. Sitting on the other side of Naruto, Kusano followed suit and pumped her own fist into the air and mimicked the Sekirei she seemed to take after the most.

"My specialty!" She repeated with excitement.

"Oh sure, rub it in why don't you," Matsu muttered to herself, though Naruto hurt it and gave the red head a glance. Rolling his eyes, the blond took another bite of his food. It really was good, he thought with a nostalgic smile. It reminded him a lot of the Curry of Life he'd had back during his mission with Fuzzy Brows, Neji, and Tenten when they had to fight Kurosuki Raiga at the Katabami Mine, only without the fire breathing heat that came with that curry.

"So if you worked for MBI, you must know a lot about the company, huh?" Naruto stated after he finished swallowing a bite of curry.

Matsu looked at Naruto as she swallowed a bite of her own food, and then gave him a proud smile. "MBI's not the only thing I know a lot about," she proclaimed. "After all, as a Sekirei I don't have much fighting potential, but that's because my talents lie in information gathering." At her words Naruto stopped eating, the chopsticks that had been just inches away from his mouth were put down, and he straightened up so he could stare at the woman with a much more calculating gaze.

"Information gathering, you say?" he asked with interest. "You mean like what you did with those spy cameras you have set up around Maison Izumo?"

"I'm not just good with spy cameras, Naruto-tan," Matsu stated, not even noticing the change that had overcome Naruto. In fact, the only person who seemed to notice was the one who always seemed to spot these changes when it came to the young man, and she was watching the blond himself more than she was the byplay going on between the two. The red head continued completely, oblivious to both Naruto's expression and Miya's glance at the blond in question. "My abilities are the power the access and analyze any electronic device on a telepathic level, though I can't control them remotely yet."

"In other words, Matsu-san's power is the ability to peep on anyone, anywhere," Miya stated pleasantly and with a beautiful smile. Her words seemed to cause Matsu to deflate, the red head's posture slumping.

"Miya-tan," Matsu whined childishly. "I thought I told you that's not what it's called. Can't you call it 'Eye of the Electronic Brain'?" she asked piteously, and Naruto got the impression that this was a long standing debate between the two. "It's not just used for peeping," Matsu continued with a childish pout. "I was always able to utilize my abilities to break into many databases, including MBI's."

"Wait," Naruto stood up straighter, his eyes now taking on a sharp quality that only Kusano and Musubi seemed to miss. Akitsu might have too, but that was likely because she simply didn't care. "You're telling me that you can hack into MBI's database?" he asked, his voice holding an intensity that had Uzume looked at him in surprise, and Miya narrowing her eyes.

"Hack?" Musubi blinked, tilting her head at the curious expression. "Is that like discretion?" she asked, tilting her head. Naruto ignored her in favor of staring at Matsu, who seem to be shrinking in on herself at the sight of his potent gaze on her. She nodded, her back hunching even further as Naruto leaned forward.

"So you can gain entry into MBI's database at any time? Whenever you want?" he asked, wanting to confirm that what he had just been told was true.

"Um, well, yeah," Matsu said with a nod, sounding reluctant.

"Matsu, you... you..." as Naruto tried to come up with the appropriate words, Matsu's posture became even more slumped and guarded. It wasn't until the blond's next words came out that her fear was replaced by surprise. "Are the most incredible woman I have ever met!" he crowed.

"E-Eh?" Matsu blinked, her mind trying to replay the blond's words in a form that was understandable, because apparently she was lost. Uzume was gawking at the blond, no doubt due to his outburst, and Miya was staring at him with an expressionless gaze. Once again, the only people who didn't react to his words like normal people were his own Sekirei. Akitsu because she had been staring at him the whole time, except when he looked at her, in which case she would blush and look away. And Musubi and Kusano who merely looked confused.

Another second ticked by before Matsu seemed to realize what Naruto had just said. Her blinking turned into wide eyes and she sat up straighter. "I am?" she asked, no doubt confused by how the blond had just gone from hard and calculating to ecstatic so quickly. Naruto gave her a serious nod.

"Information is power," Naruto stated, speaking from experience. "Matsu, if you can hack into MBI's system at anytime, then that means you can gain any form of information on the Sekirei Plan. Information on all of the Ashikabi, their Sekireis, MBI's goals, their plans, everything." It was easy to see that Naruto was excited, but the others probably had no idea of just how excited he truly was or why. The ability to learn everything he had been lacking knowledge on when it came to the Sekirei Plan. The entire time he had been here, the blond had been flying blind. He knew nothing about the Sekirei or the Sekirei Plan except for the basics, and even then Naruto was sure he was lacking. But now he could learn everything he had wanted to know, all of the information he needed to make more informed decisions, to plan. With the ability to learn everything about the Sekirei Plan and the people involved, Naruto could not only find out just what he had gotten himself into, but also determine the best course of action he could take. In terms of resources, Matsu had just given him the ultimate ace.

And to think he had actually been reluctant to wing her before.

"You know," Uzume began, sounding a little freaked out by how Naruto was acting. "When you put it like that, it sounds really ominous."

Matsu nodded her head as she completely ignored her detractor. Puffing up her chest in self importance, she gave Naruto a large smile as she soaked in his praise. "That's right, Naruto-tan," she said in a self important tone of voice. "There aren't that many brain-type Sekirei like me, so not many other Ashikabi have access to this kind of information." It was clear that she was trying to bump up her own self worth with that information, but Naruto was already impressed enough.

"Oh my, Uzumaki-kun seems awfully excited, doesn't he?" Miya said in a pleasant voice, though when the male in question glanced at her he noticed that she was still studying him intently.

"I've been in Shinto Teito for a total of nine days," Naruto stated. "And in those nine days, I have suddenly found myself bound to three Sekirei, one who was being chased by two girls who looked like something out of an S&M store that could shoot lightning out of their hands; another who was apparently 'scrapped' and somehow managed to escape from the labs they kept her in, and a little girl who has the power to increase the rate of plant growth so much that in only a day, she managed to turn the Arboretum into a complete jungle. Ever since I first got here, I've been flying by the seat of my pants, completely blind and unable to do anything more than react. The amount of rookie mistakes I've made has been ridiculous and could have been easily avoided if I'd had the necessary information at the time." He kept his eyes on Miya, not flinching as he stared at the woman. "I'm sure you can understand why I'm so excited."

Miya seemed to take in his words with a casual ease. Her posture relaxed, as did her intent studying of him. "Yes," she admitted with a nod. "I suppose I can understand that."

"Wait," said Uzume, drawing attention to herself. "Do you mean to say that you don't know what the Sekirei Plan is?" she asked curiously.

"Beyond what the president of MBI told me, no," Naruto admitted. "The only thing I know is that the Sekirei Plan is some kind of battle royal where Sekirei are released into the city, have to find their Ashikabi, and then have to fight until only one Sekirei is left standing. Then that Sekirei gets some kind of prize or something." Here the blond snorted. "And Minaka wasn't very forthcoming in telling me what that prize was. Just mentioning some garbage about descending to the higher skies above and bringing about a New Age of the Gods."

Matsu adjusted her glasses as she looked at Naruto a bit more intently, seemingly reevaluating her opinions of him. "So you managed to accomplish all of this, winging three Sekirei, rescuing Kusano, and winging a scrapped number without a single clue as to what you were doing?"

"Pretty much," Naruto admitted with a shrug.

"That's... actually pretty impressive," Matsu admitted. "I knew you had only been in the city for nine days, but I hadn't realized you had been working with so little information. Didn't your Sekirei tell you more about the Sekirei Plan? They should have at some point."

"Matsu, look at my other Sekirei," Naruto said, gesturing to Musubi, who was tilting her head from side to side and had a near permanent expression of confusion on her face; Kusano, who seemed to have grown bored with the conversation and was now playing with her food, making 'thrumming' noises as she moved her spoon around her plate; and Akitsu, who blushed the moment Naruto looked at her and went back to staring at her plate.

"I see your point," Matsu muttered as she realized that none of the other Sekirei were in any position to actually tell him about the Sekirei Plan. Musubi knew nothing more than Minaka had told him, Akitsu was a scrapped number and therefore was not likely to have been told anything, and Kusano was a child who wasn't even supposed to have been released for another couple of months. None of them would have been able to give him any of the information he wanted.

"Right," Naruto said with a nod before he took a large bite out of his curry. Hm, maybe he should remake the Curry of Life restaurant and use Musubi's curry as the main recipe... shaking his head, he refocused on his original topic, pointing his chopsticks at Matsu. "So, as soon as lunch is over you and I are going to have our first strategy session."

"Right!" If Matsu's smile had been capable of getting any wider, Naruto was sure it would have ripped her face in half.

**XoX**

"You know, when you said that you wanted to hold a strategy session," Matsu complained with a childish whine. "I had assumed it was going to be just the two of us," she pouted and glared at those she seemed to consider intruders into her private time with her Ashikabi. Naruto tilted his head at the brain-type Sekirei, before looking over at the other occupants in the room. Akitsu was sitting slightly behind him and to his left, and laying across the ground with her feet kicking in the air as she drew on a piece of paper with a set of crayons was Kusano. He had also invited Musubi, but the fist fighter had wanted to spar with Miya instead. Naruto figured that was for the best, no doubt the girl would have been too restless to sit still while Matsu started giving him the information he wanted.

It was only an hour after lunch that Naruto found himself in Matsu's room, watching as she scuttled about on all fours like some kind of overgrown crab. Occasionally she would plop down in front of a specific keyboard and begin typing away at speeds that would put most jonin's ability to make handseals to shame. As she worked the keyboard over with what were obviously expert hands, several select pieces of data would appear on each screen. Naruto saw maps of Shinto Teito, long steams of code, images, video feed, and just about every form of data he could think of. While most people would not have been very impressed by watching someone type away at a keyboard, Naruto, being someone who had been forced to learn about computers and everything involved out of necessity, found himself impressed.

"Consider them my insurance policy for keeping you in line," Naruto said easily. The red head had already proven herself to be a complete pervert, he was sure that if they were left alone she would try something. For the moment, he needed her focused on nothing but delivering all of the information she had on the Sekirei Plan. "I need information on this Sekirei Plan, and don't have time for us to get up to anything Miya-chan might consider illicit."

Matsu giggled a little bit. "I still can't believe you actually call her that," she told him in between giggles. "Then again, I think I'm even more surprised that she actually let's you call her that." When Naruto shrugged, but didn't respond verbally, Matsu seemed to realize he was being quite serious and stopped giggling, her face taking on a bit more of a serious quality to it. "So what do you want to know?" she asked, turning fully to face him, the light from her monitors gently silhouetting her form in the low lit room.

"Let's start with the basics first," Naruto said, his eyes narrowing. "Just what are Sekirei?"

"What are Sekirei?" Matsu blinked, nonplussed. "Do you mean to tell me you don't even know what a Sekirei is?" she asked incredulously. She looked like she had just been knocked for a loop, the red head was probably appalled that he didn't even know something so basic.

"As I said, the only thing I know is that a Sekirei are some kind of superhumans who are released into the city by MBI to meet their Ashikabi, who is like their mate, or life partner, and then battle in accordance with the Sekirei Plan," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "You need to remember that the Sekirei I bonded to before winging you don't actually know much about the Sekirei Plan." He could have asked Uzume or Miya of course, maybe even Kagari, about the Sekirei Plan, but none of those options sounded appealing to him. Uzume wasn't his Sekirei, and therefore there was a good chance they would eventually become enemies. Why would she tell him something that could potentially endanger her Ashikabi? Miya probably knew a lot about the Sekirei Plan, her husband was the lead geneticist that was responsible for the adjustments of Sekirei before he died, and Miya herself was the most powerful creature he had met since Uchiha Madara. But she seemed determined to keep her origins a secret, and had only admitted to being a Sekirei a today. As for Kagari, well, aside from the fact that the man was a ghost most of the time, Naruto had begun feeling uneasy in the fire users presence due to... extenuating circumstances. So none of those options were viable as far as he was concerned.

"Right," Matsu grimaced, seeming to realize just how bad his lack of information truly was. "Well, to start, we Sekirei aren't human," she said. Naruto's blink was the only sign of his confusion. "We're not from Earth. We came from another planet far beyond this solar system, and our spaceship crash landed here where it sunk into the ocean for a thousand years and was only unearthed due to a large earthquake causing an island to rise from the sea with our ship around twenty years ago."

Naruto leaned back as he was just hit by this new piece of information. "You mean to say that Sekirei aren't superhuman's manufactured by MBI threw some kind of genetic manipulation, but are in actuality a race of aliens that Minaka found when the land your ship crashed on was raised from the ocean?" he asked, his voice sounding shocked.

"Well, yeah," Matsu said, looking at the blond strangely. "You didn't actually think we were humans, did you?"

"To be honest, yes," Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I was under the impression that you were all just humans that MBI had kidnapped and experimented on in order to try and create some kind of super soldiers, and that the Sekirei Plan was more or less a testing ground to see how much combat potential each type of Sekirei had."

Matsu looked at him for a second, before shaking her head and sighing. "You are so lucky incredibly lucky that I reacted to you when I did, even more so that you managed to make it so far into the Sekirei Plan on so little information." She smiled at him. "Guess it's a good thing I'm your Sekirei now, huh?"

"Yes," Naruto agreed with a nod. "A very good thing." Matsu's cheeks actually went slightly red from his agreeing with her, probably having not meant her words to be anything more than a joke. Not that Naruto was paying as much attention to her reaction as he thought about what she had told him.

Sekirei's were not human, they were aliens who had crash landed on Earth around a thousand years ago. While at first it seemed to be unreal bordering on ridiculous, the more Naruto thought about it the more it made sense. The only thing that had Naruto doubting her words was that he had not heard about any spaceship crashing into earth a thousand years ago. However, that could easily be explained away by him not being on this side of the world when it happened. Back then, there was no way to send large scale information from one side of the world to the other like there is these days. And most countries on the Eastern side of the world had taken a very isolationist stance during that time. To top it off, Naruto did not have the network he did now back then. In which case, there would have been no way for him to know about this incident.

A thousand years ago... Naruto sighed as he tried to remember what he had been doing back then. It was hard, by that point in time he had pretty much been completely lost to his own darkness, moving from one country to another as life passed him by in a blur.

Shaking his head, Naruto dispelled his thoughts and looked at Matsu. "Ok so," he straightened a bit and went over the information one more time. "Sekirei are an alien race whose ship crash landed in the ocean, which rose up due to an earthquake twenty years ago," he frowned. "I actually heard something about that when I was in Europe. Something about large scale shifting of the tectonic plates raising an island that had ruins on it. There had been some rumors at one point that the ruins had been the lost city of Atlantis." Which was just ridiculous of course, because Atlantis wasn't a lost city that had sunk into the ocean. It had simply become a crater when Naruto destroyed it. "I remember hearing about a joint military force of several unaffiliated nations consisting of three attack wave formations including ground forces, air forces, and ship forces had gone there to investigate the sight and were lost during transit," he looked at Matsu with slightly narrowed eyes. "Though I'm guessing it would be more accurate to say they were destroyed."

"Yes, that's right," Matsu said, and it was now her turn to give him a contemplative look. "I'm surprised you know so much about that. MBI had done everything it could to cover that entire incident up, including going so far as to erase the islands existence from every map and satellite so that no one would be able to find it."

Naruto shrugged and gave her a mysterious smile. "Didn't you know, I'm a wanderer. As someone who's traveled the world, I'm very good at keeping my ears to the ground."

Matsu looked at him for a moment, then smiled. "It seems that Naruto-tan is a very mysterious person," she told him, adjusting her glasses.

"So I've been told," Naruto replied with a pleasant smile. It left him a moment later as he focused back on his objectives. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Minaka was the one who first uncovered the island, yes?"

"That's right, Hiroto Minaka was one of two students, the other being a female named Sahashi Takami, arrived to investigate," Matsu began to once more go into her explanation. As she did, her fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up an image of the island they were discussing onto the screen in the very center on the bottom row. The island looked like nothing more than a large spiral outcropping of rocks. "That's how it all began," she said ominously. "What would later become the Sekirei Plan had it's beginnings on that day."

"They dubbed the sight 'Kamikura Island'," Matsu continued. "And discovered what appeared to be ruins, but upon closer inspection realized it was an enormous spacecraft of some sort. Inside they discovered a veritable treasure trove of advanced technology. Of the two who discovered the island, the male was an eccentric who was dubbed a super genius and the brightest mind of the University." Naruto snorted at her description of the man. From what he had seen, eccentric didn't even begin to describe the amount of crazy Minaka possessed.

"That makes a lot more sense than genetically enhanced humans," Naruto admitted to her. "It also explains how MBI was formed. I'm guessing that Minaka managed to reverse engineer the technology he discovered inside of the spaceship and sell it piecemeal in order to build his company." It would certainly explain how MBI had managed to form so quickly, twenties years is a very short time for a company to get itself off the ground, after all, much less for it to begin the leading corporation when it comes to cutting edge technology.

"That's right," Matsu said with a smile, she seemed proud that Naruto was able to come to the correct conclusion without her outright telling him. If he had her pinned right, Matsu admired intelligence above all else. Except maybe perversion. "But he found more than just advanced alien technology," the red head continued. "Within that ship he found one hundred and eight life forms."

"And by life forms, you're talking about Sekirei," Naruto stated. It was not a question.

"Yes, that's right," Matsu replied, adjusting her glasses as she continued speaking. "There were one hundred and eight Sekireis, one was in an adult form, eight were fetuses, and the other ninety nine were found in a fertilized egg stage."

"I see," Naruto hummed. "I'm guessing that this holds some kind of significance." He looked at Matsu and narrowed his eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the nine Sekirei who were in the embryonic stage are inherently more powerful than the ninety nine that were in their fertilized egg stage. The adjustments," he said, his eyes narrowing further into a pair of slits. "The first nine Sekirei to be released were given more power than the others, likely due to this whole process of adjusting Sekirei being completely new to those who did the adjusting. They didn't know what to do, so those nine were given more power, and a few were even given the title of scrapped number because those who did the adjusting didn't necessarily know what they were doing and ended up making a mistake in the adjustment phase."

"Yes, yes! That's it exactly, Naruto-tan!" Matsu practically crowed in excitement. She seemed to really enjoy the fact that Naruto was so capable of putting things into perspective even when he didn't have all the necessary information. "The single digits are all far more powerful than those who were adjusted later on. Each Sekirei from numbers one through nine are supposedly so powerful that they are capable of taking on anyone of the higher numbers even when they don't have an Ashikabi and the other Sekirei does."

"Except for you, right?" Naruto said. "Because you're not a fighting type but a brain-type."

"Yep!" Matsu replied cheerfully, not at all bothered about admitting she couldn't fight. "Now, those single numbers have specs that are a bit naughtier than the ones that the others have," she said, readjusting her glasses as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Ah," Naruto and Matsu paused in their conversation in order to turn to Akitsu. The snow woman looked down at herself, and they both got the impression she was staring at her chest. "I'm naughty," she said, her voice sounding embarrassed and a light blush on her pale cheeks. Naruto shook his head and reached over to pat Akitsu on the leg. She looked up at the blond to see him smiling at her, then promptly looked away with another blush. Interlude over, Naruto turned to look at Matsu and renew their conversation.

"Ok, so the first nine Sekirei have more power than the Sekirei that were found as fertilized eggs," Naruto started. "The adjustment process was probably refined as time went on and adjustments not only became easier, but with the ninety nine in an egg state, they not only had more time to adjust their bodies but were likely able to make more adjustments due to the Sekirei in an egg state being more malleable and able to take to the adjustments easier."

"You're right on the money, Naruto-tan," Matsu told him with a smile.

"And you were one of the first, weren't you?" Naruto asked, but continued before she could answer him. "Sekirei number zero two, Matsu, which would make you the second Sekirei to wake up."

"Correct again," Matsu said, and Naruto nodded as he let this new information give him the answer to another question he had but would not ask. If there were one hundred and eight Sekirei, and eight of them were embryos and ninety nine were eggs, then the adult must be Miya, there was no other explanation for that woman's power. If there was another Sekirei who had even half of the power his landlady did, they would be easily capable of defeating most of the kage from his time on pure power alone.

It a scary thought, the first nine Sekirei were the most powerful, yet Musubi, whose number was eighty eight had enough raw chakra, or whatever power Sekirei had, to match up with the Sandaime Raikage. She may not have the techniques, and she may not have the experience, but in terms of raw power she was a match for the most powerful Raikage to ever live. If Musubi, a lower number Sekirei, could match the power of such a fearsome shinobi, then how powerful were the single numbers?

"I remember you and Miya-chan mentioning that her husband was the lead geneticist in charge of the Sekirei Plan," Naruto stated, letting his curiosity guide him away from the real subject for a moment. "Can I take that to mean he was the one who did most of the adjusting on the single numbers?"

"Yep, he was the one who adjusted me and many of the first nine," Matsu answered him. "In fact, Asama Takehito was known as the other genius within MBI. He was another unique adult life form, but he wasn't a Sekirei. Well, strictly speaking at least."

"Strictly speaking?" Naruto asked with a furrowed brow. "So then what was he?"

Matsu blinked, it was only as Naruto asked his question that she seemed to realize what she had said. "Gyah! Oh crap! Nothing, I didn't say anything!" Matsu shouted defensively as she began waving her arms in front of her face. "There was absolutely nothing strange or unique about Takehito! Nope! Not at all!"

Naruto frowned, there was obviously something about Miya's husband that Miya herself didn't want others to know. The fact that Matsu was so afraid to tell him meant that either she had been sworn to secrecy and just respected Miya that much that she wouldn't tell him, or Miya was spying on them even now.

And she teased Matsu for peeping.

Thinking on the matter of Takehito, Naruto supposed it was possible that he was a human who had made several adjustments to himself in order to give himself a more 'Sekirei-like quality'. Matsu had told him there were only one hundred and eight Sekirei in the spaceship, and only one of them was an adult. She had called Takehito a 'unique adult life form', and if Naruto's theory of Miya being number zero one were correct, then that meant Takehito could not be a Sekirei. After a little more thought, he decided to leave the matter of Takehito unresolved for now. While it was interesting, it wasn't something he needed to know at the moment.

"Ok, so I think I understand enough about Sekirei in general for the moment," Naruto interrupted Matsu's blabbering. "So why don't you give me a review of the history of the Sekirei Plan before MBI truly got started." His blue eyes narrowed as he thought about the first thing he wanted to know. "You can start by telling me about the army that was wiped out."

At his words, Matsu was quick to calm down. Her face became more serious as she looked at him. "That's a difficult subject," she admitted, before continuing. "After the founding of MBI, Hiroto Minaka managed to turn Kamikura Island into his own private land, removing it from the maps and turning it into an extraterritoriality. However, even with it removed from the maps, news of it's existence reached the ears from outside."

"And so an invasion force was sent," Naruto said, nodding his head. That made sense, not only explaining why the force had been sent in the first place, but also why Naruto had never been able to gain anything more than rumors. The entire incident had been placed in a level of secrecy that went above anything that had ever happened in a government before or since. Even the black books containing all of the United States most powerful secrets and shameful skeletons would be considered a minor threat when compared to this. Naruto was sure he could have found out more about the entire situation, of course, he had the resources. But at the time he had been far more interested in keeping his existence a secret, and thus determined that the risk of discovery involved had been too great and decided to ignore the incident like he had done everything else.

"Yes, when news of Kamikura Island's existence reached the outside world, a large force of unknown affiliation was sent to launch an invasion of the island."

"And at the time MBI didn't have an army, did they?" said Naruto with an expression of dawning comprehension. "Is that part of the reason the first nine were so powerful? Because MBI needed them in order to fend off the invasion force?" That would make a lot of sense actually. At the time of the invasion, MBI had been a new and upcoming company, not yet large enough to have formed the private army it had today. If that were the case, then MBI would need a powerful force in order to fend of invasion attempts. By that logic, making sure that the Sekirei were as powerful as possible made a lot of sense.

"Yes and no," Matsu answered, bringing Naruto's attention back to her. "At the time, only the first five had been awakened, and as a result of the invasion a special group was formed. The protectors of the S-plan, the Discipline Squad."

"The S-plan?" said Naruto, blinking.

Matsu closed her eyes and gave him a nod. "That was the original name for the Sekirei Plan. At first, the S-plan was merely created in order to protect Kamikura Island from being invaded and keep the Sekirei still in their embryonic and egg states safe. It was nothing like the Sekirei Plan that Minaka has now created." From the way Matsu's lips had thinned, it was clear she did not approve of what would happen later when the Sekirei Plan was formed, which honestly told him a lot more than she probably realized.

Matsu was the second Sekirei to awaken, meaning she had been on the Discipline Squad and worked directly for MBI during the invasion and was instrumental in repelling the invading forces. She had probably worked with MBI for some time after that, but later, when the S-plan became Minaka's Sekirei Plan she left, most likely sabotaging MBI in some way before her escape. And then she came to Miya, Sekirei number zero one, and the one being that she knew MBI would be too wary of to attack.

This story just kept getting more and more interesting.

"As you obviously already know there were several invasion attempts on the island," Matsu said again, having regained her composure. "But it was the first one that had been the largest scale in terms of both troops and fire power. The Discipline Squad was formed to thwart this attack, and to defend the island at all costs."

"And they did, obviously," Naruto continued where Matsu left off. "After all, the invasion forces failure was the reason those countries tried so hard to cover up their blunder." He snorted. "Of course, they couldn't cover up something like that completely. The amount of lives lost in those three attempts had been catastrophic for the armies that force belonged to, and nearly several thousand families had been notified of their deaths. The military had claimed it was a large scale training accident that involved an explosion at the facility where it happened due to a gas leak. Only problem was they made the mistake of claiming it only happened at one facility. The army that had been sent was unaffiliated because it had been sent by more than one military that had combined in an effort to claim the treasures at Kamikura Island without fighting amongst themselves. It was a rather rookie mistake, but then," the blond chuckled. "Most of the military bigwigs are a bunch of idiots."

As Naruto finished talking he realized that Matsu was gaping at him, one finger pointed in his direction as she did her best impression of a fish.

"What?" he asked, feeling a little unnerved by the way she was gawking at him.

"How... how... how did you know that?" she asked in a strangled voice. "Even I didn't know that much and I specialize in gathering intelligence!"

Naruto sighed as he realized that he had once again given too much information. Sure, Matsu may be his Sekirei, but it probably wasn't a good idea to let her know just how deep his worldwide intelligence network had ingratiated itself into the various governments of the world. He really needed to learn not to monologue his inner thoughts so much since he wasn't alone anymore.

"I told you before, didn't I?" said Naruto, his statement almost sounding like a question. "Information is power. You don't think I just wandered around the world willy nilly, did you? In order to travel as much as I have without people bothering me, I need intelligence, I need information, I need money, resources, and the ability to put all of it to use in such a way that I can come and go from any country I want as I please without people even batting an eyelash."

"But... but you're only eighteen!" Matsu shrieked, causing Naruto to shrug.

"Let's just say it pays to be me and leave it at that, hmm?" Matsu looked unsure about whether or not she should drop the subject like he asked, but Naruto was already moving on by this point. "Now then, tell me about the Sekirei Plan?"

Matsu worried her lower lip for a moment, obviously she was concerned by the amount of information he had on the invasion of Kamikura Island. It was understandable, and perhaps Naruto shouldn't have spoken out loud. Then again, if he was truly going to go through with letting these Sekirei stay with him, they would need to know just what they were getting into. After all, Matsu and the others may be extra terrestrials from another planet, but Naruto was far from an ordinary human.

After a few seconds of silence, Matsu closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, then took off her glasses. She looked older and much more mature than she had with her glasses on. When she opened them her gaze was nothing like the mischievous and childish eyes she had so far possessed. They were the eyes of someone who had seen death, who had caused death, who had experienced war, and knew the way the world truly worked. In short, they were the kind of eyes Naruto would expect from a former member of the Discipline Squad.

"What would you like to know?" asked Matsu, her voice clipped as if she were speaking to a higher ranking officer.

Naruto smiled as he finally got to the crux of what he wanted to learn. "Everything. Tell me everything there is to know about the Sekirei Plan."


	12. Those Who are Cursed by the Gods

**Chapter 11: Those Who are Cursed by the Gods**

**XoX**

_The fire spread out across the entirety of the village, burning all in it's wake. The heat was intense, but it did not burn him, nor did the smoke and ash created by it fill his lungs. He looked across the expanse of the flaming village, silently thankful that there wasn't a soul in sight. He didn't want to watch his people burning._

_It was that dream again. Only this time instead of walking through the village proper, Naruto found himself standing on top of the Hokage Monument. A look to his left revealed the first three faces of the previous Hokage's; Shodai, Nidaime, and Sandaime. On his left was the face of the Godaime, Senju Tsunade, the woman who had been like a mother to him. That meant he was standing on his father's head, if the other Hokage faces weren't enough to give it away than the large spikes that represented his old man's hair were._

"_Why?" At the sound of the voice, Naruto turned around to find himself staring at the same man he had seen the last time, his cloak billowing in the intense updraft. He looked just as angry, or perhaps frustrated was a better word, as last time. He glared at Naruto, but the blond had a feeling that the disgust he could see in the man's eyes were not directed at him, but at the fire user himself. "Why does my Ashikabi have to be a man!"_

It was that dream again. The same one he had last night. Naruto felt like groaning as he thought of just what that dream meant. The first time he'd had such a vivid dream it had been because Kusano was reacting to him. Given the great detail and quality of this one, the blond had no doubt that he was having this dream for the same reason he had dreamed of Kusano in the forest. Naruto had been hoping he was wrong, and that if he just ignored the dream, it would go away. Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case.

What were the chances of him having the same dream in a two day time period? Pretty low if you asked him. The blond did not doubt the reason for this dream was due to a Sekirei reacting to him. It was unfortunate, because this particular Sekirei did not seem all that pleased to be reacting to him in the first place. Not that Naruto could blame them, not in the least. Still, if these dreams kept up, then he knew they would be in for a most unpleasant conversation.

As Naruto continued to lay there, his mind and body once more came online, and he could now determine just why he was so warm. Honestly, he wasn't surprised they had all decided to join him, even though one of them should have been sleeping in Miya's room. Despite the fact that he didn't actually need to look down to determine the reason, he did so anyways.

There they were, his Sekirei were all sleeping against him. His left arm was occupied by Musubi. Naruto could not remember if he had wrapped it around her when they had gone to sleep, or done so sometime in the middle of the night, either way she was much closer to him than last time. A feat in and of itself considering just how clingy the excitable Sekirei was. He was also surprised she was able to get so close without her chest getting in the way, considering just how large her bust was. The brunette had burrowed herself directly into his torso, and her chest was literally mashed up against his so tightly they looked like a set of balloons that were about to burst. Unlike the last time, where she had been using Naruto's chest as her pillow, this time her head was resting on his shoulder, it was a wonder the appendage she was using hadn't fallen asleep. If Naruto were honest, she looked quite adorable while sleeping.

And yes, just like last time, Musubi was drooling on his bare skin.

Akitsu was on his other side. While, much like Musubi, his arm had wrapped itself around her sometime during the night, the snow woman was in a much different position than number eighty eight. Because Akitsu was a few centimeters taller than Musubi, she could not use his shoulder as a pillow. Instead her chest was being pushed partly against his shoulder and partly against his chest, while her head was resting within the crook of his neck. Naruto felt himself shiver slightly as the ice user breathed on him, her breath chilly like a cool winter breeze. Despite how cold it was, the feel of her exhales on the bare skin of his neck were not unpleasant.

Unlike the last time Naruto had gone to sleep, Akitsu and Musubi were not the only Sekirei who had chosen to partake in sleeping with him. Matsu had also decided to join in on the festivities. Seeing as how Naruto had run out of limbs to claim, the glasses wearing Sekirei had chosen to sleep on top of him, which would explain why his breathing felt slightly constricted. She was sprawled out directly on top of his torso, lying off on, half off of him as she continued to snooze while using his chest as a pillow. To be honest, the position didn't look that comfortable, and Naruto was not quite sure how she could actually sleep like that. Then again, if she was as dedicated of a hacker as he assumed she was, than Matsu was probably used to sleeping while sitting up, a position that was even more uncomfortable than her current one.

It was the last member that Naruto found to be the most intriguing. Unlike his other three Sekirei, Kusano had not gone to sleep with him last night, but went to bed in Miya's room. He should know, he had tucked her in and read her a story after all. It looked like she had snuck out of the landlady's room some time during the middle of the night in order to sleep with him. Naruto was not quite sure how the little sprite managed to pull such a thing off, surely someone of Miya's caliber would have noticed a little girl sneaking out of her bedroom at night. But then, maybe Miya had let her go so that she could tease him the next morning about corrupting children with his 'lustful urges'. That would be just like her.

Currently, the little blond was sleeping at the foot of his bed, wearing a cute pair of orange pajamas, long sleeved top and bottom, that Naruto had bought for her due to their color (orange is still the color of the gods as far as he is concerned). She was curled up like a cat as she used his legs as a pillow, taking a page from Musubi's book as she drooled on his legs. While her head was resting on him, the rest of her body was on the memory foam mattress of the bed. Naruto found himself very pleased to have decided to go with an actual bed rather than the more traditional futon, and that the bed was rather large, a queen size, otherwise he was sure the girl would be quite uncomfortable since she would have been forced to actually sleep on top of him.

Like always Musubi and Akitsu were wearing their standard choice of sleepwear. Musubi was in her bloomers and was not wearing a bra, as Naruto could easily attest to with the way her nipples were rubbing against him. And Akitsu was wearing one of his shirts, a Star Wars shirt it looked like. And once again, he noticed with more amusement then anything else, she was not wearing any panties. Surprisingly enough, the one that he believed was the most perverted of his... harem, was wearing surprisingly conservative sleepwear. The clothing she had chosen to sleep in was a semi-sheer light pink teddy with thin spaghetti straps going around her shoulders. It was cut to about mid-thigh, an oddly modest length for the red head, and beneath that was a standard set of white bra and panties. It was a touch seduction and could, in some cases be considered risque, but it was far less immodest than what he had originally expected from his newest Sekirei.

For a moment, Naruto wondered what he should do about this situation. It wasn't uncomfortable by any means, quite the opposite in fact, the warmth of his Sekirei surrounding him was almost enough to put them back to sleep. But at the same time, Naruto's mind wasn't very comfortable with the idea of letting his Sekirei get so close. Hadn't he been trying to keep his distance from them? To avoid the pain their death would cause? Naruto was sure he had learned his lesson, but it seemed he was wrong.

"_Let them into your heart, and I can guarantee you won't regret doing so."_

Miya's words from yesterday rang across his mind, causing the blond's previous thoughts to half dead in their tracks, and his eyes to close in contemplation. That's right, he had already made up his mind about that, hadn't he? He had already decided that even if these bonds were a temporary reprieve from his own anguish, they would still be worth forming. If he really was going to go through with this, then he might as well start truly getting used to it.

Letting his stiff body relax, Naruto settled back into the comfortable embrace of his Sekirei. He decided he could stay where he was for a little while longer, at least until the sun started to rise.

**XoX**

It wasn't until the sun began to shine through his window that Naruto decided to get up. Not wanting to wake his Sekirei, the blond made ingenious use of the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique) to replace himself with Musubi, who was the heaviest sleeper of the four. After that it was easy enough for him to get dressed in a pair of dark sweat pants, a sleeveless orange muscle shirt, and the custom made ninja sandals he had made for him in France. After taking one last look at his four Sekirei as they cuddled into each other, a sight which would have made lesser men dying from blood loss, the blond silently slipped out of his room.

It was easy to make his way down the hall without waking anyone, his steps were done in complete silence, a small cushion of chakra being channeled to the bottom of his feet in order to avoid making the floor creak. It was an old trick, one that he had learned from Kakashi before the man had been killed by Tobi. Across the hall, down the stairs, and passed several sets of Shoji screen doors, Naruto eventually found himself standing outside in the courtyard.

He looked around for a moment, for the first time his eyes were judging the place to see if it would be suitable for his own training purposes. The yard was large, definitely large enough for him to practice the basics, which was really all he planned on doing for the moment. It was lacking in a few things, such as training dummies for target practice, and practice dummies for him to hit, but those weren't necessarily needed for what he wanted to do right now. He could always buy them later on as well, if he truly found out he needed them.

There wasn't much else to the yard other than what he saw. The place would only be good for him to practice his taijutsu and perhaps his weapons training, but nothing more than that. Naruto wouldn't be able to practice training in the elements or his Ninjutsu.

That suited him just fine though. Naruto had no intention of practicing Ninjutsu out in the open. With the recent advances in technology, and Minaka already having more knowledge of him than he should. The last thing Naruto wanted was for the man to see him shooting fireballs and wind bullets from his mouth via spy satellite.

Closing his eyes Naruto inhaled a deep breath, and with it's exhale set himself in a stance that was as familiar to him as his own body. Kawazu Kumite, the Frog Kata that had been taught to him by Fukusaku-sama, or Pa, as he was often called by Naruto and the Toads of Mount Myobokuzen. The fighting style itself was one that could only be used by those who had completely mastered Sennin Modō. It was a style derived by the toads in order to utilize the Senjutsu chakra used when in Sennin Modō to it's fullest potential. Thanks to the incredible physical enhancements in speed, strength, stamina, and durability while in Sennin Modō, the sage utilizing the Kawazu Kumite style of taijutsu would be capable of performing incredible feats, which included such things as leaping great distances, shattering sharp materials with nothing more than their bare hands, and lifting objects several times their size and weight.

Perhaps the greatest ability of this style of taijutsu, however, was the ability for the Sage to extend the Senjutsu chakra out of their body and wield it as an extension of their self. When using Kawazu Kumite, the natural energy used by the practitioner to create Senjutsu chakra also encapsulates the user as an aura of natural energy. This aura can act as an extension of their body and cannot be seen by anyone other than those who have trained in senjutsu. By utilizing the aura, the user can extend the range and force of their physical attacks. In other words, strikes that would seemingly or would normally miss will actually make contact with their target. Even one punch from someone utilizing both the Kawazu Kumite and Senjutsu chakra was often a debilitating blow, either crippling or killing an opponent.

At the moment Naruto was not wielding the fabled Senjutsu chakra of Sennin Modō, merely practicing the forms he had been taught by Fukusaku-sama after learning how to properly wield Senjutsu chakra. He didn't need to use Sennin Modō at the moment, merely wishing to regain the skill at which he had been capable of bringing to bear while using the Kawazu Kumite. The fight against Yomi had shown Naruto just how much he had lost due to his inactivity and lack of strong opponents. While he might have more power than he ever did during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, his skills when it came to combat had obviously grown rusty.

It was time to remove that rust.

Though it became clear to Naruto as soon as he started his kata that his skills were indeed rusty from so many thousands of years of disuse, the movements themselves were still familiar. His body was able to easily tell when he was doing something wrong simply by how his stances and movements felt, allowing him to make the appropriate corrections. It was like relearning how to ride a bike after not having done so for a long time, or taking up a sport again after getting back from rehab due to a near debilitating injury. While nowhere near as talented in the style as he once was, the moves were there and it would be much easier for him to relearn the second time around.

He let himself fall into the flow of the style, increasing and decreasing both the pace and power as needed. Naruto didn't use chakra, not for this. He had no need to increase his speed or attack power, he merely needed to re familiarize himself with the style. Once he regained his edge, then he could work on increasing the sharpness of that edge.

An hour into his practice and the blond began to feel comfortable enough in the style that he could let his mind wander. He would know when he was doing something wrong, his body would tell him.

He let his thoughts move over to the strategy session he'd held with Matsu last night. He had learned quite a lot about Sekirei, where they came from, how Hiroto Minaka found them and managed to create MBI in such a short time, the first formation of the Discipline Squad, Takehito, and the S-plan that had been created to protect Kamikura Island during the unaffiliated army invasion. Yes, Naruto had learned quite a bit, and even a bit more than just that.

Unfortunately, Naruto still didn't know a whole lot about Sekirei's in general, beyond the bit he gained last night and what he had already known. For example, he still knew nothing about the bond that Sekirei form with their Ashikabi, not how it was formed, why they formed it, or how it was even possible for two apparently completely separate species to form such a bond in the first place. When he had asked about it, all Matsu had done was give him this blank look as if she had not understood a single word he told her.

Still, at least Naruto did have a bit of a better understanding of Sekireis in general. The physiology of a Sekirei was, in fact, surprisingly similar to a humans. Granted, that much was fairly obvious when looking at them, even Naruto would not be able to tell a Sekirei apart from a human at first glance. However, while Sekirei were very similar to humans they were also vastly different. All Sekirei possessed greater physical abilities than a human did, even when comparing a Sekirei to the shinobi of his era they had greater potential and raw power. Well, for the most part. From what Naruto had seen so far, all Sekirei were above the average jonin when it came to raw power, and a few were above the power of a kage, but not all of them were.

To make things more clear, Matsu was fairly weak power wise, ranking at about what he would expect from someone of Hinata's caliber, even then Matsu wasn't a combat specialist and couldn't gain the raw skill needed to match Hinata. Yomi on the other hand, the Sekirei he had fought, had about the same amount of power that Kakashi had. Before his death Kakashi had been an S-rank ninja, a rank that only a few ever got to. S-rank ninja were those who were strong enough to be considered 'kage level' but were not kage's. In terms of power, Kakashi would have been on the lower end of the totem poll in the kage ranking. He hadn't had that much chakra thanks to his Sharingan, but he had made up for it with his incredible talent and skill. These two were about what Naruto would call average Sekirei, Yomi might have had some power, but it did not match up to some of the other Sekirei he had met.

In comparison Musubi had loads of raw power to her, more so than many of the Sekirei he had met so far. In fact, at the moment, the only Sekirei he knew that had more power than she did was Homura/Kagari, Akitsu, and Miya. She was far above the average jonin in terms of raw power, and with training could become even more powerful. Kagari and Akitsu were even stronger than the fist fighter was, both in terms of power and in terms of skill. Naruto wasn't quite sure where he would place them on the scale when comparing them to the ninja he had fought, but they had more power than the Sandaime Raikage, a frightening thought indeed.

Miya was in a class of her own, Naruto highly doubted there was another Sekirei out there with as much power as her. Which he considered to be a very good thing. The last thing the blond wanted was to end up fighting someone with that much raw power to them, especially if they had the skill to back it up.

However, while Sekirei were far above the power of even the humans of his era, there were a number of similarities besides looks. Their organs, for one. Comparing the human body to the body of a Sekirei would show that the two were identical in every way possible, organs, bone structure, muscles, bodily functions. Sure, the organs were a little tougher, the bones a little denser, and the muscles a little stronger, but the structure was the same. They also had the same requirements necessary in order to keep their bodies functioning at optimum levels; they still needed to eat food, drink water, and breath air. It was all possible for Sekirei to reproduce with an Ashikabi, something that Matsu had been very... enthusiastic about telling him. Naruto was not quite sure that was a good thing, but figured it was definitely something he would need to know for when he and one of his Sekirei got together.

These were the major similarities between a human and a Sekirei. However, there was one part of a Sekirei that no human had that was very important to their physiology. The Sekirei Core. Naruto didn't know much about the core, Matsu wouldn't tell him, all he knew was that the Sekirei Core was tied into the Sekirei Crest on their back, and that a Sekirei who lost their core would cease functioning.

Even though Matsu had not told him much, Naruto had been able to come up with his own theory on just what a Sekirei Core was. Using his own chakra network as a comparison, Naruto was certain that the core was similar in that it was the source of the Sekirei's power. It was through this core that they were able to pull their own inner power out and utilize it to perform the incredible feats of strength and Elemental Manipulation he had seen thus far. He also theorized that it was the core that drew on the power of their Ashikabi when they kissed, and the crest on their back was the symbol they gained when they bonded to their Ashikabi. At least, that's what he had gotten from the explanation. He could be wrong, or he could be missing pieces. In fact, Naruto was certain that his theory was too simple, but he was also positive that he was at least heading in the right direction.

He had also been able to come up with a very basic theory on what made an Ashikabi. The answer was as simple as it was basic. Chakra. All humans had chakra, and it was chakra that a Sekirei drew from their Ashikabi when forming a bond or using their Noritos. Therefore, it stood to reason that chakra had something to do with what made a human an Ashikabi. Of course, Naruto did not quite know how chakra related to the Ashikabi. It could have been something as simple as they had more chakra, to they even had the capability of using it if trained properly. It was a plausible theory, he knew, and it would make sense that there were still a few humans who could use chakra. But he had yet to truly put that theory to the test.

By this point in time the sun had finally risen above the horizon, and Naruto had worked up quite a sweat. His shirt was caked to his body now, and his pants were beginning to rub uncomfortably against him. Small droplets of salty liquid flew off his form with each movement he made, every kick, every punch, every leap, and every maneuver caused tiny speckles of water to fly off him. He must have been working for at least two or three hours, his currently unenhanced muscles were beginning to get sore.

A loud and overjoyed 'SQUEEE!' noise snapped Naruto out of both his thoughts and his movements. Blinking, the blond shinobi turned to see that all of his Sekirei, Miya, and Uzume were all awake and watching him. Akitsu was looking at him with the same blank expression on her face as always, though she did have a slight blush on her cheeks. His littlest Sekirei was looking at him with excitement, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at him while making a 'jiiii!' noise. Uzume was staring at him in surprise, her mouth slightly parted as she blinked at him with a stupid expression on her face. While at first Naruto thought that it might have been Kusano who had spoken, that belief was shoved down the drain when he saw Musubi. The close combat fighter of his group was holding her hands under her chin as she stared at him with stars in her eyes. The girl's shoulders were literally shaking with excitement, and Naruto was worried the poor might get a seizure if she didn't calm down.

Of course, Musubi's spastic movements were not the weirdest action his Sekirei were taking. Matsu topped that, what with the way her glasses gleamed ominously in the morning light, that creepy perverted smile on her face and the pervy old man giggling along with the grasping motions her hands were making.

It was like looking at a female Jiraiya, and that was just all kinds of creepy.

Of course, even Matsu's level of freakyness was not enough to hold his attention for long. Not in the face of the expression that the most powerful being he knew besides himself was giving him. It was Miya's look that caught Naruto's attention the most. She had both of her eyes open, and was studying him like some kind of lab rat that had just done something incredibly surprising. The eyes she possessed were sharp, the look of an extremely skilled warrior as they studied and tried to break down the style she was using. Though it was clear she had a hard time breaking down his taijutsu, not that such a thing surprised him. This style was designed and made specifically for use with Senjutsu chakra, and while it could also be incredibly effective if he enhanced his performance with chakra, alone it didn't look like much.

At least, not to those untrained in combat. While it was clear that Miya was unable to determine how his style worked, equally clear was that she recognized it as deadly. He would have expected nothing less from the first Sekirei to have awakened from hibernation.

Putting on a smile, Naruto decided he had done enough training for now, and walked over to the porch everyone was standing on. "Good morning you guys, erm, girls," he corrected, then blinked when he looked over at Musubi and noticed that the girl was starting to turn red. Had she actually gotten so caught up in her excitement that she had forgotten to breath? "Breath, Musubi-chan," he told her. "Deep breaths, in and out, we don't want you passing out on us."

It was almost amusing to watch as the girl did just as suggested, taking a huge gulp of air, before releasing it in a large gust, then repeating. Still, it didn't take the girl long to recover from her lack of oxygen, and when she did the girl practically burst. "Naruto-sama!" she shouted as she ran directly in front of him with sparkles in her eyes. "That was amazing, you have to spar with me!"

Naruto gave the girl an easy grin and began chuckling a little. Really, this girl was like an odd combination between himself and Rock Lee when they were younger. He was only glad this girl had yet to come up with her own catch word or start wearing green spandex and spouting on about the flames of youth. Granted, she seemed to espouse love, but that was nowhere near as bad as hearing two grown men shouting about their 'youth' at the top of their lungs and sunset genjutsu's.

Gotta be thankful for the little things in life.

"Maybe when I get back into fighting shape," Naruto suggested, wincing a bit as he shifted his weight from his left foot onto his right. Yep, he was definitely out of shape. No doubt it was only thanks to his cursed chakra that his body retained it's muscles and hadn't atrophied. Still though, even if his muscles hadn't diminished in the slightest, it was clear they were no longer used to being used in such a manner. It would take quite a bit of work in order for them to regain the dexterity they had in the past.

"Oh man, just look at those hard, muscles on that hot, sweaty body," Matsu giggled perversely as her hands came up and her fingers began wiggling. It was an action he had seen Jiraiya do many times, and one that, while disturbing, Naruto did his best to ignore. "Fuhuhuhu, Matsu's really looking forward to doing some research with Naruto-tan!"

Uzume glanced at the red head next to her, before shaking her head and turning a grin towards Naruto. "He-heh, that was quite the show you put on bro," she told him. "Though it looked a little odd to me," the girl admitted with a tilt of her head.

Naruto shrugged. "I imagine it would probably look odd to most people. That style of fighting is a lot different than any other form you will see in this world, and seeing as I'm the only practitioner of the style now..."

"It is a most unusual style," Miya chimed in as she continued to look at him. "Is it self taught?"

"No," Naruto said, shaking his head as his mind went back to the past. "That style was taught to me by my one of my senseis a number of years ago. Fukusaku-sama was a very powerful... man, and he was so in tune with nature that he created this style in an effort to become one with it." It was both a carefully crafted lie, as well as the truth. Fukusaku-sama had created the style and he was powerful, however, he was not human and the style had been created to supplement his abilities with Senjutsu chakra, not the other way around. Naruto wasn't quite ready to tell anyone the truth about his past, and he doubted he would be for some time to come.

"He must have been very important to Uzumaki-kun, from the way you talk about him," Miya noted, her critical gaze leaving her for one of her gentle smiles.

"He was," Naruto admitted, letting his own fond memories of his time on Mount Myoboku training with the toads. He hadn't gone back there since Gamakichi had died. Shaking his head, the blond looked over at Miya and continued speaking. "Fukusaku-sama was one of the strongest people I knew, which is saying something cuz he was really old, as in, really, REALLY old." As Miya raised a hand to her mouth and began to giggle, and Uzume started snickering, Naruto glanced over at Musubi to see that the girl was looking kind of depressed, her shoulders slumped as she looked down at the ground. No doubt sad that he didn't want to spar with her.

"Ne, Musubi-chan," he said, causing the girl to look up. "How about you give me a month to get back into shape, and then we can have our spar?" he offered absently calculating how long it would take his body to regain it's fighters edge. Initially it hadn't taken very long for him to learn the Kawazu Kumite, about three days all total. However, that wasn't the only skill Naruto needed to work on. There were a number of other skills, including the fighting style he normally used that had been developed by him and Jiraiya that he would need to relearn, not including the modifications he had made to the style during the war. All told he felt it would take a month for his body to regain at least some of the edge he had lost.

"Okay!" Musubi said with a bright smile, before pumping her fist in the air and crowing triumphantly. "I can't wait for my spar with you, Naruto-sama!" she told him eagerly, her eyes shining at the prospect of a spar with her Ashikabi. Naruto sighed, before putting on a resigned smile.

"I'm sure you can't," he told her.

**XoX**

Naruto smiled happily as he put the finishing touches on the breakfast he was making, a more traditional Japanese breakfast of steamed rice, Miso soup with Tofu, chopped green onions, wakame seaweed and fishcakes, Nato that had been lightly seasoned with soy sauce, Nori dipped in soy sauce and rolled up with some rice, Tamagoyaki, and broiled salted salmon. It was a fairly large breakfast, enough to feed a small army of Akamichi. Considering how much his Sekirei ate and the fact that he was starving from his work out just an hour earlier, Naruto predicted this food would be gone within the hour.

"Wanna help me bring the dishes to the table, Ku?" asked Naruto as he looked down at the tiny blond that had requested – read, demanded – to help him make breakfast. He hadn't let the small Sekirei do much, namely because she was not only so small but also because she was too young to use some of the equipment responsibly. The last thing he needed was for the girl to cut herself using one of the knifes to peal or chop vegetables.

That didn't mean he didn't let the girl do anything to help. Naruto had managed to find a stool for the girl to use so she could wash the vegetables that he would cut. Thankfully that seemed to be enough for the little sprite, ever since the incident with Matsu, the blond had become quite fearful of the plant Sekireis teeth. The girl had a mean set of molars.

Kusano looked up at him with a beaming smile that only she and Musubi, the childish of his harem, could ever hope to produce, and nodded her head. "Kay!" she said, grabbing the plate of Nori that Naruto offered her. As the little girl began walking towards the living room, Naruto grabbed the tray with the bowls of Miso soup on them and looked over at the other Sekirei in the room with him.

As always Akitsu acted as his silent shadow, standing behind him like she often did. By now he had grown quite used to the ice users strange ways, he had even started finding her presence somewhat comforting. "Would you mind taking setting these on the table, Akitsu-chan?" he asked, holding out the tray of soup to her.

"Ah," Akitsu nodded and just as slowly held her hands out to take the tray of soup. "Yes," she said, gently holding onto the tray as she turned around and began her slow trek to the living room. Deciding he could take the rest in one go, Naruto grabbed the rest of the food himself, using his incredible sense of balance as well as a small application of chakra to keep everything from falling as he began following after the pair.

He probably looked ridiculous, Naruto thought with a snort, balancing six empty plates in his left hand and six empty rice bowls stacked on top of those, the tray of broiled salmon in his right, six bowls of Miso soup along his left arm with the smaller bowls of Norito on each finger, and a large bowl of steamed rice on his head. As he walked into the living room where Kusano had just put her the plate of food she had in the center of the table, Uzume turned to look at him and covered her mouth to hold in her laughter. It seemed that she thought he looked funny as well.

"See something that amuses you, Uzume?" asked Naruto as he began setting down the plates and dishes in his hands. By the time he had fully entered the room, Akitsu had just placed her tray on the table and was now in the process of setting them at the places where the others would eat. Like always, her process was slow, consisting of her staring at the dish for a few seconds, before deciding which spot the dish would be set and placing it there most carefully.

"Not at all," Uzume said with a grin, her shoulders shaking lightly with mirth. "I just couldn't help but notice how good you are at doing things around the house; cooking, cleaning, setting the table, you can even bring in all of the dishes while balancing them as you walk." She ticked off all of his accomplishments on her fingers. "You'd make a great house husband."

"Well gee, thanks for that," Naruto replied with slight sarcasm as he put her plate in front of her. "It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy to know that you think that."

"Just trying to keep your spirits up," Uzume replied with a smile.

The blond rolled his eyes before deciding that he wasn't going to let the star wearing Sekirei get the last laugh. "Just remember, Uzume," he said as he stood back up and looked down at her with a bright smile. "You shouldn't tease the person whose making your food. You never know what they may do to it the next time they cook for you."

"E-Eh!" Uzume blinked as Naruto began walking away. "W-Wait! You don't mean that do you, bro? I was only kidding!" She shouted after him, causing Naruto to chuckle as he walked out towards the courtyard where the sounds of intense sparring could be heard. That girl was a thousand years too soon to beat him when it came to pranks and word games of any kind. Oh how he had missed messing with others.

As Naruto stepped onto the veranda overlooking the courtyard, Naruto eyed the spar that was now taking place there. After finishing his katas, Musubi and Miya had taken up the space for their own training while he made breakfast. Though it would be much more accurate to say that Miya was training Musubi, the lavenderette didn't even look like she was trying as she fought the enthusiastic fist fighter.

Naruto took a second to watch the pair battling it out. It was impressive to see the difference in Musubi's fighting since the last time he had watched her. While still nowhere close to Miya's level of talent, the girl was improving by leaps and bounds. He watched as they went through a particular sequence they must have been practicing for some time.

With only a single step, Miya leapt into the air, her still sheathed sword held above her head. Down below Musubi's feet shifted into a more solid stance and her hands came up in preparation for her next move. Naruto could easily see what they were trying to do, just as easily as he could see that Musubi wouldn't be able to catch the blade like she was attempting. She may have the speed, but she just didn't have the reflexes yet to time her reactions so precisely. Much like Naruto had predicted, Miya came down and swung her blade while Musubi raised her hands and clapped them together. The hands missed the sheathed weapon by a good margin, several centimeters at least, and continued on to smack the girl on the head.

"Ouch!" Musubi yelped as her hands went to tenderly hold her head, where Naruto could see a large lump beginning to grow on it. As she rubbed her head Miya gave the excitable Sekirei a gentle smile, moving her sheathed blade back into it's usual position of being held at her side.

"Why don't we stop for now and take a break?" she suggested, her eyes moving over to where Naruto was still watching them. "It looks like Uzumaki-kun has finished making breakfast anyways."

"Ah! Naruto-sama!" Musubi turned to face him, her hands moving until they were clasped in front of her in such a way that they pushed her breasts up. "Hello!" Naruto shook his head, if it weren't for the fact that he knew the girl so well, he would have been sure she was doing that on purpose. However, the fist-type was far too naïve to actually do something like pushing her chest together to entice him on purpose, that was more something he would expect from Matsu.

"Musubi-chan, Miya-chan," he greeted the pair, before focusing the majority of his attention on his own Sekirei. Aside from the lump on her head, which had now grown to the size of a goose egg, she had several scratches and bruises from where she had tripped or been hit. Her clothes had also gotten filthy, with numerous scuff marks all over them and large stains of sweat that caked the clothing to her body. "It looks like our very capable landlady has been working you hard. After breakfast you're going to have to take a bath."

"Kay!" Musubi replied to the blond, before turning to Miya and giving the woman a bow. "Thank you very much for the spar," she said with a bright smile. "I look forward to our next one!"

Miya raised her free hand to her mouth and giggled. "I as well," she replied gracefully, then she began moving. "Now come on, it's time for breakfast. I'll draw you a bath after wards."

"Kay!"

Naruto must have been watching Musubi's and Miya's spar for longer than he had realized, by the time he and the two females had entered the living room, Matsu was already there, sitting next to Uzume at the table with her hands in her lap. Uzume and Kusano must have gotten bored waiting for them, because the two were currently making faces at each other. Shaking his head, the blond walked further into the room with Miya and Musubi following behind him.

"Ara, ara," Miya started with a smile on her face as she watched the Sekiei n the star shirt grab her cheeks and stretch them out while sticking out her tongue. "It looks like you two are having fun today," she said, sitting down at her place at the table.

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "I was just trying to keep Ku from eating the food. You know, cuz I'm responsible like that." It was apparent that while Kusano probably didn't know what responsible meant, she had clearly understood the small jab against her attempts at eating the food. Her face took on a very childish pout as she glared at the busty young woman, a loud 'fuuugh!' sound escaping her throat.

"The day Uzume-chan actually starts acting responsible is the day pigs will finally learn how to fly," Naruto stated as he sat down next to Akitsu and Kusano. Almost as soon as he did, the slight rattling of Akitsu's chains greeted him as she shifted in her seat so she could continue watching him. Over on the other side of the table, Uzume winced playfully at the jab to her usual immaturity.

"Ouch, bro. That was kinda harsh, don'tcha think?" she asked, jutting out her lower lip as she stared at the blond.

"Not in the slightest," Naruto replied as he took Kusano's plate and loaded her up with some food. The Green Girl beamed at him and, with spoon and fork in her hands, began munching on the food she and her onii-chan made. Over at the head of the table, Miya raised a hand to her mouth and giggled, while Uzume huffed and turned her head the other way.

"Fuhuhuhu," Matsu decided to get in on the fun as she laughed her old man laugh next to Uzume. "Claws out today, Naruto-tan?" she asked, smiling behind her glasses. "You seem to be a lot less reserved than you have been since arriving in Shinto Teito."

"And you would know that how?" asked Naruto, before blinking in surprise as if he had just realized the answer to his own question. "Oop, wait, I forgot that Matsu-san's a peeper." The amount of giggling coming from Miya increased as Matsu huffed and puff out her cheeks in a childish manner.

"It's not peeping!" She complained, crossing her arms under her chest. "It's called 'Eye of the Electronic Brain'! And don't you get started on this too, Naruto-tan. I have enough problems dealing with Miya-tan."

"Oh my," Miya giggled, her eyes crinkling shut as she smiled pleasantly. "I apologize, Matsu-san, I had no idea you felt that your peeping was so special." Matsu huffed as both Naruto and Miya shared a chuckle at the red heads expense.

"Uh oh," Uzume mumbled under her breath as she watched the blond and lavenderette laughing. "Those two actually getting along doesn't look like it will bode well for any of us."

"What was that, Uzume-san?" asked Miya, smiling over at the brunette with a slightly darkening aura.

"N-Nothing, Miya," Uzume stuttered, her eyes wide with fear. "I didn't say anything, did you hear me say anything? Nope, nothing bad was said about you or the bro over here, he-heh, he-heh-heh-heh." As Uzume released her nervous laughter, Miya continued staring at the other Sekirei and making her increasingly more nervous. Eventually, however, the lavanderette turned, apparently satisfied that she had still managed to scare the girl even though she was no longer using her hanya mask thanks to Naruto. Uzume on the other hand, sighed in relief at getting off so easily.

"You two are getting along way too well for my tests," Matsu grumbled, seemingly agreeing with Uzume as she focused her childish glare at the two that had decided to poke fun of her, before she pointed to Naruto. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Well, technically you didn't ask one," Naruto replied with a smile, however, when he saw Matsu's right eye begin to twitch he leaned back on his hands and sighed. "I guess, you could say that I had a change of heart," he said, looking over at Miya, who caught his gaze and smiled. He gave her a slightly weaker one in return, before serving up both Akitsu, Musubi, Matsu and himself.

Truth be told, Naruto was still unsure about this whole thing. However, after talking with Miya last night, and thinking over her words well into the night until he had fallen asleep, he had decided that he would at least give this whole Sekirei bonding to an Ashikabi thing a shot. He didn't know how well he would do, nor did he know if he could truly love them, but he had decided that if there was even a chance for it to happen, then he would let it happen. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to his girls if he didn't let them in. They were bonded to him, and so the least he could do for them was make an effort at letting them get closer.

"Is that so?" asked Matsu, frowning as Naruto placed a plate of salmon in front of her, then filled up the bowl of rice.

"Yep," Naruto replied, sitting back after he finished serving her up. "I've decided to give this whole Ashikabi thing a shot, which reminds me..." he separated his chopsticks with a snap and looked over at the red head with a more critical gaze. "How long do you think it would take for you to start making profiles on all of the Sekirei and their Ashikabis?" he asked, bringing a slight halt to the light hearted atmosphere of the meals. Uzume stiffened in her seat and stared at him warily, while Miya had straightened up and was now looking at him with both eyes open. Musubi and Kusano had almost identical looks of confusion, tilting their heads to the side as they likely tried to figure out why he would want to know about other Sekire and their Ashikabis. Even Akitsu had shifted, the familiar clinking of her chains resounding in his ears.

Matsu blinked and stopped her hands just as she was about to put some rice in her mouth. Removing her chopsticks from her oral passage, she looked over at Naruto with a slight frown. "I can understand why Naruto-tan would want to know about the Sekirei, but why do you want to know about their Ashikabis as well?"

"Because apparently some of the Ashikabis have become big players in the Sekirei Plan," Naruto stated, his mind going back to his conversation with that secretary guy he had never gotten the name of. If the guy he worked for, Izumi Higa, was called the 'Ashikabi of the East', then it meant their had to be other Ashikabi who had gained a similar title. Their also had to be a West, a South, and a North, and each one of them were likely big time players in the Sekirei Plan that had more Sekirei than the average Ashikabi. It wouldn't be smart on his part to just ignore these potentially dangerous people.

There was also the fact that he would need information on his enemies if they were going to win this. From what he had learned last night, every Sekirei was technically an enemy of every other Sekirei. Eventually, all of them would be forced into battle until their was only one Sekirei left standing. If he wanted his Sekirei to win, then he would need all of the information he could get to ensure they didn't lose.

And finally, there was the issue with Higa. The man knew more about him than Naruto liked, and in return Naruto knew next to nothing about him. Going into a meeting with a man who held all the cards while he held none was not a smart situation. No matter what the outcome of their meeting was, Naruto wanted to be the one who walked away with the better deal.

"So Naruto-tan wants me to gather information on the larger players of the Sekirei Plan?" asked Matsu for confirmation, adjusting her glasses as she studied him. "It would be a good idea to know about people like that," she admitted with a smile. "It seems that Naruto-tan is finally getting into this Sekirei business."

Naruto smiled at the red heads compliment, but then shook his head at her answer. "No," he started, his eyes staring into hers. "I want information on all of the Sekirei and their Ashikabi. Everyone who is participating in the Sekirei Plan, not just the larger players. While they're the ones I want you to focus on at first, it would be irresponsible to overlook someone just because they may not be as powerful as someone like Higa Izumi of the east." No one but Naruto seemed to notice the way Uzume stiffened at the name, busy as they were staring at him. He made a note that it might be in his best interest to speak with Uzume at a later point in time.

Shaking his head, he focused back on Matsu who was looking apprehensive. "So how long do you think it will take?" he asked.

"Well..." Matsu looked over at Miya, then coughed nervously and turned her attention back to him. "It could take quite a while, and I'm not all that sure I'll be able to give you information on every Sekirei that's out there."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his pupils shifting between Matsu and Miya. "Why not?" he asked with a frown. Did Miya not want him to know that she was the first Sekirei? No, that couldn't be it. She had already admitted to him that she was a Sekirei, and she had to know that he was smart enough to connect the dots with the information Matsu had given him last night. And if that wasn't the case, then it meant there were likely more secrets she was still keeping that she didn't want to get out.

"Look, just, trust me when I say that there are some things that are better left unsaid," Matsu told him, causing Naruto's frown to increase. His newest Sekirei must have seen this because she was quick to begin speaking again. "I can still get you most of the information, there just might be a few gaps in it," she explained.

Naruto sighed as he resumed eating to give himself a moment of time to think. On the one hand, he really didn't like not knowing everything about this situation. During the war, it had been a lack of information that had killed off most of his friends, and while this Sekirei Plan didn't seem anywhere near as bad as the Fourth Great Shinobi War, or even some of the wars humanity had waged near constantly, losing still meant that he would be separated from his Sekirei. And he wouldn't be a good Ashikabi if he allowed that to happen.

And yet, didn't Naruto have his own secrets? Sure, he had decided that maybe letting these girls into his life wouldn't be all bad, but that didn't mean he was going to just come out and tell them every little secret he had. Naruto had more skeletons in his closet than every single government of the world combined. Hell, some of those secrets they had were incidents that involved him when the secret of his existence had been put in jeopardy. Was it really right for him to deny Miya her secrets when he himself had so many?

Much as he hated to admit it, the answer was no, it wasn't right.

"I understand," he said at last, gesturing with a nod towards Matsu, though his eyes were focused on Miya. While Matsu slumped in relief, the beautiful landlady was looking right at him, and clearly understood that his words had been more for her benefit than the red heads. She offered him a nod and smile that he acknowledged, before turning back to his newest Sekirei. "Can you still get me most of those profiles than?"

"Yes," Matsu nodded. "Whenever a Sekirei gets winged, MBI collects information on their partners and stores it in their database." That made sense, Naruto thought to himself. If MBI stored all data on an Ashikabi the moment they winged a Sekirei it would explain how Minaka had managed to find a way passed the reroute Naruto had placed on his cell phone. With MBI's technology, they had likely been able to collect more data on him than anybody else, and by winging Musubi he had given them that opening to do so. He grimaced a bit at that knowledge, wondering if perhaps winging Musubi was the reason MBI had found him so easily.

"So what kind of information do they collect?" asked Naruto. "Is it something simple like their names and phone numbers? Or do they gain more like their age, occupation, place of residence, or even a biography? And what about their Sekirei? Would it be possible for you to get me a list of their statistics and powers?"

"W-Wait, Naruto-tan," Matsu interrupted the blond before he could really start going. She looked like the barrage of questions he had been asking caught her off guard. The red head had to actually take a few seconds to herself, before answering his question. "I honestly couldn't say what kind of information I can get you, the database I hacked into seemed to hold some basic information on both the Ashikabi and their Sekirei. Just tell me which ones you want and I can get them for you."

"As I said, I want all of them," Naruto told her. "However, I want you to start with any Ashikabi who has managed to wing more than one Sekirei." They would most likely be the ones to watch out for. Naruto had no clue if winging more than one Sekirei actually meant something, whether it meant the Ashikabi in question had more chakra than most, or if it was just a luck of the draw, however, having more Sekirei under their wing meant they had more firepower to bring down on him and his Sekirei should they end up battling. And that was really the most important thing to know in this instance. Naruto had four Sekirei now, and therefore he probably wouldn't need to worry about Ashikabi with only one Sekirei for a while yet.

"I can do that," Matsu said, nodding her head as she adjusted her glasses. "Though it will take some time to get all of them. I can only access MBI's database once every few days, and even then it's only for a few hours at a time," the hacker looked slightly sheepish as she admitted this. "If I spend too much time in their mainframe, they may notice me and change their security. I would still be able to get in," she assured Naruto when he frowned at the news. "But it would take a long time for me to hack back into their mainframe." She paused, and then looked at Naruto with a frown. "Are you sure you want all of the Sekirei and Ashikabi profiles?"

"Yes," Naruto said.

"Even the ones who have lost?" Naruto blinked, and for a moment wondered what she was talking about before her words sunk in. Of course there were Sekirei who had already lost. Hadn't he defeated Yomi just a few days ago during his rescue of Kusano? If he had beaten a Sekirei, then it was only safe to assume that other Sekirei had fought and lost as well. His thoughts were confirmed when Matsu gave him a nod.

"Of course," she said. "There have been a number of battles so far, though I will need to check the database again to find out how many have happened recently." Nodding to himself Naruto made his decision.

"I still want all of the profiles, even on those who lost," he told her, then tilted his head. "Also, I want them to be as detailed as possible. I want to know everything you can give me, not just names and statistics and numbers, but also the Sekireis abilities and powers as well. And for the Ashikabi I want to know more than just who they are and how many Sekirei they've winged. I want a complete profile, name, residence, occupation, background and history, and if possible I want a complete personality profile."

"Tha-that's a lot to ask for, Naruto-tan," Matsu admitted while looking uncomfortable. His words seemed to have made most of the people in the room distinctly uneasy as well, especially Uzume who was looking at him with wary eyes. "I don't think the MBI database even has that much information."

"Can you get it anyways?" asked Naruto. "If you're capable of hacking into MBI's database than it should be easy enough for you to hack into MBI's satellites and use them to spy on the Ashikabi and their Sekirei."

Matsu frowned. "Well, yes, but –"

"Hey, bro," Uzume interrupted Matsu from saying anything else as she directed all attention to her. "Is it really that important for you to know so much? I mean, I guess I can see the need to be prepared for the Sekirei you may fight, but their Ashikabi's as well? You do know it's against the rules for a Sekirei to kill an Ashikabi, right?" she asked, and out of all the people in the room, she seemed to be the uneasiest.

"And do you honestly think everyone participating in the Sekirei Plan is going to follow the rules?" asked Naruto, frowning at the girl when he saw her flinch. "Just because it's against the rules doesn't mean people won't do it. Humanity has never cared about following the rules of engagement, nor have they cared about a code of honor while in combat. Perhaps you Sekirei might care, but from what I've seen an Ashikabi's will can subvert that of the Sekireis, and an Ashikabi is human. There is no telling what lengths they will go to in order to win and claim their prize." Greed, it was one of the most despicable things about humanity as far as Naruto was concerned. Their desire for more, more money, more prestige, more land, more power, the lengths some people would go to, to get what they want and the despicable acts they would commit were limitless. He had once seen a man kill off his entire family just so he could claim the inheritance from a will that had been split between him and his brothers. The worst part was he hadn't just killed the brothers, but their families as well in an effort to ensure that there was no one to contest him. If people were willing to do that for money, then what would they be willing to do about a prize they had yet to even know about, but one that seemed so full of promises?

Naruto could tell you from experience how far they would go. It would be like the Crusades all over again, with every two bit fool riding on their own coattails killing and slaughtering all in their path due to their misguided belief that the land they were fighting for was 'holy land'. In the end, humans were a bunch of idiots with delusions of grandeur and not a lick of common sense.

"You don't seem to have a very high opinion of your own species?" It was stated as a question, and Naruto turned to look over at the woman who asked it. Miya was once more studying him, analyzing him as if she had just seen him in another light. But there was something else about the way she looked at him, something different that he couldn't place.

With a sigh, Naruto felt his shoulders slump a little. "I just see things as they are," he replied, wondering for a moment how much he should tell them, before just deciding to plow onwards. "Throughout human history the one constant you always here about is war, battle has been constant among humanity. We kill, and kill, and kill, we kill so much that sometimes I think the only thing humanity is truly good at is killing. Always people are coming up with new weapons, easier methods to kill each other with. Rather than doing something useful that would benefit society as a whole and help improve lives, scientists spend more time trying to figure out ways to end it."

History had proven this, the biggest example having happened in the year 1945 when the United States had managed to create the atomic bomb, and then used it on Hiroshima during World War II. How much better could they have used their time coming up with something useful if they had not wasted it all on a weapon capable of wiping out a city? How many problems could they have fixed? How many diseases? They had wasted over two billion dollars and the time of the greatest minds in existence back than to create what Naruto believed was a waste of time and effort. And with the invention of the atomic bomb, Pandora's box had once again been opened. Just like during his time where Shinobi tried to learn more and more destructive jutsu, only instead of jutsu people were trying to outdo each other by making more and more inventive ways of killing each other. Bombs, bio weapons, acidic vapors, you name chances were somebody had already made it. It was proof of humanities greatest failing, and the reason Naruto stopped caring. Why should he bother stopping humans from killing each other when they were so adamant on doing so? Why should he bother preaching about peace when everyone railed on about war? There was no point in trying to stop those who would not stop, nor any point in trying to preach to those who refused to listen.

Of course, Naruto had given up on humanity long before the invention of the atom bomb. But the moment he had learned of it's existence, it had just been more proof in his mind that he had made the right choice. There was simply no point in saving such a violent and destructive race from their own stupidity.

With a sigh, Naruto pushed his plate away and stood up. A clinking of chains let him know that Akitsu was doing so as well. "Sorry for ruining the meal," he said, before making his way out of the room. As soon as Naruto walked out the hall a depressed sigh escaped his lips.

He had no clue what had come over him back there, it had almost been like someone else had taken over. Though perhaps they had in a way. The way he had spoken back there, it hadn't been the words of Naruto the wandering shinobi, or even Naruto the lonely immortal. It had been the voice of one who had seen and participated in wars before, of a man who had seen the worst that humanity had to offer, of a leader whose naïve ideals had failed him when he needed them most, causing him to realize the truth of the world. The Naruto that had spoken back there had been the one who had been the only survivor of war, and grown wary and bitter because of it.

While Naruto had decided he was going to make a concerted effort in accepting his Sekirei and participating in the Sekirei Plan with them, at the same time he was beginning to realize it wasn't just as simple as deciding to do so and than doing it. He seemed to have a lot more issues than he originally thought, or maybe he had just gotten so good at ignoring them that they no longer registered until they came up, like someone who forgot where their phone was when they weren't using it even though they had put it in their pocket just moments before, only on a much larger scale.

That meant Naruto was really going to have to put in an effort to be less cynical about the world around him, not an easy thing to do. As someone who has lived for so long, Naruto has seen the absolute worst humanity had to offer, and as unfortunate as it was, humanities worst qualities far outweighed their good qualities.

_'Maybe I should take a page from Musubi's book,'_ he thought with a chuckle. Perhaps his beliefs would change if one day he just decided to start spouting euphemisms on how love triumphs over everything. If nothing else, it would make for an amusing sight.

A clink of chains brought Naruto's attention back into focus. He looked over at Akitsu, frowning when he saw she was actually not looking at him for a change. Turning his head to look in the direction she was looking at, Naruto saw the reason for this and couldn't fault her for being more interested in this than she was him.

The person she was looking at was Kagari, and he seemed to be looking worse than he had yesterday, if such a thing were even possible. His once pristine and perfectly creased clothing was in complete disarray, his long sleeved shirt was untucked and rumpled, with the top five buttons undone. Likewise his pants looked like they had been rolled up into a ball before he put them on, the numerous wrinkles a clear contrast to the dry cleaned look they used to possess.

Even more worrisome than that was the way Kagari was acting, leaning against the windowed hallway as he took increasingly heavy breaths and held his left arm over his chest. The flush on his face was so red that Naruto thought he might burst into flames at any moment. His half lidded eyes seemed to look at everything and nothing at the same time.

The moment Naruto got a good look at the other man, he began getting a bad feeling. He knew that Kagari was a Sekirei, at least, he was ninety percent positive that Kagari was a Sekirei on top of being the person he had been seeing in his dreams for the past two nights. To top it off, he had seen this look before, in Musubi. And if Kagari's current state was what he thought it was, then Naruto was not sure it boded well for either of them. Despite this, his body ended up moving forward until he was standing in front of the much younger man.

"Hey, are you alright, Kagari-san?" he asked, feeling kind of stupid for asking that when it was quite obvious that he was not alright. Kagari just looked up at the sound of his voice, his half lidded eyes seeming to stare right through him as the red on his face seemed to increase in hue. After only a second of staring at him, Kagari's eyes seemed to roll up into the back of his head and he fell forward.

"Shit!" Naruto swore as he reacted on instinct, catching the fire user before he fell. In the years to come, Naruto would discover that this moment would be one of the strangest he'd ever had before or since. The moment Kagari began to fall forward, his arm left his chest and Naruto got a good look at just what the man was packing.

Of course, when he saw the set of decently sized breasts of Kagari's body, Naruto had to question whether the fire user was a man at all. After all, dudes don't normally have tits, and Kagari was a twig, nowhere near fat, much less fat enough to possess man boobs. Perhaps he was just simply a she, and she had been hiding that fact from everybody else? It was plausible, Naruto had known women who disliked the fact that they were female, mainly due to the prejudiced most men had towards the fairer gender, and used breast bindings to hide that fact. But that had been back during the medieval and Shogun periods mostly. Nowadays women had pretty much equal rights as men.

All of these thoughts flashed passed Naruto's head within the time it took for Kagari to finish falling towards the blond. Naruto was quick to make sure the male, female, whatever, did not hit the floor, moving deftly to the side where he grabbed the fire user's arm and slung it over his shoulder before wrapping his arm around the silver haired Sekireis waist. Tightening his grip as well as securing Kagari's arm over his shoulder, Naruto looked at Akitsu and began issuing his commands. "Akitsu, I need you to get Miya and tell her to meet me in Kagari's room. Let her know that it's urgent."

"Of course, Ashikabi-sama," she said with none of the hesitation in her voice as she left. It seemed that while the woman may be slow in most cases, Naruto giving her a direct command was not one of them. She turned around and took off post haste towards the room where they had left Miya. Naruto watched her go, and with a small grimace began making his way towards Kagari's room.

Out of all the times for something like this to happen it just had to happen now. Of course it did, when was anything in his life ever easy. Naruto had always had the worst luck when it came to anything involving situations like this. His first C-rank mission had later on turned into an A-rank mission, during the Chunin Exams he had ended up in combat with both a Sennin and a demon container, and during the search for Tsunade with Jiraiya, Naruto had ended up meeting up with Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, two S-rank criminals that had wanted Kurama's power. And those were just the situations he had run into within the first few months of becoming a shinobi, and that wasn't even mentioning his 'graduation' before that. With all the shit he had been thrown in his life, Naruto really should not be surprised by something like this happening.

And yet he was. It seemed that Murphy had decided to throw him another curve ball when he wasn't looking.

"You..." Kagari's haggard voice brought him out of his thoughts. Looking towards the fire user he saw the, well, the guy with breasts, staring at him with tired yet narrowed eyes. "You saw them... didn't you?" he asked, and it did not take a genius to figure out what he was talking about.

"If you're talking about that chest you're packing then yes, I saw," Naruto stated, deciding it would be better if he just got this situation over with. It was a good thing he had been expecting a violent reaction, otherwise Naruto may have gotten himself a touch burnt when Kagari suddenly burst into flames. Naruto was quick to let go of the fire user and jump back as deep orange fire flared to life around the silver haired Sekirei. Despite the fact that Kagari's body looked to be covered in flames, they did not hurt him.

No. Wait. That wasn't true, Naruto realized as he looked at the fire user's left hand where the fire seemed to be the most concentrated. It looked red and welted, bubbles had formed on the skin, most likely in response to the intensity of the flames. As Naruto continued to watch, the fire user grimaced for some reason, looking down at his/her left hand as if he/she were expecting something to happen. Naruto wasn't quite sure what Kagari was looking for, but whatever it was it didn't seem to be happening.

"Damn it," Kagari mumbled, just barely loud enough for Naruto to hear over the roar of the flame. Even the fire user's voice was beginning to more feminine. "Not now, please not now. This can't be happening right now!"

"What can't be happening?" asked Naruto, the sound of his voice making Kagari's head snap up to his so fast it looked like the fire user might receive whiplash from the action. The blond looked at the man as he stood there on fire, already coming to what he felt was the obvious conclusion. "You're reacting, aren't you?"

"Wha?" Kagari blinked, his eyes wide in shock. He shook his head, as if trying to dispel his disbelief. Considering he looked even more surprised than before, it obviously didn't work. "How did you know that?" he winced, then began to hiss in pain as his clothing began to burn. His right hand went to the increasingly large hole on shoulder that was currently being burned away by the fire that surrounded him.

"Wasn't that hard to figure out," Naruto said, taking a single step forward. He stopped, however, when Kagari moved a step back. Frowning, the blond stayed put as he decided to answer. "Wasn't that hard," he said with a shrug. "There are very few people within the world who have silver hair like yours, I had pretty much guessed that you were the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei the moment we met outside of the Arboretum, Kagari. Or is it Homura?" At Homura, or Kagari's, grimace, Naruto made an attempt to take another step forward. However, when the flames around Kagari increased, the blond decided it would be best to stay put.

"As for how I knew you were reacting, well," Naruto grimaced a bit. "I've been having dreams about you for the past two days, much like the ones I had about Kusano when she reacted to me." Even as the blond continued to speak, his mind was going a million miles a minute as he tried to think of what to do. If Kagari kept his flames up for much longer, Naruto was sure the house was going to start burning. In fact, he was surprised it hadn't already.

The first thing Naruto needed to do was find a way to put out the fire surrounding Kagari. He was no longer sure asking the fire user to do so was a viable option, the Sekirei in question did not seem very inclined to stop. He could use a water jutsu of course, but Naruto was not sure how good he would do without a source of water available. While he did have the affinity for the element now, he had not trained in it's use since the war, and he had never gotten his training to the point where he could pull water from the moisture in the air. Considering the heat caused by Kagari's flame had likely sucked all the moisture around them out, even if he could use the moisture in the air, Naruto was not sure that was an option anymore.

In short, he didn't have very many options available to him at the moment, beyond trying to convince Kagari to stop before Maison Izumo was burned down.

"Kagari, you need to turn off the heat," Naruto started, almost taking another step forward before deciding against it. "If you don't, then Maison Izumo is going to become nothing more than ash."

"I... I can't..." Kagari said in a strained voice. "I can't control the flames anymore!"

Oh, well that wasn't good, Naruto thought to himself. Who the hell was he kidding, this was terrible. And worse still, Naruto was once again at a loss of what the problem was. He had never heard of a Sekirei being unable to control their own powers before. Granted, Matsu had only told him the basics of Sekirei physiology. She had not told him about the specifics behind a Sekireis power, beyond the fact that the power they had was something they gained through their adjustments.

Did that mean something had gone wrong with Kagari's adjustments? Perhaps his power was unstable, or maybe it had something to do with his Sekirei Core, which Naruto was assuming was the source of a Sekireis power. Perhaps the core itself was unstable, but if that were the case then how did one go about fixing an unstable core?

"Oh my! Homura!" Naruto's head snapped backwards at the sound of the voice to see Akitsu had done as he asked and gotten Miya, and it seemed everyone else had decided to follow her. The landlady was standing in the middle of the hallway, one hand placed against her mouth not in a sign of amusement, but in one of extreme worry. Despite that, and the shock on her features, she did not seem wholly surprised. Had she known about Kagari's problems already?

Uzume and Matsu were also looking incredibly shocked. One stood their with a gaping jaw, her arms slack, while the other was looking on with wide, worried eyes. Even Kusano seemed to be aware of what was going on. As for Musubi...

"Ah! Kagari-san is on fire! What should we do!"

Well, she seemed to be freaking out like everyone else, only in a much more vocal way.

"Akitsu!" Naruto's voice cracked like a whip. "Cool him off!" It was a testament to the woman's ability to react under stress that she reacted instantly. The air around Kagari began to cool in spite of the heat, and frost began gathering all around him. The frost was quickly burned away, however, Akitsu seemed to be putting on the power and more and more frost began to form. Before long a thick curtain of the stuff had formed around Kagari, then it glassed over into ice that surrounded the fire user on all sides, which soon melted under the intense heat of Kagari's flame. However, the ice had served it's purpose, when the fire melted it, the ice turned into water, which poured not only over just Kagari, but the entire hallway, soaking every inch of the hall and even breaking down some of the Shoji Screen doors and shattering a few windows.

Naruto used chakra to stick to the ground and grabbed Kusano with his left hand, lifting her up into the air and setting her on his head. The little girl had thankfully grabbed a fist full of his hair, because Naruto had already taken his hand off her so he could use each one to grab one of his other Sekirei. Musubi and Matsu each found one of his arms around them, pulling them close as a large sheet of ice formed in front of them and protected the group from getting swept away. A quick glance around showed that Akitsu was directly behind him, safe from harm, and that the ice user had the foresight to put another layer of ice in front of both Miya and Uzume in order to protect them. It was an impressive display of power and control, and even in the midst of what was happening, Naruto found himself admiring the woman's control over her element.

When the water had more or less dispersed, with only a few puddles now staining the soaked tiles, the ice protecting them all melted. Kneeling down in what could be considered ground zero was Kagari, his body and what clothes that hadn't been burned off soaked, he was still breathing heavily, and Naruto could see multiple burns on him, but at least he was no longer on fire.

A second later, however, Kagari's eyes rolled up in the back of his, her, head, and the fire user passed out before he hit the ground.


	13. A Secret Revealed

**Chapter 12: A Secret Revealed**

**XoX**

"Kagari/Homura!" Was the cry that went up as soon as the fire user collapsed. Naruto took quick note of all those who used the name Homura, those being Uzume and Matsu, and the others who used Kagari, as he rushed towards the now unconscious fire user.

The stampeding sound of rushing feet followed Naruto as he arrived at the fire user's side and knelt down. The first thing he did was turn the now unconscious figure over onto his, or her, Naruto still wasn't sure which, back. The fire user's clothing had been burnt quite badly, the entire upper half of the clothes Kagari/Homura had been wearing now pretty much consisted of a small, ragged looking piece of cloth that had so many holes in it that nothing was covered. This meant that the fire user's chest was on full display. A pair of decently sized, round mounds with light pink nipples and aerola sat where there should have been male pectoral muscles. They were definitely not something a male should have.

On top of Kagari/Homura's chest being on display, Naruto could see that the fire user's skin had several severe burns on them. Most of them looked like second degree burns, though there was a rather nasty third degree burn on the fire user's left torso that made the skin look like an overly cooked steak. Thankfully that seemed to be the only major injury that the blond could find.

Ignoring the chest, the burns, and the numerous tenants of Maison Izumo standing directly behind him, Naruto placed two fingers to the man's neck. He had a pulse, one that was slightly weak but going steady. That was good, since the fire user had only suffered from burns then so long as they were treated quickly, it meant Kagari/Homura was unlikely to die from the wounds. Though there was still the issue of just how to fix the apparent problem. It wouldn't do for him to simply save the fire user, only for the Sekirei to light up again.

"Naruto-san," Miya's voice penetrated the din, and the one she called to responded by turning his head to look at her. He had never seen the woman look quite so worried, her eyes were open, no longer calm or controlled they seemed to possess a frightened look he would have not expected to see from the fearsome landlady. Her eyes flickered, going to Kagari/Homura's still form, then back to Naruto. "What happened? Is Kagari-san –"

"Kagari will be fine," Naruto said, turning back to the person in question. Taking care not to let his skin touch any of the fire users burns, the blond lifted the gender confused Sekirei into his arms and stood up. "So long as we get him to his room I can heal him. As for what happened, how about I tell you after I heal our friend here, ne?"

Miya frowned, looking from Naruto to Kagari, more specifically the fire user's chest. "Perhaps it would be best if I healed Kagari-san," she suggested, but almost immediately Naruto shook his head.

"No offense, Miya, I'm sure you know first aid very well," he started, tilting his head as he determined what the most delicate way of putting this was that wouldn't reveal his secret. "However, I not only have a much more efficient method I can use to heal Kagari, but you must also take into account that he was reacting to me." With that said, Naruto quickly moved passed Miya, and began to bully his way through the other Sekirei in his path.

"Reacting?" Miya said, a hand going to her mouth in surprise. She quickly made to follow Naruto, nipping at his heals as he moved with quickened footsteps. "Naruto-san," she called when the blond had to stop so he could open the door to Kagari/Homura's room. "Naruto-san, what do you mean you have a more efficient method of healing him? And was he really reacting to you?"

"I'm sorry, but I be more specific in answering your first question other than to tell you that I simply have a better way of healing him than bandages and salves," Naruto said as he moved through the door, his voice slightly clipped as he spoke. He needed to heal Kagari's wounds, and this woman was not only stopping him from doing that, but also trying to pry information he refused to part with out of him. "As to the second, I think that answer should be obvious. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should start healing Kagari."

Naruto made to close the door, but just before he could shut it, a sheathed blade shot out from the crack, stopping the door from closing with a slight 'bang!'. Narrowing his eyes, the eternal shinobi watched as the door was pushed open by Miya, who was now giving him a stern look, the kind of look that someone who was not used to being ignored was ignored.

"Miya," Naruto said slowly, as if by doing so he could quell the frustration he felt building up inside of him. It didn't quite work, and anyone who had basic talent at reading people would be able to tell that the blond was reaching his limit. "Could you please remove your sword so that I can shut the door?"

"Of course," Miya replied in a tone that was both pleasant and stern. "Just as soon as I come in as well." The woman took a single step forward, no doubt making an attempt at moving into the room before Naruto could deny her access. She didn't get any further than that single step, however, as the blond she was currently at odds with stepped directly in her path.

"I apologize, but this isn't something you can be in here for," Naruto spoke through gritted teeth. "You'll only get in the way." His blunt words and the tone in his voice had Miya narrowing her eyes at him, not in the usual crinkling shut way, but in a way he had not seen yet. As the purple twin orbs grew slightly smaller, all emotion from the woman's eyes seemed to vanish, and in it's place only a slight killing intent remained. They were a warriors eyes.

"I suggest you rethink what you just said," Miya spoke in a tone that was chillier than a winter in the frozen tundra. "This is my house, and while you are a guest in my house, you will follow the rules that I lay down and listen to me. If I tell you that I am going to be with you while you help Kagari-san, you are not going to stop me. Am, I, clear?"

"Crystal," Naruto grit out, his patience finally reaching his limit. While the burns on Kagari would not kill him, they were still very painful, and the longer they remained unhealed the greater the chances were that they would get infected, particularly that painful looking third degree burn. And this woman was stopping him from doing his job. "However, you're still not getting in."

What happened next would be something that Miya would not be able to describe even if she tried. One minute, she was looking into Naruto's eyes, and the next all she felt was incredible killing intent that was so strong she stumbled backwards and almost tripped over her own feet. She stared at the blond, her eyes widening ever so slightly as something black and ominous rose up from behind him. She could only make out a silhouette of whatever it was, but that was more than enough to make her freeze, her blood running cold as she stared at the... creature, that seemed to radiate blood lust and killing intent unlike anything she had ever felt.

And then it was gone, disappearing so suddenly that Miya had to blink and wonder if she had just imagined it.

Without giving the woman time to recover and make another attempt at getting in his way, Naruto spun on his heels and the door suddenly slammed shut behind him. The sound of a lock clicking into place signified that the blond had locked the door so she couldn't get in without breaking the door down.

"M-Miya," the scared voice of Uzume sounded in her ears. The lavenderette did not turn, she was too busy staring at the door that had just closed on her face. Her mind was busy trying to replay the last few seconds of that conversation in her mind, trying to help her discern what had just happened. Unfortunately, at the moment all she could think about was that thing that had appeared behind Naruto when he had finally lost his patience with her.

"Wh – do you know what that was?" The question seemed to snap the woman out of her funk, and she finally turned her head to look at a wide eyed Uzume. So she had seen it too, then. Turning her head some more, Miya saw that it looked like everyone had seen the same thing she had. Matsu and Musubi were holding on to each other tightly, their eyes wide and their bodies shaking with unknown fear. Kusano had buried her head into Akitsu's leg, and the ice user herself was looking at a wall, surrounded by a thick, frosty fog, and both her and Kusano seemed to be covered in a thin layer of frost that both were ignoring.

Turning back to Uzume, Miya shook her head. "I-I don't know what it was," her voice sounded just as stupefied as the rest, and maybe even a touch fearful as well. She looked back at the door, taking several deep breaths to calm herself down. When she felt sufficiently calm, she looked back at the door one more time, before spinning on her heels and walking off.

"All I know was that was no Hanya."

**XoX**

After locking the door behind him, Naruto sighed and let his back lean against the wall as he closed his eyes. Now that he was no longer in Miya's presence, the eternal shinobi felt the beginning stirrings of guilt. He truly believed he had every right to be angry at the woman for not letting him get to work on healing Kagari, and he doubted that belief would change with time. Fatal wound or not, the fire user was still badly injured, third degree burns were nothing to scoff at. To top it off, Naruto could feel Kagari's pain through the small bond that had formed due to their reaction. It was much like that time in the Arboretum where he had felt Kusano's fear, even though he had yet to wing her at the time. While the pain itself was negligible compared to some of the things he had experienced in his life, it was enough to compound on Naruto's worry for the person passed out in his arms to fray his patience completely. So he felt he had every right to be angry at Miya for not letting him do what needed to be done.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Miya had known Kagari longer than he had, the fact that he and Kagari had only met a total of four times and one of those times he had snapped at him while the other he had quite literally burst into flames notwithstanding. It probably wasn't far off for him to say that Miya most likely thought of the fire user as family, one of her precious people. No doubt her worry for Kagari was such that she probably didn't want to leave his side. It was only natural that she would want to be there when Naruto healed the fire user, he couldn't blame her for that.

There were many other issues compounding this problem, however, and none of them were dealt with easily. Such as the fact that what Naruto was about to do was not something he wished any of his tenants or even his Sekirei to know he was capable of doing right now. A part of it, he knew, was just paranoia. He didn't want to reveal his abilities to anyone he may potentially have to fight with some time in the future. Another part of it was simply habit. After keeping his existence and everything about him a complete secret from everyone, Naruto didn't really know how to trust anymore. Sure, he had shown Musubi his clone technique, and Akitsu his Sennin Modō, but those had been rookie mistakes he had made due to his confusion and overemotional state caused by the bond. And having already made that mistake twice, he had no desire to do so again.

A moan forced Naruto's eyes to snap open and look down at his soon to be patient. Kagari was still passed out, however, she, and he had decided to go with 'she' because he could not think of Kagari as a man with those mammaries on her chest, was quite obviously in pain. It must be particularly bad if she could still feel it enough to moan out in pain.

It didn't take long for Naruto to regain his bearings, and it took even less time before he had placed Kagari on the bed. The first thing that needed to be done was catalog all of Kagari's burns. Going through the handseals necessary, Naruto activated the medical scanning jutsu he had learned from Sakura. With the activation of the jutsu his hand began to glow a light green color, the energy surrounding his hand making it look like it was wreathed in green flames. It was a testament to just how hard the jutsu was for him. Normally the green glow was only supposed to be a light layer of chakra that coated his hands. Naruto had far too much chakra to be truly control it. It was, in all honesty, a miracle that he could even perform medical jutsu.

Placing his hand just a few inches above Kagari's torso, Naruto slowly and carefully ran the hand up and down her body. As he suspected she had a massive amount of burns. In fact, her entire body was currently covered in one large first degree burn, which was discerned easily enough through simply visualization, the fire users entire body had become a light red sometime after Akitsu had doused the Sekirei's fire. There were also a number of second degree burns, mostly along her chest and stomach, but a few were on her legs. The final issue were the two third degree burns, the one he had seen on her torso, and one that was located on her left inner thigh. Those would be the wounds he had to heal first.

Now that he knew what injuries Kagari had, he could begin getting to work on actually healing her. The first thing Naruto did was remove the burnt remains of the fire user's clothing. While a medical ninja of Sakura or Tsunade's level may be capable of healing injuries through their clothes, Naruto had nowhere near that level of control. He was not a medical ninja, and due to his ridiculously large chakra reserves, he would never be a medical ninja. In order for him to be capable of using a medical jutsu to it's fullest potential, he needed to see the injury he was healing. Otherwise the entire jutsu would end up spread out across the patience entire body, and while some might think that's a good idea, it could lead to an overdose in foreign chakra, which would in turn lead to a bad case of chakra poisoning. Considering just how powerful his chakra was, such a thing could easily kill the patient he was trying to heal.

It was as Naruto was removing Kagari's pants that the blond was forced to pause. "Well," He said dryly to himself as he stared at the now nude Sekirei. "Now I know that he's not one hundred percent female anymore." Indeed, while the upper half of Kagari's body was very much that of a female, it was the lower portion that let him know that Kagari was a male, or at least half male. If it were not for the fact that Naruto had seen much weirder things in his life, he probably would have freaked out by now. The blond sighed. "A transvestite Sekirei... now I've seen everything."

Shaking his head, the blond decided it was time he truly got to work. Sitting down on the bed, the blond went through another long stream of handseals. Naruto then brought his left hand over his heart and clenched it into a fist. A green flame erupted from his hand, a fire made from pure healing energy. Taking a deep breath, the blond immortal soon began the long and arduous task of healing Kagari of... erm, well, he began healing the fire user's burns.

He started with the more serious burns, the two third degree ones he had seen. Placing his hand directly over the burn on Kagari's torso, Naruto closed his eyes and began to focus all of his attention on the task at hand.

It was difficult, far more difficult than any other jutsu he had ever used. Truth be told, this was the first time he had ever used true medical ninjutsu in a long time. Sakura may have taught him the hand signs and the theories, but he had rarely ever had a chance to use them before. Of course, given that he had regenerative abilities that were so powerful he could lose an arm and not have to worry about being permanently crippled, it only made sense that he would rarely ever need to use medical ninjutsu.

Opening his eyes, Naruto focused his attention on the injury he was trying to heal and saw that, much to his relief, the large burn was healing. It was very fascinating to watch, he had to admit. The cracked and broken flesh that had been blackened by the fire that once tried to consume it was beginning to heal. The skin that had been burnt off and exposed the muscles underneath slowly crawled it's way along Kagari's torso, the muscles and fat underneath that had been cooked until it was burnt and cracked was starting to slowly close up, the blackness that made the entire burn look like someone had rubbed charcoal on the wound began to clear up, the muscles once more becoming a healthy pink color. It took around an hour for Naruto to finish healing the wound, but by the time he was done, the once burnt skin was now unmarred and unblemished. It was as if the burn had never been there to begin with.

Naruto continued working, concentrating on the heavier burns first, then moving onto the lighter and more superficial burns. The entire process was very long, taking nearly four hours due to how hard the task was for him. He was not a healer, his chakra control had never been good enough to use healing jutsu very well, and so actually using it to heal a wound of any kind meant he had to pay extra attention to what he was doing. It required him to focus the entirety of his being into the soul task of healing so that he wouldn't make a mistake. Despite the arduousness of the task, Naruto eventually managed to heal Kagari of all his, her, burns. The final task was to get the fire user redressed.

The host didn't have very much in the way of variety, Naruto noticed as he looked through the fire user's closet. In fact, the only outfit the Sekirei had was the white long sleeved shirt and black pants combination that he had always been seen in around the house. Well, that, and the black suit with trench coat and facial mask was there too, but since it wasn't considered everyday wear, Naruto decided not to count it as a viable option for the fire user to wear. Without any options, the blond was forced to grab one of the pairs of identical clothing and dress then fire user in it.

The entire procedure of redressing the fire user in some appropriate clothing was not only a touch more difficult than Naruto thought due to the fact that Kagari was pretty much dead weight at the moment, but also a lot more embarrassing than he thought it would be, especially considering there was no one watching. Thought he just figured it was because Kagari was, well, not quite a guy, but male enough for the entire situation to feel awkward. Actually, it was likely made even more awkward specifically because Kagari was only half male. There was just something that felt inherently wrong with a chick sporting a penis.

Still, despite his embarrassment Naruto managed to get Kagari into a set of clothes, and also covered the fire user up with the blanket on his bed. He was actually somewhat surprised that Kagari even had a bed, since most Japanese homes only used futons. Naruto himself may have had a bed, but that was because he had gotten so used to them while living in Europe and America. Plus, they were a lot more comfortable, especially those new memory foam mattresses.

It took him a moment to realize how far off track his thoughts were getting. Using medical ninjutsu for so long must have taken more out of him than he had realized. While his chakra stores were practically full, and he could feel them recovering at a rate that was inhuman, his mental exhaustion was such that he could probably collapse and go to sleep right now. Maybe he should think about taking a quick nap before going on with the rest of his day...

With a tired sigh, Naruto stood up from the bed and began walking to the door. Unlocking and opening the door, Naruto made his way outside. The hallway was empty, well, mostly empty. It took the clinking of chains for him to realize that Akitsu was still in the hall. The ice user had taken to sitting against the wall next to Kagari's room, her back straight as she sat in seiza. It seemed that the moment the door had opened, she had focused her attention on him, which would explain the clinking of her chains.

"Have you been here the whole time?" asked Naruto as he turned to fully face the woman. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if she had been sitting there the entire time he had been inside healing Kagari. His question was answered and his thoughts proven correct when the woman nodded slowly.

"Ah, yes," she admitted with little hesitation. Naruto nodded to himself as he held out a hand to the snow woman. After a second or two, he realized that she hadn't taken it. Looking down he saw she was staring at the appendage in confusion, probably not quite sure why he was offering her his hand.

"Come on, Akitsu-chan," he said, making a gesture with the hand he had offered. "Let's get you up and than meet up with the others." Akitsu blinked, then slowly reached her hand out towards his. The moment their hands touched, her pale cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

Naruto's lips twitched ever so slightly as he pulled the ice user to her feet. The woman really did look quite adorable when she blushed like that. Normally she was pretty unflappable from what he had seen so far, and the only time she ever blushed seemed to happen when he was some way involved. Though he was surprised by how shy she could act, considering this was the woman who often times forgot to wear panties.

"So where are the other's?" asked Naruto as he switched gears.

"Ah," Akitsu tilted her head to the side, then looked up at the stairway that Kagari's room was next to, before looking back at him. "Upstairs," she answered with deliberate slowness. Naruto frowned at her before turning his own attention towards the stairs. A small sinking feeling appeared within the pit of his stomach. Why would they be upstairs and not in the living room?

"Well, why don't we go upstairs and meet them?" suggested Naruto as he began walking. Behind him, the rattling and clinking of chains let him know that Akitsu had begun to follow him, her light footsteps barely making any noise on the hardwood floor. With an almost absentmindedness about it, Naruto couldn't help but think that the ice user would make a capable ninja if trained.

Before he could actually beginning walking up the stairs, Naruto heard the hurried sound of footsteps coming from the very direction he planned on going. Less then a second later, two of his Sekirei, Kusano and Musubi, appeared at the top of the stairs. The two stopped the moment they saw Naruto, a pair of nearly identical smiles appearing on their faces, right before they launched themselves down the stairs and made to tackle Naruto in a hug.

"Naruto-sama!" Musubi shouted out as she nearly bull dozed Naruto over, running smack into him and wrapping her arms around the blond in one of her earth shattering hugs. Naruto stumbled back several steps and was forced to reinforce his body with chakra in order to keep his ribcage from being shattered. Thankfully he was fairly used to the girls spontaneous bursts of affection, as well as just how ridiculously strong she was. If he wasn't, then Naruto might have actually ended up getting seriously injured by the girl.

Despite the creaking of his ribs, the blond began returning the girls hug. It was partly instinctual and partly a conscious effort on his part. While showing his Sekirei affection through physical contact felt natural, there was another part that rebelled against it. It was the unfortunate circumstances of his life. Now that he had formed bonds, it was just a bit more difficult to truly show affection for these girls. They weren't some one night stand he would sleep with and never see again, they were his Sekirei, and that made all the difference in the world, differences he still wasn't used to.

"You're so amazing!" his first Sekirei continued crowing as did her utmost to smother him with affection. Down below Musubi, hugging on to his left leg, Kusano added her own 'Mmhmm!' of agreement with the older Sekirei's words while nodding her head. Naruto blinked at the pair, nonplussed as he wondered what he had done that would warrant this kind of reaction from his girls. While part seemed to admire him a lot, he hadn't been around them for the past few hours. Naturally he was curious. "I can't believe you managed to heal Kagari-san like that! Your powers are so cool!"

Naruto really should have known better than to tempt fate. Like a bucket of ice cold water being dumped on him, the blond felt his entire body run cold. His mind blanked for a full second before rebooting and trying to put the words Musubi had just spoken in a format he could understand.

Had she really just said what he thought she did? But how would she even know about the way he had healed Kagari? She may have known about his ability to create corporeal copies of himself and transform some of them, but that didn't mean she would have been able to come to the conclusion that he was capable of healing people as well. No offense to Musubi, he liked her, he really did, but she wasn't very sharp when it came to using common sense and logic. So how had she managed to find out he had healed Kagari with his medical ninjutsu? The only way she could have done that was if she had actually seen him at work, and the only way she could have seen him was if she was there or...

Matsu.

A growl escaped from Naruto's lips as he realized how Musubi, Kusano and, if he was right, everybody else in the house except Akitsu, because she was waiting right outside the door, and Kagari, because he/she was asleep, knew about his medical ninjutsu. Once again, Naruto had gone off half cocked thanks to a Sekirei reacting to him and decided to help someone without putting even a lick of thought into what he was doing. Just what the hell was wrong with him! You'd think after making so many mistakes within such a short time frame that he would have learned from his previous mistakes. But no, it seemed that despite having screwed up numerous times, and despite having told himself he would do better, the blond still found himself screwing up, and now it had ended up costing him much more than he had ever expected it to. He cursed himself for making such a rookie mistake, just as much as he cursed Matsu for spying on him when the whole reason he had kicked Miya out of the room was so no one would know about his abilities.

Well, he was not going to let this slight against him go just like that.

"N-Naruto-sama?"

The voice caused Naruto's head to snap over to Musubi, who flinched under his gaze. It seemed that even she could tell he was angry, perhaps due to the bond, though from the way his face was twisted into an angry snarl, she might not even need it. At first he wondered why she looked so frightened and concerned. While Musubi had no doubt seen what he had done to heal Kagari, it wasn't like she was at fault. If nothing else, Naruto could be safe in the knowledge that the girl was far to naïve to do something as subtle as spy on him. The fact that she had just come down and told him that she had essentially watched him use medical ninjutsu to heal someone of their burns told him that. It wasn't until he actually saw his reflection in the mirror that the eternal shinobi realized how frightening the look on his face truly was.

A look at Kusano's face told him that she was frightened by it too. Aside from the fact that she was no longer attached to his leg, she had buried herself into Musubi's side and was hiding from him.

_'Calm down, Naruto,'_ he thought to himself. Closing his eyes, the blond took a deep breath, released it, then took another one and released that too. _'It's not Musubi's fault, nor is it Kusano's fault. I doubt they even realize the significance of what they've done. They are innocent in all of this.' _After one last shuddering breath, Naruto felt that he was sufficiently calm, and opened his eyes to look at Musubi again.

Once more, the girl in Shrine Maiden clothes flinched a bit, though it seemed to be more of a reflex due to how angry he had looked before than because of the look in his eyes now. "Musubi-chan," Naruto said in what he hoped was an even and patient voice. "Could you and Akitsu-san please take Kusano with you and clean her up in the bath? I need to speak with Matsu-chan alone for a moment."

Thankfully the blond's words seemed to be enough to snap the girl out of any inherent fear she might have been feeling. "Sure thing, Naruto-sama!" the excitable girl said, pounding her left fist into the open palm of her right hand. "Akitsu-san and I will get Kusano cleaned up right away."

Now much calmer than before, Naruto managed to give both Akitsu and Musubi a smile, causing the former to blush and the latter to smile as well. "Thank you," he said to them, before kneeling down next to Kusano. The girl was still buried in Musubi's thigh, though her left eye took occasional peeks out to see what was going on. When their eyes met, she 'eeped!' and buried her face into the skirt clad leg again. Naruto felt himself wince as he realized that he had caused the little girl to feel the same fear that Yomi once had. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I'm sorry, Ku," he apologized. At the sound of his voice the little girl poked her head out once more to look at him. Naruto let a small smile spread across his face, the best one he could manage given the circumstances, and slowly raised his hand to ruffle the girls hair. "I want you to know that I'm not mad at you or Musubi or Akitsu. So please don't be frightened of me, I would never do anything to hurt you. I promise."

Perhaps it was a testament of Naruto's resolve to be a better Ashikabi and let the girls into his heart that he was actually able to apologize so easily after getting so riled up. It probably had something to do with the bond, he knew, but at the moment Naruto could only feel that having the bond right now was a good thing. Whereas most of the time it's simply an unwanted burden, currently it was a small blessing in disguise, for it allowed the flow of emotions to go between him and his Sekirei, letting him know exactly what is wrong with the girls he was bonded to.

One of the things Naruto had realized about the Sekirei bond was that the bond usually acted both ways. It didn't just allow for him to experience his Sekirei's emotions, but often times they knew how he felt as well. However, most of the time Naruto's chakra, the very thing that his Sekirei had latched onto to form the bond, was surprisingly enough the very thing that interfered in their ability to feel his emotions. Naruto believed it had something to do with the nature of his chakra, but the only time his Sekirei actually felt what he felt was when he was experiencing extreme levels of emotional highs and lows, unlike his case where he felt his Sekirei constantly. It was something he was grateful, because it meant he could control what they felt from him when he wanted to hide his own emotions so he wouldn't disturb them.

Right now he was using that bond to let the child know he was not angry at her, pushing that belief towards her so she could feel it and know it was true. Kusano looked at him, her eyes blinking as she registered the feelings he was sending through their bond. Then she blushed and looked down at her toes.

"So you're not angry with me?" she asked, her eyes only occasionally looking up into his. With those large green eyes staring at him from under her scraggly blond hair, Kusano seemed to reach a level of adorable that had not been in existence before. No doubt about it, if he were a woman, Naruto would be screaming 'kawaii!' at the top of his lungs and attempted to squeeze the life out of the Green Girl. As things were, Naruto was not female and had far more self control than that. All he did was smile at the girl and shake his head.

"Of course not," he told her. "How could I possibly be mad at such a cute little girl." Naruto's words seemed to make everything better, much to his relief, as the girl stopped hiding from behind Musubi's leg and tried to knock him over with a hug. Fortunately for him, the blond was no forty pound weakling, and thus didn't even budge as he let the Green Girl bury her face in his chest.

He did hesitate for a second or two before returning the hug, however. Despite his promise to do better, Naruto was still not quite used to physical intimacy. It was strange, he had let his Sekirei sans Kusano kiss him all they wanted, Musubi in particular seemed to take every chance she could to do so. Even then, he had done his best to keep them all busy so neither of them would think about trying to initiate physical contact. Naruto himself had never initiated a kiss outside of the time a naked Musubi had fallen on top of him in the hotel he had first rented, and his winging of Akitsu. At the moment, the only time they were really intimate was when they all slept together, because he just hadn't been able to get out of that particular arrangement. Musubi, and to a lesser extent Akitsu, were rather adamant on him sleeping with them. Even then, Naruto was often up before either of them and would get out bed before they even woke up.

"I love you so much onii-chan!" Naruto winced at the little girls declaration. It wasn't the creepiness that bothered him. He knew that right now all Kusano saw him as was her 'onii-chan', so he could generally ignore the strangeness of the comment. It was the 'I love you' that bothered him. Much like with Musubi, Naruto still couldn't say it, or perhaps he simply refused to say it.

"Thanks, Ku," Naruto told her instead, pulling the girl back a bit so he could ruffle her hair. Kusano beamed at him as he gave her a small smile. "Now why don't you go take a bath with Mu-chan and Aki-chan. I have to talk with a few people about a little something called common courtesy." It was truly a testament to the calming effect his Sekirei seemed to have on him that the blond didn't even twitch as he finished his last sentence. That, or maybe he just didn't want Kusano to know what he meant when he said 'talk'.

"Common courtesy?" Musubi blinked, raising an index finger to her lips as she adopted a thoughtful look. "Is that like 'common sense' and 'discretion'? Because I've never heard of it before."

Naruto gave a tired sigh, but other than that he gave no reaction to the girls question. By now he had gotten used to Musubi lacking knowledge when it came to social moors and common sense that it just didn't bother him anymore. "No, Musubi-chan," he answered her, standing up once more after letting go of the tiny blond. "While it's similar to common sense, it has nothing to do with discretion. I'll start teaching you about it a little later, ok?"

That seemed to be good enough for Musubi, because she gave him a loud, "kay!" Before grabbing Kusano's hand and beginning to walk off. "We'll see you later, Naruto-sama!" she shouted, waving back at him as she walked down the hall. Naruto returned the wave before heaving a weary sigh. The small exchange between him and his Sekirei had forced most of the anger out of him, and now he was just tired. He wondered if perhaps he should put off dealing with Matsu and Miya for today and just do so in the morning, before shaking the thought off. No, he decided, it would be best if he just got this out of the way now, otherwise he would be unable to sleep tonight.

The sound of clinking of chains had Naruto blinking. Turning around he saw that Akitsu was still standing behind him, looking at him as if she were waiting for something from him. It took him a moment, but he eventually realized what she wanted. "I'll see you after you get out of the bath, Akitsu-chan," he told the snow woman, offering her a smile.

"Ah," Akitsu blushed, then looked away. "Yes," she said, probably an acknowledgment of his words though Naruto had never been too sure. In the same slow manner she does almost everything, Akitsu turned around and began walking down the hallway towards the bath house, the clinking of her chains the only thing Naruto could hear.

Sighing, Naruto placed his chin in his left hand and began using said appendage to crack his neck back and forth, the sound of multiple pops resounding off the acoustics of the hall. Now that he had nothing left to distract him from what he needed to do, the blond decided it was time for him to confront Matsu about her use of spy cameras in Maison Izumo.

It wasn't long before Naruto found himself standing in front of the secret entrance to Matsu's room. Without a moments hesitation, the blond put a hand on the door and pushed it open as he walked in.

Matsu was there, just as he had expected. She was looking at him in a resigned manner, which meant she had somehow heard the conversation downstairs and knew that he was not happy with her. It wouldn't surprise him if she had spy camera's set up there as well. A glance around the room also showed him the monitor she had used to spy on him when he healed Kagari. It still showed the inside of Kagari's room, he could see the fire user lying on the bed. Judging from the angle of the camera, it was the perfect view to watch him when he used his medical ninjutsu.

The fact that she had not even bothered hiding the screen told him a lot, probably more than Matsu could even realize. Firstly, it was clear that Matsu already knew that he knew she had been spying on him, and obviously felt that by not hiding that fact she would show him that she hadn't meant any harm by it. Secondly, the expression on her face told him that whatever she had been expecting to see while spying on him, what he had done was not it. She was surprised by his ability most likely, or at least confused. Perhaps she was hoping that by proving she meant no harm when she had spied on him, he would answer the questions that were no doubt brimming in his mind.

"I am extremely disappointed in you, Matsu," Naruto spoke in a cold tone that caused the red head to flinch. "There was a reason I did not let Miya into the room while I healed Kagari. Did it not occur to you that perhaps, just like Miya, I have things about me that I wish to keep secret?" He did not give her the chance to answer his question. It had been rhetorical anyways. "What could have possibly possessed you to spy on me while I was attempting to help one your friends?"

Matsu winced, but didn't flinch away from him as he mentioned what he had been doing. "Naruto-san is a very mysterious person," she said, using the more respectful '-san' suffix for the first time since he met her. It just went to show how serious she knew the situation was right now. Even when Naruto had been discussing the Sekirei Plan with her, she had still called him Naruto-tan.

Taking off her glasses, a change seemed to overtake Matsu. Without the round lenses on her face seemed thinner, enhancing her already attractive features, and making her seem more mature than the childish Sekirei he had known for all of a day. The change was so startling that it was almost enough to make Naruto forget about why he had come here in the first place. For a moment, all he could think about was how beautiful the woman before him was. A small shake of the red managed to help rid him of the thoughts, allowing him to focus on Matsu as she spoke.

"He seems to finally be taking things seriously and is doing his best to learn about the Sekirei Plan and be a good Ashikabi, but Naruto-san is still a very mysterious person. We know so little about him." Matsu paused, seemingly in thought as if she were trying to decide on whether or not she should admit the next part. The pause didn't last long. "Naruto-san doesn't know this, but when he first arrived in Shinto Teito he caused a big stir." The blond in question raised his right eyebrow, but didn't interrupt as the red head spoke. "When his profile appeared in MBI's database at the airport, Minaka put almost all of MBI's resources into researching Naruto-san."

_That_ caught Naruto's attention. With a narrowing of his eyes, the blond recalled the phone conversation he'd had with the President of MBI. Minaka had called him Minato, the name he had used last. Naruto had always wondered since that first meeting how Minaka had managed to connect Minato Namikaze with him, as far as he knew, the MBI President hadn't even been alive when he had used that name. And Naruto always made sure that any information people might have on him disappeared long before it could hit the web.

Did that mean he had slipped up somewhere down the line? Had there been a leak, or a mistake, and information on him that should have been erased from the very fabrics of existence managed to make it's way to the internet? It was possible, he supposed. After all, with the recent advances in technology there were a variety of means to film or photo people without them knowing. Inanimate objects had no intent, so even someone like Naruto would not know when he was being watched. It was quite possible that his image had been taken sometime down the road, a small snapshot at a grocery store, video footage of him at a bank, even a picture of something he had nothing to do with but just happened to be in via bad luck could have given him away. Even with the large network he had created to keep his existence out of everyone's eye, it was impossible to destroy every shred of evidence that existed. It was, in a way, similar to Matsu's description of the Invasion of Kamikura Island.

However, that now left Naruto with another question.

"How do you know about that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the red head. Matsu seem to have expected this, because the moment he asked, she turned around and began typing away on her keyboard. At first, Naruto frowned, wondering what it was she was doing when the screen began cycling through a list of images before stopping on his. He recognized what the screen was showing him as a profile template, his image was in the left hand side of the screen, and on it's right was general information on him, name, age, weight, height, hair and eye color, and Sekirei winged as well as a general information one might expect from a profile, though there was a lot of incomplete information on it, things like a personality profile and several other key aspects of information that Naruto would have considered the standard when gathering information.

"Uzumaki Naruto, age: 18, height: 195 centimeters, weight: 91 kilograms, build: lean athletic, hair color: blond, eye color: blue, Sekireis winged: number eighty eight, Musubi, number seven, Akitsu, number one hundred and eight, Kusano, and number zero two, Matsu, parents: deceased. Born in Osaka, Japan to a wealthy family, Uzumaki Naruto was left with a several billion Yen publishing firm that was responsible for creating the Icha Icha book series when both of his father died of a severe case of Influenza in 2005 and his mother died in a car crash in the year 2012. After completing secondary school he left Japan to travel the world and ended up going to Harvard Univeristy where he received his Master's Degree in Film and Theater. After graduating with a four point zero GPA he left America and returned to Shinto Teito, Japan, and now lives at Maison Izumo."

As Matsu listed off all of the information about him that was on the screen, Naruto found himself frowning. That entire profile was fake, with only the information about his physical appearance, Sekirei winged, where he lived, and his parents being dead being real. Even then, the only thing about his parents death that was real was the fact that they were dead. Everything else on that screen was a carefully crafted lie that would stand up to even the most comprehensive of investigations. He had even taken his 'parents' and the publishing firm into account.

Toad Sage Inc. was the name of the publishing company, and had been a 'family' owned business for over five hundred years. Stationed in Japan, the publishing firm had several fronts, small time publishing companies that Naruto had bought out over the years and integrated into his own business. That way it would be easier for him to publish his work without constantly having to go through the normal channels and possibly have someone realize that the same guy who had published a story twenty years ago had not aged a single day. This way, Naruto could go to any one of the two hundred publishing firms he owned around the world to get his work published. Often times, he would spend time at one company for several years, then move onto the next, and by the time he moved back to that same publishing form again, the people that he had first met would be dead and he would not need to worry about people recognizing him. It was an ingenious way to ensure that he could get his work published, remain anonymous, and make people think that all of these books were the work of a family that had simply passed down their stories from one generation to the next.

His 'parents' on the other hand were a set of special clones that Naruto had created with a permanent henge. The ones he had used this time had been based off of his actual parents, Minato and Kushina (though they had not been named such), and had been reinforced with a combination of seals that were designed to draw in natural energy and enhance the clones, making them not only last forever and not disappear with one pop, but also not disappear immediately after they 'die', that way no suspicion is drawn when no one can find a body. Once his 'parents' died, Naruto would go about creating a persona that matched the information that was already in the databases found within the various governments and internet by using the many contacts he had. The plan itself was extremely detailed, and thorough enough that no one should be able to so much as find a crack with the background he had provided.

"That's quite a bit of information," Naruto started, his voice gaining some impatience. "But that doesn't tell me what I want to know."

"Just give me a second," Matsu said as she continued to type. "I have to pull up the rest of what Minaka found..." as her fingers continued to move, the profile of Naruto moved off to the side and became slightly smaller, small enough that another profile could be fit right next to it, Naruto realized. "And there!" With one last click of the keyboard, another profile was pulled up, one that Naruto recognized immediately. After all, how could he not recognize himself.

The image itself was slightly different, lacking the six whisker marks he had on now and the eyes were bit narrower, but the image itself was unmistakably him. It was also not like the profile image, which was simply showing a front view of the upper half of his body, in other words, a mug shot. This particular image looked like it had been taken by an old photograph from the middle 1900s', probably around 1945 or maybe the late 1960s'. It was a tad grainy, and looked old. He could see from the way the edges of the image itself were frayed and ripped that it must have been photocopied. Despite that, the image was still easily recognizable.

In another effort to keep himself hidden, Naruto had taken to using a modified form of henge so that he could remain disguised indefinitely. Often times he would just modify his looks a little bit, get rid of his whiskers, change his eye or hair color, most people never really took the time to look at another person in great detail. Usually they would only remember key facial features, hair, eyes, nose, and any birthmarks that may be visible like his whiskers or a beauty mark. He could change his entire look, of course. He had done that several times before, but due to how he kept up his facade of belonging to a 'family of authors' in order to keep writing and publishing his books, Naruto rarely ever changed himself into someone else completely. It may hide him much better, but it simply wasn't pragmatic.

The image before him now seemed to disprove his original idea and made him question whether or not he should have perhaps, used his henge to change his entire appearance.

"Namikaze Minato," Matsu stated, using the name he had used back than. "Age: deceased, height: 195 centimeters, weight: 91 kilograms, build: lean athletic, hair color: red, eye color: green. No other information available." The red head turned back to look at him, her expression a mix between grim and serious. "When Minaka first began looking up information on you, I got curious and decided to look up all of the information on you that I could. It took a while for me to get this information, Minaka had hidden it in a heavily encrypted file with almost as many security precautions on the information about the first and second Discipline squads."

The first and second incarnations of the Discipline squad, Minaka had done his best to either erase or hide all data related to them. The only reason Naruto himself knew about the first generation was because of Matsu, and the only thing he knew about the second incarnation was it's members. Number zero four, Karasuba had been a member of the second incarnation, was a part of the first incarnation, and was currently the leader of the third incarnation. There had only been one other member of the second generation, number zero eight, Yume, and Matsu had been unable to pull up any information on her except that she was deceased. Naruto had told Matsu to keep looking up any information she could on the second generation, but he was honestly expecting it to end up being a dead end.

The files that kept Matsu from reaching any information besides what they had already found on the second generation were incredibly complex, and not even the red heads incredible ability to hack and control any electronic device remotely seemed to be incapable of getting past the encryptions. Perhaps if she had direct contact with the mainframe she could, but Naruto didn't want to have to sneak into MBI just to gain information on a group that no longer existed.

Focusing on the task at hand, if the files containing information on Namikaze Minato were even have as secure as the secondary Discipline squad, then it was a wonder Matsu had managed to get to them at all, and a testament to her determination to get them. It must have taken her a number of hours working nonstop in order to get past whatever security the President of MBI had erected around it.

"Namikaze Minato looks exactly like Naruto-san, only without the whiskers. Despite that he is not shown to be related to Naruto-san in any way," Matsu said, her eyes now focused solely on Naruto. "Minaka seems to have made a connection to the two of you despite that. It could have something to do with the information I couldn't get, I only had enough time to download this much before a security protection program tried to trace the connection I was using to hack into their system and forced me to shut my computers down. I tried to get in again, but it was impossible after that."

"And you got curious about me because you thought there was some kind of connection between me and this Namikaze Minato," Naruto stated. "Is that it?"

Matsu nodded. "Minaka may be a monster, and he might even be insane, but he's very smart and never does anything without reason." Naruto grimaced as what she said was made clear. If Minaka thought there was some kind of connection between him and Minato, then there probably was. The worst thing about this whole situation was that they were both right. Naruto and Minato were connected because Naruto WAS Minato and just changed his name after faking his death by burning the house he had been living in and using a corpse doll to make people think he had died in the fire.

For a moment all was silent. Matsu was staring at him, obviously waiting for him to answer, and Naruto was trying to decide on what he should say. His first thoughts were to lie, naturally. He had not trusted anyone with this information ever, in the course of the many of thousands of years he had been alive, he had never told anyone about his immortality, or even hinted at it. Sure, in the beginning a few people had found out on accident, but they had never found out because of something he told them. By this point in time, lying was almost instinct for the blond.

His second thought was to, not quite tell her the truth about what she had found, but maybe give her a little bit. She was his Sekirei, after all. And more than anything he knew from what he had been told last night that when a Sekirei bonded to an Ashikabi, they pretty much became dedicated to that Ashikabis safety and happiness.

Now, Naruto still didn't trust Matsu, not after what she had done. Going behind his back to research him. At the same time, he wasn't really sure he could blame her. Given all that he had just learned he could understand her curiosity of him, and it wasn't like he had expressly forbid her from researching him, or even spying on him. While on part of him was upset that she would spy on him to learn something when she could have just asked (though whether or not he told her was a different story entirely), another also knew that it was hypocritical of him to get so angry when he often did the same thing. After all, hadn't he spent decades getting dirt on every single government and powerful political figurehead in the world? What Matsu was doing was no different then what he himself had done so many times in the past, the soul exception being that her reasons for doing what she did were far different than his own.

From what he understood, Matsu's investigation into him had, at first, been simple curiosity due to Minaka's unhealthy interest in him. Now though, her desire to learn more was probably simply her wanting to know more about her Ashikabi. Even he had to admit that he was a mysterious figure to many, after all, Naruto had pretty much set himself up to be mysterious and enigmatic. He didn't want people knowing about him, the true him at least, and thus he had set a trail for others to follow. Granted, most people would have found the trail of information he had given them and simply left things at that. With Minaka finding more than Naruto had ever expected anyone to, and Matsu discovering it, it had likely led to her wanting to learn more about him. It could even be theorized that the whole reason the red head reacted to him was due to what she had learned from MBI's database, though there was no proof to prove or disprove such a theory.

With all of these thoughts passing through his mind one after the other, Naruto determined just what he would allow himself to say to Matsu and how he would say it. "And you couldn't have just asked me because...?" Naruto trailed off, waiting for an answer. It was the first step in his process, get Matsu to realize that she didn't need to use subterfuge with him when she wanted something to make her feel guilty.

Matsu grimaced at his words, but remained determined. "Would Naruto-san have answered me if I asked?"

"Not at first," Naruto admitted, moving onto the second step. "You have to understand, Matsu, I have many secrets, and many people would and have died trying to obtain those secrets. However, I would have revealed those secrets to you... in time." The cold look he gave Matsu after this pronouncement sent a chill down the red heads spine. "Know this, Matsu, I do not like people spying on me. Just like Miya has her secrets that even you would not divulge to me willingly, so to do have secrets that I am uncomfortable revealing. Do not make me regret winging you by spying on me or forcing me into revealing anything I would not want to."

The words were harsh, Naruto knew, perhaps even too harsh. But he needed Matsu to understand the seriousness of the situation. He had not informed her that he didn't want her snooping into his past before, and so Naruto couldn't truly punish her for spying on him when he had healed Kagari. At the same time she needed to know that the secrets he possessed were something he didn't want her looking into, for both of their sakes. Naruto was not ready to reveal any of his secrets, especially now, and it would not do either of them any good if Matsu kept looking into his past.

In many ways, Matsu was very lucky she was his Sekirei. When it came to guarding his secrets, Naruto had always been ruthless. Minaka was not the first to have discovered something about him that the blond did not want getting out. While rare, it had happened a few times in the past. None of those people who discovered information that could threaten to reveal his existence ever lived for very long, it was very easy to kill a person and disguise it as an accident, or to poison someone with a special brand of poison that would not affect the body for a month after it was ingested, and when it finally did react make it look like they had died of a heart attack. Naruto had developed and perfected the act of killing and making it look natural to an art form.

And it wasn't just the people who had discovered his secret that often lost their lives. Naruto was not willing to let anyone the person who discovered him was close to, to live either. Family, friends, anyone who Naruto suspected the person who found out his secret may have told was likewise killed off and the entire incident covered up without any evidence they had been murdered. It was ruthless, heartless, and many people would likely decry it as the most immoral thing someone could do. Which just went to show how far Naruto was willing to go in order to protect his identity.

"I-I understand, Ashikabi-sama," Matsu stuttered only a little bit, making it clear to Naruto that he had made his point.

"Good," Naruto said with nod. "I want you to get started on the Ashikabi and Sekirei profiles. Start with Higa Izumi and all of his Sekirei and then work your way down the list based on how many Sekirei an Ashikabi has."

"Of course," Matsu replied as Naruto started to leave. However, just as he reached the entrance to her room, the blond paused and then turned back.

"Also, I expect you to take down all of the spy camera's located in my room, Kagari's room, and the bathhouse," he ordered her, getting a much larger wince from the girl. Naruto was unsure whether that was due to him rubbing salt onto the wound he had opened, or because it would mean she would not get to spy on him while he bathed, but in the end it didn't matter. This was a test for her. Naruto would do his own sweep next week just to make sure all of the areas he had designated were camera free. If not then it meant he would not be able to trust Matsu, and that he would only be able to rely on her for information gathering, and even then it would be best to conduct his own investigations to make sure her work was accurate. This could be considered her chance to prove her sincerity to him.

"Yes, Ashikabi-sama," Matsu's voice rang out just as Naruto finished walking towards the entrance. He turned his head back once more to look at the red head, nodded, and then left.

He still had one more person to speak with before calling this day over.

**XoX**

She had known he would be coming. When the knock on her door sounded within her room, Asama Miya already knew exactly who would be there. Standing up from where she had been sitting in front of the shrine dedicated to her husband, the landlady of Maison Izumo slowly walked over to the door. Her steps were measured, unhurried, as if she were not actually concerned about the oncoming conversation that was about to take place. Opening the door, Miya got her first good look at the person on the other side.

The blond before her looked cold, and not the kind that was caused by the whether. Two glacial chips of ice were set in a face that was so dead a corpse would look more emotional. The coldness of his ice and his expressionless face posed a startling contrast to all of the other times she had seen Naruto. She had seen him happy, relaxed and playful, and frustrated, angry and lost. This new look was nothing like anything she had ever seen before. At least on him.

The look on his face was familiar though. Miya herself had worn that look many years ago, before she had fallen in love.

"Naruto-san," Miya spoke in a soft tone, using the more respectful suffix to address him with. Now was not the time for playful remarks and teasing. She opened the door a little further and stepped aside in order to give the blond access to her room. "Won't you come in?"

A frown crossed the blond's face, the only sign of emotion there was. From the slight tilting of her head it was clear to her that Naruto was thinking, most likely whether or not he should accept her offer. There was a slight tilting of his head for a single second, then he gave a nod and allowed himself to walk in through the door.

Miya closed the door behind the blond as soon as he walked in. Naruto used that moment to take a look around the room. Miya's room wasn't all that different from the others in Maison Izumo, same green tatami flooring, same white paper walls, and a window near the opposite side of the entrance. Really, the only differences about this room and all the other ones was that it was bigger, and held Miya's personal items. The object that held the most of Naruto's attention was the shrine on one side of the room. He recognized it as a shrine used to honor the dead as per Japanese customs. On top of the shrine was the image of a man with messy white hair and gray eyes that Naruto correctly deduced was Miya's husband. The incense she had lit a little while ago were still burning openly, sending small streams of smoke drifting lazily into the room.

For a moment all was silent as Miya walked past him, moving to the center of the floor where she once more sat down, placing her hands in her lap, and then looking up at him. His gaze bore into hers with an intensity that Miya found both strangely fascinating and terrifying. This man, he showed no fear of glaring down at her, something that anyone who had even an inkling of who she was would never do. Even her most hated enemy wasn't that stupid.

As the silence grew, Miya decided she would be the one to break it. "I take it you wish to speak with me about what happened tonight?" she left her question vague, while she was already positive that she knew the reason Naruto was here, she didn't want to be presumptuous and say something only to end up wrong.

The blond before her remained silent for a full minute, the intensity in his eyes not diminishing. Miya bore his scrutiny to the best of her abilities, it helped that he was not using that... thing he had managed to call forth last time. Finally, after the minute had passed he asked, "why did you do it?" and she knew exactly what he was talking about. It was hard not to, after all. The only question was, how should she respond?

"As I said before, Naruto-san," she started in a slow, careful voice, as if making sure that there was no way for the blond to misunderstand her words. "This is my house, and while you are a guest in this house, I expect you to obey me." Her purple eyes narrowed slightly. "Not only did you not obey me, but you deliberately made sure I could not follow you and locked me out."

"With good reason," Naruto retorted, his own eyes narrowing.

"Perhaps," Miya admitted with a small shrug. "But Kagari-san is my friend as well as my tenant. I wanted to make sure you would not do anything untoward while tending him."

"Don't give me that!" the blond growled, a snarl on his face. "We both know that's not the reason you were so adamant on coming with me! And we both know that's not the reason you decided to spy on me!" His accusations had Miya wincing. She had not expected him to notice that. The truth was, she trusted Naruto. She didn't know why she trusted him, nor the circumstances behind it's formation, all she knew was that she did. Apparently, he knew that as well.

"Is it really so bad that I know about your... abilities?" asked Miya, it was a question asked both out of curiosity and out of her desire to change the subject. She had a feeling that if she pursued the previous matter she would lose any argument they might have.

"Yes!" Naruto snapped, then grimaced. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, Miya could actually see the way his chest and shoulders began rising at a slower pace each time. A meditation technique, perhaps? When the blond opened his eyes again they were once more cold stones of ice set on a stern face. "It has nothing to do with knowing about my abilities. That does bother me a lot, yes, but given time, I may have been willing to inform you of them at a later time, if for no other reason than Matsu seems to trust you. But that was before you and she decided to completely disregard my privacy."

Miya hid her flinch his words caused quite masterfully, even as she tried to think up her response. When put the way Naruto had, her attempt to learn more about the mysterious blond did sound pretty bad. The way he said she was 'completely disregarding his privacy' made it sound like she was violating his basics rights in some way. It also had the affect of making her feel... vile, almost, or perhaps dirty, like she had committed some great sin that had stained her in a way that could not be seen by human eyes.

"It is hard," she began, and this time the slowness of her words seemed more about her being careful with what she said than trying to make her words clearly understood. "Living with someone you know very little about. Naruto-san is a very mysterious person, not only is he an enigma but he also refuses to let others know the real him." She was, of course, referring to the personality that Naruto wore more often than not. The friendly persona he had used when they first met, a combination of the by-product of being newly bonded to Musubi and the skilled mask he wore to hide his own bitterness at the world when in public or seducing women. Miya had already deduced that it wasn't real. The Naruto she and everyone else saw was not the true Naruto. Granted, it wasn't that hard given all of the issues the blond tenant had been having recently when it came to his own emotions, but those just made the persona he attempted to keep up all the more visible.

"And so you think that gives you the right to spy on me?" Naruto asked bluntly, his eyes narrowing. While Miya did not flinch, she did turn her head away from the accusing glare. "You thought that because I wasn't letting you know about my past that you would just find out more about me by spying on me?" The blond shook his head at her. "That's pretty hypocritical, don't you think? After all, Miya-san has more than enough secrets of her own." At those words the blond looked over at the image of Takehito, and Miya instantly knew what he was talking about. A new emotion seemed to enter her mind and body, one that didn't take very long to place. It was one that she had lived with for a long time after all, an emotion she had felt almost constantly ever since her husbands death, and seemed to strike her with a vengeance.

Guilt. She felt guilty for spying on Naruto, a man who was a rather private person when it came to his past. Honestly, she was surprised he had let her know as much about him as he had. However, even with all of the things he told her, all of those little insights into his character, his thoughts, and his beliefs that he had let slip in his moments of weakness, he had never told her or his Sekirei anything of true significance as far as his past was concerned. She knew nothing about who he was save the few bits of knowledge, which was useless without proper context, that he had occasionally given.

When she had first gone to Matsu's room so she could watch Naruto as she tended to Kagari, she would admit that a part of her was angry. Never before had she been snubbed like that, even the woman she hated more than anyone else in this world would not dare be so blunt and defying to her, and that was saying something considering that woman was a bloodthirsty psychopath. Naruto had. He had not only defied her in her own house, but had managed to project... something similar yet vastly different from her own hannya's masks enough to actually surprise and somewhat frighten her. And so, with the blond having pretty much kicked her out of Kagari's room, she had gone to Matsu, angry and annoyed she had the red head spy on Naruto to see what he was doing.

Now she was beginning to wish she hadn't.

"Do you know why, whenever Matsu refused to tell me something I would just let the subject go?" asked Naruto, his voice now much softer than it was before. For some reason, it brought an even deeper sinking feeling into Miya's stomach. When all she could do was shake her head, the blond continued. "I didn't push her for answers because I knew they were things you have specifically requested her to keep secret. Considering she was adjusted by your husband and her position on the first incarnation of the Discernible Squad, it's clear that she knows more about you than perhaps anyone else save another member of said squad. I know I could have pushed her into revealing your secrets, as her Ashikabi my will over her succeeds yours, I know that, but I didn't force her into revealing something that would compromise you because I respected you. More than I didn't ask her to give away your secrets because I know what it's like to have a secret you either can't, or don't wish to share with anyone else."

"And so I respected your decision to keep your past a secret," Naruto finished, his tone cold. "But it seems that you can't show me the same respect." This time Miya could not hide her flinch. The blond seemed to be done speaking with her as well, because he spun around on his heel abruptly and made his way to the door. Unable to say anything, and unsure of what to say even if she had the ability of speech right now, all Miya could do was watch as the blond walked towards the door. He only stopped when he had reached the door, his left hand placed upon the handle. He looked over his shoulder and tossed her one last parting comment.

"You know, I was going to apologize for being so rude to you once I finished healing Kagari," he said, and Miya's shoulders gained a barely noticeable slump. Naruto shook his head. "Now I'm very glad I didn't." And with that last demoralizing shot, Naruto opened the door and walked out. Miya watched as the door behind him closed, and when the resounding 'click' of the door closing echoed in the room, clenched her eyes closed and let her posture finally slump forward in an expression that was both tired and distraught.

This entire situation could have gone better, much better. The worst part about it was that this was all her fault; for making improper demands of Naruto when he was only trying to help someone, for allowing her anger at being denied get the best of her, for spying on Naruto without realizing that perhaps he had his secrets of his own that were similar to hers, at least in importance. This was only the second time she had ever screwed up something so royally before, the first having direct connections to her husbands death. Miya could only pray that she would find a way to make things up to Naruto when she got the chance, otherwise things were going to get very tense within Maison Izumo.

**XoX**

After closing the door behind him, Naruto took a second to lean with his back against the wall. Closing his eyes the blond released an exhausted sigh as his mind began catching up with the days events. So much had happened in so little time, Kagari's near self immolation, Matsu and Miya spying on him and the entire mess that had started. The day was finally beginning to truly catch up with him, and when combining this with the past several days since becoming an Ashikabi and you had a blond who truly felt his several thousand years of age. By the sage he had never felt so exhausted.

Despite how tired he was, he could still feel his own emotions simmering beneath the surface. A boiling pot that had only settled, but not left. A part of him was still quite angry, though some of it had left during his conversation with Matsu, it had returned to him quite easily when confronting Miya. It was strange almost, both of them had done the same thing that had made him so mad, but only Miya held the brunt of his anger. When she had first opened that door, all of that anger that had been dispersing had returned with a vengeance. With Matsu, the longer his confrontation had gone the less anger he had to direct at her.

Was this another part of the bond? It was theoretically possible. If the bond was capable of acting as an empathic connection between him and his Sekirei, then perhaps it also served as some kind of protection against the Sekirei if the Ashikabi got angry. But no, even as he thought that the blond realized that if that were the case, then it would probably work towards cooling off all of his emotions and not just his anger. There was also the fact that he had been in what amounted to emotional turmoil and confusion since he had become untangled in the Sekirei Plan. That meant the bond couldn't be the reason.

Maybe he was just growing soft. The thought made him snort. He could kill without batting an eyelash. Sure, he may not be fond of battle anymore, but that was simply because he had nothing to fight for. Killing on the other hand, was something he had no problems with. You didn't need to fight someone to kill them, and Naruto had killed so many people that he had grown numb to the act. He remembered a time, back when he had first realized his curse that the act of killing would bring him nightmares. He would spend night after night writhing and sweating as the faces of those he had killed to keep his secret accused him of forgetting his senseis teachings, of abandoning his search for peace. Now, now Naruto's dreams were only of his failure during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

And of his Sekirei. One mustn't forget about those dreams.

Shaking his head, the eternal shinobi decided he was far to tired to theorize on possible reasons for his anger to be directed at one person and not another when they both did the same thing. He needed some sleep before he could do any serious thinking right now. Maybe when he was more rested, he could resume his theory on why he felt less anger towards his Sekirei than he did Miya.

Which was why he was not that pleased to Uzume when he finally made it back up to the second floor. She was standing next to his door, her hips tilted slightly to the right, her left arm grasping her right one at the elbow as she no doubt waited for him. She looked nervous, he concluded. Her facial expression betrayed her, the way she shifted while waiting let him know how anxious she truly was. At the same time, there was a determination on her face that he had not seen for a while. Whatever she wanted to speak with him about, it was important enough that she was willing to cast aside her own fears to do so. The moment their eyes locked, her will seemed to form into a determined resolve. There was a hardened glint to them that Naruto couldn't help but admire.

"Uzume," Naruto acknowledged the girl as he walked up to his room. The busty Sekirei in the star shirt shifted again, choosing stand a bit straighter than she had been.

"Naruto," she said, then hesitated before taking a deep breath. "Can we talk?"

Naruto looked over at his door with a longing gaze, then back to the busty brunette before him. With a deep sigh, he gestured for her to proceed him down the hall, and then dutifully followed her when she moved past him.

Maybe he really was growing soft.


	14. Uzume's Pain, Homura's Fire

**Chapter 13: Uzume's Pain, Homura's Fire**

**XoX**

Naruto reentered the living room where Uzume was sitting with two empty cups and a pot of tea. Placing on cup in front of the brunette, he proceeded to pour some of the steaming liquid into it, then did the same to the cup he placed in front of the spot he would be sitting. Uzume grabbed the cup he offered in both hands and took a sip of her tea, her posture relaxing as she did so. When she removed the cup from her mouth, her enjoyment of the beverage Naruto had made was clear on her face.

It was felt strangely nice to watch someone's obvious enjoyment of something you made. There was a strange, warm feeling that blossomed in his chest at knowing that Uzume appreciated his drink. Was this what people spoke of when they mentioned 'the satisfaction of a job well done'? How strange.

Sitting down himself, the blond didn't allow his posture to slump in the slightest as he took a small sip of his warm tea. Instead he sat in the more traditional seiza position, his back straight and his shoulders set as he prepared for whatever Uzume wished to speak with him about. He was tired, but it wouldn't do to show that weakness to anyone he might have to fight later.

He absently watched Uzume as she sat before him. They were sitting on opposite sides of the table, which was pretty standard whenever they had meals. In fact, they had not sat on the same side in all the time they had been living together. Looking at the busty young woman, Naruto could see that she was trying to bring up the conversation she wished to talk about, but was unsure how to do so. She would open her mouth every few seconds, look at him, and then promptly close it and look away. Just from that small action Naruto already had an idea on what she wanted to discuss with him.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked after the silence seemed to stretch on longer than necessary. If Uzume was not going to bring up the subject, then it would be up to him to push their conversation forward. He was already tired, and though he refused to show weakness in front of a potential enemy, all he really wanted to was sleep. So the sooner this was over with, the better as far as he was concerned.

"That healing ability you have," she started, only to pause and flinch when Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. Despite her apparent fear from his gaze, she continued on most admirably. "I wanted to ask you about it?"

Naruto took a moment to think before responding, and when he did it was in the same cold voice he had used on Miya. "I would be careful of what you ask me, Uzume," he told her, noticing the way his voice made the star shirted Sekirei cringe. That was good. He had already suspected that Uzume had been one of those watching through Matsu's spy cameras, and he needed to let her know that what she saw today was something he would not hesitate to kill people over.

The Sekirei in front of him shrunk, but only for a moment. Naruto raised his right eyebrow, admittedly impressed when he saw the tomboys back straighten and her eyes harden in resolve once more. Though his warning had not been the most blunt, it hadn't been the most subtle either. If one were to look into Naruto's eyes, they would easily see the fierce of gleam within them, the barely contained will to kill someone else should the situation call for it. Naruto did not know if Uzume saw that, but it was clear that she had seen something. To still be willing to steel herself for what was to come was as admirable as it was foolish.

"Can you heal more than just burns?" Ah, so she was going straight into the questioning. Naruto was unsure just where this new found courage came from. While Uzume had never been outright frightened of him, the knowledge that he had Matsu compiling a comprehensive profile on every Sekirei and their Ashikabi had her on edge around him. Not that he could truly blame her, she was a Sekirei after all, which meant that she had an Ashikabi. She was probably worried about him finding out about her Ashikabi and making an attempt to either use of kill them off in order to rid himself of some of the competition. Though, to be honest, Naruto was not quite sure what he was going to do with the information he was having Matsu acquire yet. He just didn't want to be unprepared.

Of course, now that she had decided to skip the 'small talk' as it were and get right into the asking of questions, Naruto had decide just how he should respond. As a man who had lived far longer than even historical the oldest historical text still in existence, Naruto was an innately secretive and distrustful person. When it came to his secrets, he guarded them zealously, and those who caught even an inkling of them were normally killed. He wasn't really sure he could do that here, well, he could, but it would cause problems in the future, and not just with his Sekirei. The blond was not sure he wanted to fight Miya right now, not when he was so out of practice, and even if he was in shape he was not sure he would want to fight the woman. That left only two options, telling Uzume to forget everything she had seen and heard, or telling her about his powers.

Looking at the start shirted Sekirei, Naruto immediately ruled out the option of telling her to fuck off. The look on her face, the set of her jaw, the line her lips were forming, and the steel in her eyes told him that she would not just let this go. Which meant he would need to choose the third option, which just so happened to be the one he liked the least.

But what to tell her? He pondered this as he looked at the girl who, after a few seconds of his staring was starting to squirm uncomfortably. That was the real question he had to ask. Just what should he tell her? How much she he tell her? Despite the fact that she had seen him healing Kagari, Naruto was loath to give away his secrets. And therein lay the problem. He didn't like the fact that he had to tell someone else about his abilities, powers that he had kept hidden for almost as long as he had been alive. However, she hadn't asked him for the specifics, just whether or not he could heal more than small burns, so maybe he could generalize and hope she would eventually drop the subject.

"I can heal more than burns," he answered her with a shrug. Uzume leaned in, obviously expecting him to elaborate. Naruto grimaced for a moment, before deciding to give her a bit more. "While I'm not particularly adapt at healing, I have been able to heal anything from minor cuts to potentially fatal injuries." This had been something he had developed back when he had still been trying to bring true peace and understanding to the world. He had been traveling at the time and preaching to others about compassion. Back then the world did not have any medical technology to speak of, which he had found strange since the Elemental Nations, while nowhere near as technologically advanced as this age, had plenty of impressive devices, particularly in the medical field. Then again, considering the world had gone through what could be considered a 'Dark Age' where humanity seemed to regress technology wise, perhaps they had simply lost that ability. In either event, where ever Naruto had traveled there would be a number of people who were suffering from various physical ailments. Having been, at the time, preaching compassion and understanding to others, Naruto had used his medical ninjutsu to heal them.

He hadn't known it at the time but doing that had been a mistake. The years had passed and he had actually gotten quite good at healing others. While he would never be on the same level as Sakura, Shizune, or Tsunade because of his lack of control, he had definitely been better than the average medical ninja. As he continued in his travels, preaching and healing, word of his 'miracles' had spread far and wide, and many people had come to look at him as some kind of Messiah. Naruto had not cared about how people looked at him, only that they seemed to be taking his words seriously. There had been other people, however, who had noticed the way others looked at him.

Though he had gained wisdom and temperance due to the war he had been in, Naruto had still been woefully naïve to the true nature of humans at that time. He had not realized that while many would praise him and his efforts, just many if not many more would decry his actions for their own reasons. Fear. Jealousy. Envy. Greed. His abilities and powers soon became the cause of the very thing he had been hoping to stop. Some people had wanted him to use his powers for them and them alone, others had wanted him to disappear forever due to their jealousy of his powers. Eventually, when a group of like minded people had banded together and attempted to kill him for being a 'heretic' Naruto had been forced to flee. It had been in those moments, when he realized the true reason they had wanted to kill him, their own petty beliefs and desires, that Naruto had realized that there had been one fatal flaw in his plans for peace.

That flaw being humans themselves. Humanity is a flawed species, unable to think of others, incapable of showing compassion for compassions sake, and unwilling to even try and understand other people with different beliefs or simply people who were different much less accept them for those differences. It was a hard lesson, but one that Naruto had learned and now embraced. Peace is a lie.

"And what about diseases?" With a blink and a grimace Naruto was brought back to the real world to see Uzume still staring at him with that intense look in her eyes. "Can you heal diseases as well?" she asked again, causing Naruto to frown at her. There was something about the way she asked him that, a desperation in her voice that had his mind already making theories on why she would be so adamant on knowing this.

"Yes," he decided to answer, shrugging his shoulders, though he refused to say more. It was true, Naruto had healed many illnesses and diseases in his time. In fact, the blond was quite sure he could cure cancer and AIDS if he wanted to. Of course, doing so would expose his existence, and since he already knew from experience what would happen if he were to start performing such miracles he had no intention of doing so. But he was sure that he could.

Despite his answer not being very elaborate, it seemed to be more than enough for Uzume. She stood up so abruptly that Naruto did as well, preparing to kill her if she decided to battle him. Already his mind was going through several possible strategies and running the gamut in dismissing them. Dammit! It was times like these he wished he had met Matsu sooner, then he would have had a profile on Uzume that he could have studied up on to know exactly what her power was. Without that knowledge, all he could do was wing it and hope for the best.

He was not expecting her to suddenly push the table out of her way, nor for her to suddenly sink down on her knees while placing both hands on the floor and lowering her head on it. The position was called Dogeza, and was a prostrated position only used when showing the highest displays of reverence or making the most earnest of requests. It also told him that whatever plans he thought she might have for him were very unlikely. Unless she planned to have him relax his guard so she could kill me, but that was also unlikely. From what he had seen Sekirei did not normally use such deception. Uzume could be an exception to the rule, of course, but at the moment, he highly doubted that.

"Please, Uzumaki-san," she began, her voice no longer firm or determined, but desperate and despairing. "Please help me save my Ashikabi!"

Naruto relaxed, letting his tensed muscles loosen, and the chakra that had been humming beneath the surface just waiting to be called upon leave him. He stared at the woman still bowing prostrate on the ground and began to contemplate his next move. It didn't even take him a full second to determine his course of action.

"I have a feeling this conversation is going to be a bit longer than our usual ones," he said, his words making the Sekirei that he was not bonded to look up at him. "Why don't I make us something quick to eat, then we talk some more." It was made to sound like a question, even though it really wasn't. Even if it had been, Naruto did not give the girl a chance to answer as he began making his way towards the kitchen once more, this time to make something more filling than tea.

**XoX**

"I don't know if Matsu has managed to make a profile on me or my Ashikabi yet," Uzume said, her eyes shifting from the food she was stirring around with her chopsicks, a simple stir-fry dish with teriyaki chicken and various vegatables, to Matsu who had apparently been spying on them and had decided to join in. Considering he had just gotten on her case about spying on him, he was rather surprised she was still doing so. Then again, she hadn't had time to actually take down the spy cameras so. Aside from that, Naruto had not requested her to take them down in anywhere but his bedroom, Kagari's bedroom, and the bathhouses, so she had probably just rightly assumed that it would be ok for her to keep areas like the living room under surveillence.

"Matsu hasn't come that far yet," the red head reported to the busty Sekirei in the star shirt. "Speaking of reports, however, I did manage to compile the one you wanted on Higa Izumi." Only Naruto noticed the way Uzume stiffened at hearing the name, causing Naruto's eyes to narrow.

"Good," Naruto said, peeling his eyes off Uzume to focus on Matsu. "When we finish here, I want you to link all of the information you manage to compile onto my phone, I've created a folder in it called S-plan profiles. Put each one you complete in there and I'll review them as they come."

"Of course, Naruto-tan," Matsu responded with a smile, and Naruto took note of her reattaching the '-san' suffix to his name. He assumed her reuse of the childish suffix was due to her feeling more comfortable now that he was launching fire from his mouth in the form of a verbal assault at her. She seemed to regain her fire rather quickly.

Naruto nodded, then turned back to Uzume, who was twitching slightly at being interrupted. "I'm sorry for that," the blond said, gesturing for her to continue. "You were saying?"

"My Ashikabi, Chiho," Uzume began, her voice slow and carefully worded. "She has a very rare illness that requires her to remain in the hospital for treatments." Ah, now things were starting to make sense, both her questioning of Naruto's medical ninjutsu and the barely contained hatred she saw at the mention of Higa Izumi.

"That's so sad!" This new interruption came in the form of Musubi. Turning to the girl, Naruto was not surprised to find her holding her hands under her chin, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and looking very much like a kicked puppy. She, Akitsu, and Kusano had come out from the baths just after Naruto had finished making lunch, and not surprisingly forcing him to prepare several more plates when three sets of stomachs made earth shattering rumbles. He was just thankful that he had enough foresight to make a lot of extra food, having already anticipated that they would come in at some point during his conversation with Uzume. Currently, the girl was positioned directly on his left since it was her turn to sit by him, while Kusano had her usual right. Matsu and Akitsu were on either side of the other two girls respectively. She gave the only other brunette in the room a teary look as she sniffed. "To be separated from your Ashikabi like that must be so horrible."

Beside her, Kusano nodded her agreement and adopted a commiserating look as she echoed her elder sister Sekireis word. "Horrible."

"E-Eh?" Uzume looked slightly taken aback, probably by the kicked puppy look she was being blasted with more than the girls words. Musubi always had very expressive facial expressions. "W-Well, it's not so bad," she started, before her face adopted a sad smile. "Though I do wish she could be here, that way I could be with her all the time." Naruto raised an eyebrow, wondering if she even realized she had just given away her Ashikabi's gender. Not that it mattered, considering what she wanted from him.

"Fuhuhu, fuhuhu," Matsu's perverted old man giggling interrupted the dreary moment. Her glasses glinted ominously in the light as she adjusted them, all that while that creepy smile was on her face. "The love of an Ashikabi and her Sekirei. I wonder if Uzume-tan and her Chiho have done any experimentation together."

Uzume's grin was that of the cat that ate the canary. "Not telling," she teased, seemingly forgetting for a moment just why she was here. The perverted hacker gave the other Sekirei a pout and opened her mouth, no doubt in an attempt to see if she couldn't wheedle some more details out of the brunette.

"I take it the hospital she is staying at is Hyamaki Hospital?" Naruto asked, interrupting the conversation before Matsu could cause it to degenerate further. Despite his offer to listen to Uzume and her request, he was still rather exhausted and wanted to get this out of the way so he could sleep.

Uzume grimaced as she finally remembered just what they were supposed to be talking about. "Yes."

Naruto nodded. "And I take it that Higa Izumo owns this hospital. Furthermore, Higa Izumi is trying to gain some form of control over you by threatening your Ashikabi." The way the star shirted Sekirei grimaced with each point the blond hit was more than enough to tell him he was on the money. To his left, Musubi gasped, her hand going to her mouth and her eyes widening. On his other side, Kusano had begun making her angry 'fuuuu!' noise, apparently even a small child like her had been able to understand what I was saying. A clinking of chains also let the blond know that Akitsu had shifted in her seat, he had no need to look back to see that her face would be as inexpressive as it always was. He also didn't need to know that his theory had made the former scrapped number angry.

The only one who didn't react was Matsu, at least not in the same way as the others. Instead her lips had been drawn into a thin line, her face once more serious and mature. Naruto didn't need to be a genius to know what she thought about the situation he had just depicted.

Not that Naruto couldn't understand their anger. The bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi was sacred to them. Musubi had always been so adamant when speaking about the bond and love, and while the others might not be as expressive with their words as she was, it was clear to anyone with even meager observational skills that they all thought the same thing. To try and undermine the bond formed between a Sekirei and her Ashikabi like Higa apparently was with Uzume was likely the ultimate form of sacrilege in their eyes.

Naruto did his best to ignore them, both within and without. His words seemed to have evoked a bit more of an emotion response in them. The blond could quite literally feeling their emotions boiling beneath the surface; anger, shock, disgust, outrage, and so many other emotions that it was becoming a chore to figure out which emotions belonged to who. It was only because he was beginning to get used to this that Naruto was able to remain conscious of his own thoughts and feelings, which he had long since learned to disassociate himself with them. Thus enabling him to look at the entire situation from an objective standpoint.

Leaning forward with his left forearm on the table, the blond decided to get a bit more information into the specifics of Uzume's Ashikabi's illness. "I take it the treatment for her illness is expensive."

"Extremely expensive," Uzume admitted, looking like a wilted flower that had been exposed to the sun for too long and not given enough water. "And the only hospital who is capable of providing the cure is Hyamaki Hospital..."

"Which is owned by Izumi Higa," Naruto finished the Sekirei's sentence, nodding his head as he did so. He had suspected something like that given it was to be his meeting place with the man, though until now it had only been suspicions.

"However, I doubt they are the only ones capable of providing aid to your Ashikabim," he continued even as he filed away the knowledge of who the hospital he would be going to this Saturday at noon belonged to. "While I don't know a whole lot about MBI, I do know from Matsu that they have a hospital of their own that anyone partaking in the Sekirei Plan can use for free." MBI was the worlds largest and most powerful pharmaceutical corporation. Technologically, they were also the most advanced thanks to the alien technology Minaka had pillaged when he discovered the Sekirei's spaceship. If anyone could properly treat an illness it would be them, and if anyone could cure an illness it would be them.

Uzume's grimace spoke almost as much as her words. "I can't use the hospital sponsored by MBI because I was the one who helped Matsu escape when she fled the labs." Naruto glanced from Uzume to Matsu, who had the decency to look sheepish.

That made sense, actually. Matsu wasn't a fighting type so it should have been impossible for her to escape MBI without help. While Naruto first thought that perhaps Miya had helped her out, he had never been sure of that. Miya was powerful, there was no doubt in his mind that she could have helped Matsu. On the other hand, because Miya was so powerful I have no doubt MBI would have been forced to send their entire army after the woman and end up destroying half of Shinto Teito in the process. This made a lot more sense when compared to that.

"Ah," everyone turned to look at Akitsu who was now staring at Uzume with her head tilted in curiosity. "Thank you," she said, causing everyone to blink.

"Thank you?" Uzume inquired wonderingly. She blinked several times, as if trying to figure out just why the ice user was thanking her. Eventually, she seemed to give up and just decided it would be better to ask. "Why are you thanking me?"

"Escape." It was a single word, but while it took most of the people in the room a while to figure out, namely Kusano, Musubi, and Uzume, Naruto and Matsu were able to easily deduce the girls meaning within a few seconds.

"Wait," Matsu said, sounding shocked. "You mean when we fled MBI you managed to escape as well?"

"Yes," Akitsu's single word answer was accompanied with a nod.

"Well, it does explain how you were able to escape," Matsu commented mostly to herself, her thoughts turning introspective. "When Matsu left MBI Matsu had caused a lot of chaos when she shut down the MBI mainframe and planted several bugs in their security program. It would be easy for someone like Akitsu-tan to escape in the confusion."

Looking away from Matsu and Akitsu, Naruto decided to focus once more on Uzume and what he had learned thus far. "So because MBI might try something against you and your Ashikabi as retribution for helping Matsu you can't go to them. Which of course, leaves Higa as the only option." His mind went several thousand miles per second as he began processing this information with speeds that would make a super computer look on in envy. It didn't take him long to come up with the answer he was seeking, and he eyed Uzume long before she could even open her mouth to respond to his previous words. "Given that you are asking me to save your Ashikabi, I am guessing that he's trying to force you into doing something you don't want to, or perhaps something that your Ashikabi would disapprove of."

It was really the only conclusion Naruto could come up with, and it certainly made a lot of sense. Higa Izumi had already approached him, or at least had his secretary approach him, because he wanted something from him that he felt only Naruto could give. It was not that big of a stretch to assume he would approach other Ashikabi to do his bidding, or in this case, a Sekirei whose Ashikabi just so happened to be under his care. This was good information, he decided, it gave him a good amount of insight into he mans character and would help him when the time came for their meeting.

"He-heh," Uzume's customary chuckle was her answer, though it was lacking in the amusement it normally did. "You're good," she admitted, before nodding. "Yes, it was a little before you came here that Higa began pressuring me into being his bloodhound in order to ensure that my Ashikabi continues getting her treatments. He wants me to terminate various Sekirei from the game without letting MBI know who terminated them."

"That's pretty impressive thinking, Naruto-tan," Matsu praised him, her face slightly flushed as she stared at the blond longingly. It seemed that intelligence was a big turn on for the red head. Not that surprising given her entire power as a Sekirei is based on gathering and interpreting information. Naruto ignored the look for the moment as he leaned back, letting his arms rest behind his back.

This information was proving to be incredibly valuable, not only was he learning more about Higa Izumi as a person, but he was learning about the mans plans in general. Already Naruto had gained a clear picture in his mind of what Higa might want for him. Yes, with Naruto's reputation amongst Unwinged Sekireis it was easy to see what Higa would want with him. And with that knowledge, Naruto would know best how to turn around any deal that might be struck, any back stabbing that might be dealt to his own advantage. All it would take was a little planning.

"I... I can't believe someone would use the love between Uzume-san and her Ashikabi to force her to do something so cruel!" Naruto's train of thought was interrupted when Musubi spoke out, slamming both hands on the table as she did so. Everyone looked over at the naïve fist fighter, not quite surprised, but definitely wary all the same.

With good reason too, Naruto decided as he looked at his Sekirei. Musubi looked different now, much different than she usually did. It was still her face, still her knock out body, this was not a physical change of any kind, but a metaphorical one, a change in the self that reached far deeper than physical appearance. The brunette fist fighters eyes were blazing with an intensity that it did not have before, even more so then when Musubi had confronted Seo about how he continued letting his Sekirei fight against Unwinged Sekirei. It was a look that was decidingly NOT Musubi.

The feelings behind it were also different. Before, when she had been stating her disapproval for Seo's continued inaction about his Sekirei fighting Unwinged Sekirei before they had a chance to find love, it had simply been that, disapproval. This, this was anger, white hot and enough to melt even the feircest of metal. Naruto could feel it, the anger his Sekirei held towards someone who would not just break the bonds of love between a Sekirei and her Ashikabi, but use it for their own vile purposes.

It was enough to make him feel light headed. His own emotions were growing dimmer. In the face of that anger Naruto's entire existence was overridden and for a moment, he was more than just Naruto, more than just Musubi, he was something more, something –

"Naruto-tan?"

Naruto blinked, looking around for a moment it took him a second to realize that everyone in the room was staring at him in concern. Even Akitsu's expressionless face seemed to be holding the emotion, though that could just be her increasing the intensity of her stare.

It took him another second to realize how heavily he was breathing, his lungs burned with a need for oxygen that he had not felt since his battle with Uchiha Madara. Sweat encased his blow, slick and warm underneath the head band with the engraved metal plate of a leaf that he habitually wore. His body shook as if he had exerted himself in combat for a thousand years without pause. He looked down at his hands where they were gripping onto the wooden table hard enough to leave imprints of his fingers. With several deep breaths, he began regaining control over himself, and with another several, his body stopped shaking, his breathing began to smooth out, and after a small application of wind chakra to cool himself, Naruto felt his entire body cool down.

"Naruto-tan, are you ok?" asked Matsu, worry clear in her voice.

"I'm fine," Naruto said in a steady voice that belied his unease. Just what the hell was that? It was the foremost thought on his mind. After he had begun growing partially used to feeling his Sekireis emotions, Naruto had taken the task of cataloging every emotion he had ever felt that was not his. The emotions themselves, he intensity, the frequency in which he felt them, and who they came from. He had made sure to catalog all of them in meticulous detail in order to try and understand more about the bond. He had thought he was beginning to understand more about what it meant to be an Ashikabi, but apparently, he had been wrong. Because whatever THAT was, it had been more intense than anything he had ever felt in his life bar none.

None of his Sekirei looked quite sure about that, even Akitsu looked slightly worried, while Matsu was worrying her lower lip and Kusano was clinging to his side now, her head buried in his torso. The only one who wasn't looking to worried was Musubi, who was still staring at him with a look that just did not belong on her face.

"Are you sure you're alright, Naruto-tan?" asked Matsu, once again assuming the role of spokesperson for his Sekirei. "Perhaps you really should get some rest. We can continue this tomorrow." She looked over and, surprisingly enough, cast a glare at Uzume who looked like she had been about to speak out in protest. In another surprising turn of events, Uzume backed down with a nervous look, probably because she had never seen such an expression from Matsu before. Though it could have just as easily been the stare Akitsu was now giving her.

Shaking his head, Naruto put this new emotion into the back of his mind, storing it with all of the other emotional data he had collected from the bond, as well as the fact that his Sekirei didn't seem to know what had happened either. "No," he said, shaking his head. "It would be best if we get this out of the way now." Turning back to a slightly squirming Uzume, he gestured for her to continue speaking. "So I take it you wish for me help you rescue your Ashikabi and heal her up with my... powers so that Higa will no longer be able to hold any influence over you?"

"Yes," Uzume said, her voice a desperate plea. "Please help, Naruto. I don't have anyone else to turn to. You may be the only person in the entire world who can save my Chiho."

Naruto closed his eyes as he ran his options in his head. A thousand possible scenarios came up, a thousand variables entered his mind. Choices, consequences, an indescribable number of plans, and tactics came to him in the blink of an eye. In the end, it all came down to choice. There were so many ways to turn this single request to his advantage, either by taking advantage of Uzume, her Ashikabi, both, or Higa, they were all there.

In the end it came down to choice. What did he want to do? What was it he wished to gain? Looking at his Sekire, Naruto found himself gaining his own choices from them. He had decided to be an Ashikabi, and if he was going to be one, then he was going to be the best. Once more, he found his eyes locked with Musubi, the normally happy and naïve girl who now had steel in her eyes.

"What would you have us, your Sekirei, do now, Ashikabi-sama?" she asked, her voice mature, holding a quality that Musubi simply shouldn't be able to produce. Just by looking at her, Naruto had to wonder if perhaps some of his own personality, the one he had gained during the war, wasn't reflecting onto her. Maybe the bond really did go both ways?

Even as his thoughts took him down this path, Musubi placed her left arm against her chest, her face column. "Whatever decision you choose, know that we," here she swept her hand out to encompass the other three he had managed to wing as she finished talking. "Will follow you."

And just like that, the mature demeanor, the steel in her voice and eyes was gone, disappeared as if it had never been there. Musubi blinked, looking around in confusion as she noticed all of the eyes staring up at her. "Um, hello?" she said brightly. "Has something happened? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the fist fighter, but after a moments thought, decided not to ponder the strange phenomenon that had just happened with his first Sekirei. He was too tired and too confused to think about it. Instead he turned his attention to a problem he actually could deal with.

"You said that Higa wanted you to defeat Unwinged Sekirei for him, yes?" he asked as he turned to face Uzume.

"Ah, yes," Uzume said, looking a little unsure. Her eyes would trail from Naruto to Musubi, then back again as if she was not quite sure which one she should look at. Naruto nodded.

"Very well," he said, a plan beginning to form in his head. It was good, and had relatively little danger, and if done right, would help him demoralize and decrease the Ashikabi of the Easts power base, while still being able to make use of him. "I'll save your Ashikabi."

"Really?" breathed Uzume, her eyes widening with hope. When Naruto nodded at her, the girl sagged in relief and looked like she might cry at any moment. "Thank you," she whispered, "thank you."

Naruto closed his eyes, this time not lost in thought, but in emotion. He felt strange, warm, yes, he supposed that was the word for it. There was a strange warmth in his chest, one that he couldn't quite identify but felt very familiar. It was probably something he had felt once, long ago, but had forgotten with time. Like an old friend it caressed him, soothed him in strange ways, and a genuine smile actually formed on his face. Whatever this warmth was, it was not coming from the bond. At least not solely.

Opening his eyes, Naruto looked at the others. They were all smiling to some degree, though Akitsu's small upturn of the lips was nowhere near the intensity of Kusano's bright beam. Even Matsu had a small smile on her face as she adjusted her glasses. Once again, however, it was Musubi's smile that caught his attention. It was not the bright beaming of a naïve girl, instead it was the smile of a woman, fully matured and well aware of how monumental the decision made just was. Naruto couldn't help but return the smile with a small one of his own.

Then he turned look at Uzume. "So tell me the details of just what Higa wants you to do?" he asked, his voice sharp enough to cut steel as his mind began to move over everything he now knew with a fine toothed comb. It was time, he had decided. Time he began truly planning his first moves on what he would do for the Sekirei Plan.

**XoX**

This time, when Naruto's conscious returned to him, he was not at all surprised to find himself surrounded by four warm bodies. He was slightly surprised that he had not dreamed about Kagari/Homura, but figured that may have something to do with the fact that the fire user was currently still unconscious and unlikely to wake up until sometime around noon. Looking out the window he saw that it was early, only the barest hints of light from the sun could be seen through it so he guessed it was around five o'clock or so.

He took a few moments to relax while in the embrace of his Sekirei. Really, he mused to himself, it was quite comfortable, almost like being wrapped in a warm cocoon. One would think that with four bodies enclosing on him from all sides that he would be extremely uncomfortable, or maybe even feel claustrophobic or something. There was none, all he felt was the comforting warmth of their bodies, three of which were extremely well developed and simply felt divine as they were pressed against him. There was also the bond he had to consider. Before, whenever Naruto had woken up to a girl, or two, it had just been the warmth of their bodies he felt. Now, with these four, that warmth was accompanied by the constant presence of their bond to him, easily felt even though they were asleep as a constant hum in the back of his mind. It probably had something to do with how he why he was so comfortable with them.

A look over to his left confirmed what he had expected to see. Musubi had claimed that spot again. She was wearing her usual bloomers that had become her normal sleepwear, namely because she didn't feel like changing into them once she woke up and did her daily sparring with Miya. If she couldn't just sleep naked, then she might as well wear something she would be using right after she woke up had been her thoughts on the matter. It was surprisingly sound logic, at least as far as Musubi went. Though Naruto was not quite sure if the landlady would be up for a spar given what happened yesterday.

Like always Musubi was in her favored position, his arm wrapped around her as she used his shoulder as a pillow, her body into his torso so snugly that her breasts were squished against his torso, and her right leg hook around his left. As always her mouth was slightly parted as she slept, a trail of drool leaking from her mouth and onto the bare flesh of his shoulder. By now he had gotten so used to it that he it no longer bothered him to have his appendage liberally coated in her oral fluids.

Naruto didn't even need to look to know that Akitsu would be on his left side. If the coolness of her breath on his neck didn't assure him of this, then that fact that he could feel her bare groin pressed against him did. The shirt she was wearing was once again different, a dark orange shirt with a bowl of ramen on it. He had gotten it at a ramen convention of all things (the one great thing humanity has ever done in his mind) and decided that he must have it, along with the fifty other shirts they had sold there. Like always it was much to small for her due to her bust size, and Naruto was very lucky shirts were capable of stretching as much as they did or he would have lost several pairs to his ice using Sekirei by now. The girl seemed to take great pleasure in wearing his clothing.

Much like Musubi she was pressed into his side, his arm wrapped around her as her head rested in the crook of his neck and her cool breath created a stark contrast with the warmth permeating him from all sides. She had managed to somehow slip one arm under his back, which had probably fallen asleep by now, and the other was resting on his stomach. Both of her legs had somehow managed to wrap and intertwine around his own leg and seemed to have used them to pull her towards him or visa versa, which would explain why he knew for a fact that she was not wearing any pants.

The blond would admit to being surprised to see Matsu also sleeping in the bed with him, given that she had not gone to bed with him last night. Maybe she had been afraid that he wouldn't let her and decided to sneak in at night? He supposed it didn't matter. The red head was in her standard sleepwear, the small left spaghetti string of the pink sheer nighty had fallen down her shoulder at some point during the night, adding a sense of provocative sensuality to her.

Furthering this look of seduction was the way she had positioned herself on top of him. The first thing he nodded was that she had turned on her side in such a way that simply by lifting his head allowed him to see down her partially translucent nighty, of which he noticed was the only thing she was wearing besides panties. He could quite clearly see her nipples poking out through her sleepwear, slightly hardened by the cool breeze of the fan hitting her breasts. The rest of her was stretched out on top of him, and he could feel her legs in a tangled mix with those of his own and his other two adult Sekirei.

The final addition to this scene was Kusano, who he noticed was wearing her usual orange pajamas. Adding a strange adorableness to the scene, the youngest of his Sekirei had managed to worm her way on top of his chest with Matsu, and was now curled up like a cat on top of him, the red heads arms wrapped around her as she rested her head against the older Sekireis chest.

His head fell back onto his pillow and he stared up at the ceiling, his hands absently caressing the bare flesh of Akitsu and Musubi underneath them as he let his mind wander to his current problems.

The first problem was Kagari, or Homura, it actually bothered him that he still didn't know which name the guy, girl, gender confused Sekirei, went by. The problem, of course, was that they were reacting. Thinking back, there had been signs of... Kagari (until presented otherwise) was reacting to him. Ever since there first meeting, Kagari would often begin scratching at his chest as if feeling chest pains. At first Naruto had just thought it was something like heartburn, but after the first dream had realized it likely had something to do with them reacting. Of course, now that he knew of Kagari's... chest problem, he had to wonder if the chest scratching had to do with the fire user growing boobs, or if those boobs had always been there. Not that he supposed it mattered in the end. Whether Kagari had boobs before or not, the gender confused Sekirei certainly had them now.

At first Naruto had ignored the bond forming, at least as best he could, it hadn't been easy since he was still dealing with the feelings of four other Sekirei. This wasn't done out of maliciousness of any kind, but because Kagari didn't seem to want to react to him. The way the silver haired Sekirei had avoided him so much was proof of that. And if Kagari didn't want Naruto to be his, her, Ashikabi, then he would leave the Sekirei be. It wouldn't be right to force the fire user to wing, after all, and he had enough Sekirei to deal with at the moment.

Now the chance of leaving Kagari unwinged was highly unlikely. The fire user had nearly burned himself, herself, to a crisp with his, her, own power. Whatever was happening with the silver haired tenant of Maison Izumo, it was clear that his power was causing him a lot of damage. Naruto wasn't one hundred percent positive why the fire Sekireis power was going out of control, but he had a few theories, both on the whys and on how to possibly fix the problem. Of course, the possible fix was something that Naruto wasn't sure if Kagari would like or not.

His Second problem was Miya. She had spied on him, not just spied on him but did so knowing that it would likely reveal something he had been trying to keep a secret. A part of him could understand why she did it, as someone of great power, and likely someone who has never met her equal before in terms of power, Miya was used to getting her way. She was the strongest Sekirei in the world, and one of the most powerful people he had ever met. And she knew that, it was the whole reason she was so used to people listening to her. For someone to deny her something when she had all but demanded he listen to her must have come as a great shock to the landlady, which prompted her to spy on him. So he could say that he understood why she did what she did.

However, just because he understood her, didn't mean he had forgiven her. Naruto wasn't even sure if he could forgive her. He had placed his trust in the calm and beautiful landlady, had allowed her to know just a little bit more about himself than he would have admitted otherwise as a sign of respect for her power, and perhaps he just wanted to speak with someone he could consider an equal. That she had gone and trampled on the respect he had given her, both in regards to what he allowed her to know and in regards to how he had not pressed further into her own life, was unforgivable. The only reason he didn't just up and leave was because of Matsu, as unfortunate as it was, the red head couldn't leave due to MBI pursuing her. Naruto was sure they knew where she was, and he was equally sure that it was only Miya's presence that kept them from trying to reclaim his newest Sekirei. Furthermore, if Naruto were honest with himself, he was unsure of his own capabilities to protect her. He was several thousand years out of practice, and while he may be able to flat out over power anyone who got in his way, it would also reveal his existence and powers to the world, something that he didn't want getting out, ever. So for the moment, he was stuck in Maison Izumo, whether he wanted to be there or not.

Another issue that had cropped up was the one with Uzume and their Ashikabi. He had agreed to help them get out from under Higa's thumb and see if he couldn't heal the girls illness. He had no clue what the disease was, but he was beginning to suspect that it may be a chakra related issue and not your average disease. Still, Naruto wasn't concerned about that, they had cracked out a plan yesterday, and if all went according to plan he would be able to spin this whole Higa concern to his benefit.

The last of his problems, and perhaps the biggest one of all was Minaka's knowledge of him. The man knew far too much for Naruto's liking. How that man had figured out so much was beyond him, and the knowledge that he didn't know how the MBI President had discovered that the connection between Naruto and Minato bothered him more than he cared to admit. However, he had found out didn't change the fact that Minaka knew that he was more than your average human. Unfortunately, he also knew there was very little Naruto could do about it right now, which had probably been why he was so willing to handing out that piece of information.

Normally when something like this happened, the person in question would already be dead, or their death would at least be plotted out by now. This situation was different, not only was Minaka the head of the largest and most technologically advanced pharmaceutical corporation in the world, he was also very well protected. MBI had it's own private army, and if that failed he had the Discipline Squad. Sneaking in wouldn't work either, while Naruto could disguise himself as an MBI operative or scientist by killing someone who worked their and henging into them, the henge was not perfect. He may look like an exact replica of the person he henged into, but in a world where finger print ids, eyeball scans, DNA tests, and X-ray vision existed, any action he may take at infiltrating MBI would end in failure.

Which of course would result in him having to make his escape and end up revealing himself to the world, especially if he ended up fighting one or all members of the Discipline Squad. Definitely not something he wanted to have happen.

Fortunately for him Minaka seemed to be keeping this information to himself, mostly. Matsu had said she had found it in a file so encrypted that even she had only managed to get some of the information it contained before being forced to pull out of the mainframe. If she couldn't get to it, chances were high that only Minaka himself had seen it. If Naruto had to guess, Minaka was far too interested in seeing him play through this Sekirei Plan all the way to the end. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. So long as he played by Minaka's rules, there was unlikely to be any chance of the man letting his secret out. But if he didn't then it was quite possible that the MBI President would reveal his identity as some form of punishment.

For the moment, all Naruto could do was wait and react. Eventually the day would come, and he would kill Minaka and erase the data that man had gathered on him, all it would require was a little patience.

"Ah," a voice from his right suddenly spoke up, startling Naruto as he had thought his Sekirei were asleep. "Ashikabi-sama," the voice continued in that slow, methodical way he was coming to know as well as his own voice. Turning his head he saw Akitsu, wide awake, with a fierce blush on her cheeks. It was a strange contrast, considering her face was still mostly expressionless, and for a moment he had to wonder why she was blushing so much.

Then he remembered that his hand was still caressing the bare skin of her thigh and realized that must have been what had awoken her too. Out of all the Sekirei he had, Akitsu was the only one who still had some issues with physical contact. At least when awake, she was surprisingly clingy while sleeping.

He would have wondered why Musubi wasn't also awake, but that girl could probably sleep through an earthquake and not be bothered in the slightest.

"Sorry, Akitsu-chan," Naruto said softly, his voice a hushed whisper so as not to wake anyone else as he offered the woman a small smile. He let his hand stop it's idle caressing and simply had it rest on her milky thigh, absently mapping out the firm muscles underneath her skin. He had noticed that all Sekirei, even the nerdy yet extremely hot Matsu, had very good muscle definition. Definitely a Sekirei thing. "I didn't mean to wake you. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Ah," Akitsu's blush was beginning to settle down now, thought it still retained a pinkish hue due to his hand still being on her thigh. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure why she was so shy about him giving physical contact when she clung to him in her sleep. Clung to him in her sleep while she wasn't wearing any panties mind you. "I did."

"Glad to hear it," Naruto said, before looking out the window. The sun was only now beginning to truly peak out from behind the horizon, which meant it was time to get up. Turning back to Akitsu he asked, "would you mind getting up so I can as well?"

"Ah," Akitsu nodded. "Yes." Slowly, the ice user untangled herself from Naruto's body, and as her blush began to recede she started to look strangely disappointed. The blond wondered if it was because she was no longer in close proximity to him, which when considering how she was still embarrassed by being so close to him made for an interesting paradox.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered as he began to try and wiggle out of the grip of his other three Sekirei. Unfortunately, getting himself out from under a pile of ridiculously strong alien women that he had mated to was a lot harder than it looked. Musubi herself was enough to make it next to impossible for him to get out simply due to how hard she squeezed him when she tried. Bone breaking Tsunade hugs really sucked. And that was not adding in the fact that Matsu seemed determined to keep him under her as a pillow. Thankfully, Kusano was pretty much conked out and therefore didn't pose much of a problem other than getting out from under her without waking her.

He could have used the replacement technique, but at the moment Naruto was leery of using any of his jutsu since he didn't know if the spy cameras were still up. And even if Matsu wasn't there to control them, his paranoia that somehow Miya might be watching was enough to keep him from doing. However, this posed a problem because even as he continued to try his luck at removing himself from the pile of hot female flesh, one of his Sekirei did end up waking.

"Mmm, Naruto-tan," Matsu spoke up tiredly from on top of him. The red head not quite lifted, but more tilted her head up so her chin could rest on his chest as she looked at him with tired eyes. She blinked at him several times with a slightly aggravated look. Obviously she did not want to wake up so early. A fact that she proved with her next two sentences. "It's too early to be up. Go back to bed."

"This is when I always wake up, Matsu-chan," Naruto told her. "I did so yesterday as well." He then tilted his head as he looked at her. "Speaking of, I'm kind of surprised to find you here after what happened yesterday."

Matsu stiffened for a moment, and even in her sleepy state her eyes looked nervous. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" she asked, the anxiety in her voice quite clear.

"I am still mad," Naruto admitted, and Matsu somehow managed to flinch, an action which resulted in her chin digging almost painfully into Naruto's chest. "But I'm not mad at you," he continued, which seemed to make the red head relax, though she did look at him quizzically. Sighing, he said, "I can understand why you did what you did. And so long as you don't do it anymore, then we won't have any issues like that again."

His newest Sekirei sagged in relief at hearing this revelation. She pressed her head against his chest and gave a nod. "Matsu's going to take them down today, so Naruto-tan won't need to worry anymore," she told him, and this time it the blond's turn to nod, even though Matsu couldn't see the action. He would do his own sweep of the room later today before bed, just to make sure Matsu's spy cameras were gone.

"Thank you," he said, then shifted again. "Now, would you mind getting off so I can get up, please?"

"Sure," Matsu agreed, sounding a bit more awake now due to their serious conversation. Wrapping her arms from Kusano the red head placed them both on his bare chest and lifted her torso into the air, her back arching like a cat. Once again, Naruto was reminded of just how damn hot his Sekirei – sans Kusano – really were. Matsu was an incredible beauty, with a face that could be both mature and childish depending on her mood, a thin waste with a large chest attached to it, and a firm derriere underneath it. Long legs that looked like they stretched for miles. Even her feet were perfect, and Naruto had never even really looked at a women's feet when considering how attractive they were. It was enough to make him wonder if he was actually incredibly lucky to have accidentally ended up bonding himself to several such women, or cursed because, well, they were mortal.

"But before that," Matsu said with a lecherous smile as she began to lean down towards him. Naruto's eyes trailed from those wine colored orbs, half lidded and seductive, then down to those luscious pink lips. Had they always looked this kissable? And finally, his eyes landed on the magnificent pair of jugs she sported. They were not as big as Musubi's, but that was like comparing cantaloupes to water melons. It really didn't make a difference. As his eyes trailed back up to the red head's face, he saw that her lips were no puckered. "How about a good morning kiss?"

At the moment, he was leaning towards lucky.

For a moment, Naruto debated about whether or not he should allow her to kiss him. It wasn't that he thought she didn't deserve it, and, well, even if he was still mad at Miya her advice about letting his Sekirei into his heart was sound, and he was still going to at least make the attempt to do so. The problem came in the last time he let his Sekirei kiss him in their bedroom, more specifically he remembered how their wings had nearly destroyed his desk, the window, and had knocked over several plants as well as the television, which had ended with them needing to get a new television. Naruto wasn't quite sure he wanted to have such a mess in his room again.

Fortunately for him, the answer came to him, and were it not for Matu's lips still making their slow descend for his own, he would have smacked his forehead at being so slow. Wasn't he supposed to be known as the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha?

Matsu's lips finally connected with another pair of lips, resulting in an audible smacking noise as the red head put her heart into it. "Mmmm, Naruto-tan," she moaned into the kiss as the lips she had sought began moving against hers without volition. She opened her eyes, then paused. She blinked, once, twice, thrice, then the kiss ended with an another audible with a slight pop.

"I'm not Naruto-sama," Musubi mumbled with a sleepy smile as she rubbed her tired eyes with her fists. "But good morning."

Yes, Naruto had used the move that saved the lives of thousands of Konoha ninja a thousand times over. The infamous Kawarimi. While his chosen target wasn't his companion of many generations, his beloved log, it was perhaps better to use Musubi given the set of circumstances he found himself in. Though Naruto was quite sure the log would have enjoyed the smooch as much as the blond himself might have.

For a second, Matsu began to blush, her face turning as red as her hair. It only lasted for a moment, however, and once more that perverted gleam came back into her eyes. "Fuhuhuhu," and it seemed the perverted old man giggling had made it's way onto the scene as well. "I wonder what would happen if two Sekirei really were to get together," she mumbled under her breath, right before the old man giggling began to increase in pitch and length.

Naruto shook his head, resisting the urge to face palm. Honestly, he really wasn't surprised by this. Despite having just met Matsu, he could already tell that this was the female version of Jiraiya, pervy to the end. He wouldn't even be surprised to find a hidden stash of Icha Icha hidden somewhere inside of the hacker's room. Dammit, why did his most useful Sekirei have to be a pervert of such epic proportions that Naruto could only think of his long deceased (bless his soul) sensei? That was just all kinds of creepy!

A clinking brought a grateful Naruto out of his shuddering, because really, the idea of a female Jiraiya was just that creepy, almost as creepy as a female Orochimaru. Looking over to his left, the blond saw that Akitsu had changed into her usual garment sometime during his interaction with Matsu.

"Let's go before Matsu gets anymore ideas," he told her, turning around so he could make his way towards the door before his hacker Sekirei stopped her perverted giggles and realized he was leaving.

"Ah," Akitsu began to follow him. "Ok."

"Oh, and Akitsu," Naruto started, stopping and turning his head back to look back at her from where he stood by the door.

"Yes?"

"Panties, Akitsu," he told her in a resigned tone.

"Ah," Akitsu looked down at herself, not that she could really see passed her bust. "I forgot." She looked back up at him, then turned her head, her cheeks turning a faint pink.

It was a true testament to just how many times this had happened that Naruto's only reaction was a slight twitch of his right eye.

**XoX**

Things had gone normally for the rest of that morning until breakfast; Musubi and Miya still had their spar an hour after Naruto had left from doing his own training, Matsu had gone back to her room, presumably to do download and create more Ashikabi and Sekirei profiles for the blond, Akitsu had watched him (which was slightly different but only because she had been awake to come with him), and Kusano had woken up around the same time as Musubi and watched her spar with the landlady. Everything almost seemed normal, as if the previous events from yesterday had never happened. At least things had seemed that way until breakfast.

Breakfast itself had been an extremely quiet affair, Naruto had prepared the food with his usual flair for exotic dishes, this time serving an Indian dish (as in food from India) and many of the Sekirei particularly Uzume, who seemed to enjoy trying new things and was in much higher spirits today thanks to yesterday, had enjoyed the meal. However, even the tomboyish Sekirei had noticed the tense atmosphere, and after giving her initial compliment to Naruto ate in compete silence.

The only people who hadn't noticed the thick-enough-to-cut-with-a-knife-tension had been Kusano and Musubi, which was really not at all surprising to anyone there. While everyone else ate in silence, Musubi and Kusano had taken playing with their food. Well, Kusano had taken to playing with her food, pretending that her spoon was a car, or a rocket ship, or some kind of motor driven vehicle. Naruto couldn't tell the difference since all she had done was make 'vrumming!' noises as she moved her spoon in various random directions before placing it in her mouth. Musubi on the other hand had simply scarfed down her food like eating was going out of style, her Akamichi appetite no doubt on a rampage from all the energy she lost sparring with Miya.

Akitsu might not have noticed the tension either, given that she had made no reaction to do anything than what she usually did. It was always hard to tell with that one.

The tension, of course, came from the two power houses that had been in the room. Miya and Naruto had not spoken to each other the entire time besides giving polite, if very formal greetings. Miya nearly flinched when Naruto called her 'Asama-san' rather than 'Miya-chan' like he used to. Though she herself had responded by calling him 'Naruto-san' instead of 'Uzumaki-kun'. It had been clear from the onset that Naruto still had not forgiven Miya for her previous betrayal of his privacy last night, even if he was partly to blame. Equally clear was that Miya had acted nothing like her usual self, instead seeming indecisive and unsure. It was a stark contrast to the previous interactions the pair had before yesterdays incident.

No one commented on the increase in tension, however. In fact, aside from Musubi and Kusano, none of the other tenants even made so much as a peep as they ate. Uzume had finished her food first, doing so as quickly as she could before leaving with some lame excuse, and Matsu had not been to far behind, though her claim that she was going to work on getting more profiles for Naruto was far better than Usume's 'I forgot to grab something from my room' excuse. The only Sekirei to have finished that fast had been Akitsu, who, well, simply didn't seem to even notice the tension and had just resumed her staring. Musubi might have finished first, but the fist fighter had consumed nearly twice as much as everyone else had.

After breakfast, Naruto had once again convinced Musubi and Akitsu to take Kusano to the bathhouse and get her cleaned up. The little girl hadn't been to happy about that, and had almost shown the blond her displeasure by sinking her surprisingly sharp molars into his strangely soft flesh. Honestly, how the little sprites teeth could hurt so damn much were beyond him. Thankfully, he had managed to evade and promised her a surprise if she was a good girl and let 'Aki-chan' and 'Mu-chan' give her a bath. It had been enough to work, and Naruto promised to burn some incense to the holy ramen gods for granting him this one boon.

Of course, now he had to find a surprise that Kusano would like, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, he already had several ideas.

Once Naruto had finished cleaning the plates and putting them away after everyone had eaten he once more found himself in Kagari's room, checking the fire users pulse, making his/her sure his vitals were stable, and doing his best to make the silver haired Sekirei comfortable. The blond was almost surprised that Miya hadn't even made an attempt at coming with him when he announced his intentions to Musubi as she tried to convince him to take a bath with her and the rest of his harem. Instead the woman had simply asked him to let her know when Kagari woke up, then excused herself from the table to get started on the daily household chores. Naruto had wondered if perhaps she was learning from her previous mistake about trying to butt into his affairs, or maybe she was simply trying to make amends by not interfering with him. Not that he cared at the moment. It was as he said, Miya had violated his privacy too much for this to be a simple matter of forgive and forget.

Having finished running medical scan over the fire user, Naruto was pleased to note that there was nothing new about the Sekirei's state. Kagari appeared to be fine, and would likely wake up sometime within the next hour or two. With nothing else to do, the blond decided to simply meditate while waiting for the gender confused Sekirei to wake up.

When most people think of meditation, they often imagine someone sitting cross legged with their hands on their knees, eyes closed as they made 'oomm' noises. A lot of those people were complete idiots. Meditation extended to a wide variety of practices, which range from techniques designed to promote relaxation, contacting spiritual guides, building internal energy, receiving psychic visions, getting closer to god, seeing past lives, taking astral journeys, and so forth, to more technical exercises targeted at developing compassion, love, patience, generosity, forgiveness and more far-reaching goals such as effortless sustained single-pointed concentration, single-pointed analysis, and an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any and all of life's activities. So long as the individual is training and/or inducing a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit, anything could be considered meditation.

Naruto often used meditation techniques for one of two purposes, communing with nature via his sage training, or contemplating the many different subjects he might be thinking about. While most people who understood the truth behind meditation might use a method that requires them to be more active, Naruto's involved sitting absolutely still for long periods of time. It was a stark contrast to when he was a child and couldn't sit still to save his life. Now he was not only capable of such complete stillness that one would assume he was a statue or someone who had stopped breathing, but he could also spend days on end meditating without pause. The longest time he'd done so was a week straight without stopping for anything.

Currently, Naruto was sitting on a chair he had pulled up by Kagari's bedside, arms crossed and eyes closed as he leaned back in it. He allowed his mind to wander, not really paying any one thought or problem too much attention, letting his thoughts slip from his mind like water flowing around a boulder. He didn't want to truly think about the many problems in his life right now. There were simply too many things to think about at the moment, and it was honestly beginning to give Naruto a head ache.

And so he tried not to truly think. The issues he faced could be dealt with at a later time. Right now, he allowed himself a small moment to relax as best he could given the circumstances. It was a touch difficult, there was a lot on his mind, and there were a lot of things he would need to do the moment he resumed his life. But Naruto persevered. He was getting better at managing the many emotions of himself and his Sekirei, shunting his head ache inducing issues to the side wasn't that much of a stretch.

A knock came to the door, causing Naruto's eyes to snap open and his head to turn towards the offending object. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was Miya or not, and if it was, should he let her in? He supposed it was only right, Kagari was her friend, and it wouldn't be right to interfere with that, even if he didn't want to be in the woman's presence right now.

"Naruto-tan, are you in there?" asked the voice belonging to the person on the other side of the door. Naruto let his body relax as he realized it was just Matsu.

"The doors unlocked so you can come in," he called out to her. The handle began to turn on the other side, a click sounded as the mechanism that kept the door shut was moved. The door opened and, following Naruto's advice, Matsu entered the room, shutting the door behind her.

She looked at him for a moment, then looked away, her gesture a sign of slight discomfort and apprehension. "Matsu's here to remove all of the spy cameras," she mumbled. Ah, that would explain why she was so uncomfortable, Naruto realized as he studied her. She definitely still remembered yesterday. Not surprising. He wondered if she was also a little disappointed as well, but shoved that thought aside as inconsequential.

"That's fine," Naruto told her, once more leaning back in his chair. Matsu nodded and began moving to dismantle her spying equipment. The blond pretended to go back to doing what he was doing, which was pretty much nothing because he hadn't been doing a damn thing before Matsu walked in, while in actuality was making sure to pay special attention to his red head Sekirei as she began taking down her spy cameras. So far it looked like she had four in this room alone, one hidden in a book on the book shelve that focused on the bed, another hidden in the lamp by the bed that focused on the desk, one in the closet on his left, and another in the restroom (and women called men perverts). It looked like that was all of them, though he would check later on just to make sure.

"So um..." Matsu started as she stopped off to the side of Naruto and looked at him unsurely. She fidgeted a bit when the blond's eyes turned to her, but pressed on. "What would you like Matsu to do with these?" Naruto tilted his head at the question, pondering it. It would be quite a waste to just toss those cameras, especially since it looked like they had listening devices on them.

"Keep them in your room for now," Naruto told her. "I'm sure we'll be able to find a use for them later on." Perhaps he could infiltrate Izumi Higa's compound and bug the man's room with them. That would definitely give him an edge over the so called Ashikabi of the East.

Matsu gave him a nod and looked like she was about to leave when her eyes settled on Kagari for a second. They went back to Naruto a moment later, and she asked, "how's Homura doing?"

"Homura? Is that his real name?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as Matsu nodded.

"Yes, Kagari is just his cover name for the host club he works at," Matsu answered him.

"I see." That made sense, he thought to himself. He hadn't been sure which name was the fire users real one since he could have just the reasons could have just as easily been switched, with Kagari being his real name and Homura being his 'super hero alias' or whatever. "He's doing fine," Naruto assured her. "All of his burns were healed easily enough, and aside from the fact that he seems to be growing a nice set of breasts I can't find anything wrong with him." Matsu giggled a bit at his last comment, causing Naruto to crack a small grin of his own. The red head settled down a moment later and looked over at him again.

"Keep an eye on him," she said, before walking to the door and leaving. Naruto watched as the door shut behind the red head, then sighed and settled back into his chair. Closing his eyes, he decided to wait for Kagari to wake up, which should only be a little while longer, he reasoned.

**XoX**

"Naruto."

Naruto's ears twitched as the sound of a voice reached him. It sounded familiar but the blond couldn't quite place it.

"Naruto."

Whoever they were Naruto wished they would be more quiet.

"Naruto."

A hand made it's way to his shoulder and began shaking him. He thought about shaking the hand off for a moment, but then reasoned that it would only make that damn voice more insistent.

And so Naruto opened his eyes, blinking as he tried to rid them of their bleariness. He took a moment to look around, absently trying to remember where he was, and why he was so damn uncomfortable. It took a second, but he eventually remembered where he was and why. Of course, it may have had something to do with the silver haired fire user looking at him with a mixture of amused, concerned, and disgruntled.

"Nhhyaaa..." Naruto let out a wide yawn as he stretched his arms above his head and listened to his back crack in a satisfactory manner. Dear god sitting in a chair for... however long he had been sitting in that chair was painful, easily one of the most uncomfortable feelings he had ever experienced. Smacking his mouth a bit as he dried to rid them of the dryness, he looked at the man... with tits, sitting on the bed before him. "Ah, Homura, when did you wake up? How are you feeling?" he asked, shaking his head a bit to clear it of any lingering drowsiness.

"Just now," Homura said with a frown, probably trying to figure out how Naruto knew his name. "As for how I feel..." he frowned even more as he looked down at himself, his hands reaching up to pat his body down. "I feel pretty good, really good actually." He looked back up at the blond. "How long have I been out."

"Hmm..." Naruto looked over at the clock to see it was still a little under noon, about an hour before lunch. Huh, that meant he had been asleep for about two hours. Was he really that tired? "You've been asleep for about fifteen hours give or take a few minutes," he answered evenly, already waiting for the man's reaction.

"F-Fifteen hours!" he asked in a stuttering voice, his eyes widening. He looked down at himself, touching his neck, his torso, his chest, then he stopped. His eyes widened even more when he realized that his decently sized breasts were clearly visible beneath his clothes. Wrapping his arms around his chest, Homura turned around so that his back was facing Naruto. "Don't look!"

"Umm..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, slightly in a amusement and partially due to the awkward situation. "You do know it's way to late for that, right?" he asked the fire user. "I'm well aware of what you're packing, I am the one who healed you after all." That said the blond remained silent and waited. He knew it wouldn't be long before Homura managed to come back to reality and realize what he had just said.

He was proven right as Kagari's back seemed to straight from it's slumped posture a second later. While the fire user didn't turn around, his head did, craning over his shoulder so that he could look at the blond from where he sat. "What do you mean healed me?" he asked, confusion evident in his voice. "Even if you managed to bandage me up, which I don't feel any bandages, it would still take at least a week for all those burns to heal."

"Let's just say I have a better method for healing burns and leave it at that," Naruto told the fire user. He knew that eventually Homura would learn about how the blond had healed him, but at the moment he had no desire to reveal any information about that. He'd had enough issues dealing with Matsu and Miya when it came to his powers thank you very much. "And we have much more important matters to discuss. Like when you were planning on telling me you were reacting to me."

Homura, who had been looking pretty disgruntled at the way Naruto had waved off his miraculous healing, suddenly found himself gaping at the blond in front of him. "H-How did you know that!" he gasped, doing his best impression of a fish. Naruto absently wondered what the ladies at Homura's club would think if they saw him with that kind of expression, before snorting it away.

"Come on now, Homura," Naruto chided with a slow shake of his head. "I've currently winged three Sekirei, two of whom had reacted and one I'm sure would have reacted if she hadn't been considered a scrapped number. I can tell when a Sekirei is reacting to me." Homura blinked at him for several seconds, taking in the words the blond had just spoken, before seeming to slump into himself.

"I suppose I should have realized that you would have found out sooner or later. After all, you are the Miracle Worker," he replied with a hint of bitterness.

"It bothers you that you're reacting to a male then?" asked Naruto, having easily sensed why Homura was so disgruntled. Not that he could truly blame the fire user for that, Homura was a guy after all, or at least he was supposed to be a guy. It was probably both disturbing and frustrating to the silver haired Sekirei. Naruto knew that if he were not used to turning into a female thanks to his henge, he would probably be freaking out at the sight of a set of breasts in place of his chest.

"Of course it bothers me!" Homura snapped, spinning about on the bed angrily to glare at Naruto. "Look at me! I'm a freak!" Without any regard to his, or her, modesty anymore (which Naruto found odd because just moments ago Homura was hiding his chest from the blond) he yanked on the white shirt he was wearing, tearing the buttons off and revealing the decently sized breasts that sat there. "You can't even tell if I'm a man or a woman!"

"Does this have something to do with your Sekirei powers?" asked Naruto, the calm question causing Homura to blink in surprise.

"What?" asked the fire user, speaking as if he had not quite heard the blond correctly.

"Your Sekirei powers," Naruto repeated. "Does your... form, have something to do with your powers? Or is there some other reason?" It was a question asked both in curiosity and to get the fire user to calm down. He had never heard of a Sekirei who changed gender before, and he couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with Homura as a Sekirei, or if all Sekirei could switch genders depending on their Ashikabi.

"No," Homura began, shaking his head. Then he realized he was still flashing me his breasts and quickly covered himself up. He took a deep breath, and Naruto got the feeling it was the kind someone took before the plunge. "When I was receiving my... adjustments," he began, his voice halting and Naruto noticed a particular brand of hatred when the fire user mentioned his adjustments. "They may have done a bit more excessive tinkering with me than the other Sekirei."

Naruto frowned. "A bit more tinkering how?"

A grimace was his answer as Homura began. "I could never figure out if it was their fault, or if it's just the way I am, being cursed by the gods and all, but it wasn't long after my adjustments that I found out I was a bit more..." he paused, his brow creasing as he searched for the correct word. "Malleable then the rest."

"Cursed by the gods?" Naruto murmured, parroting the first part of Homura's speech that had caught his attention. "That's a Prometheus reference I take it?" Prometheus was an important figure in Greek Mythology credited for stealing fire from the gods for human use and subsequently being punished by the Zues, king of the Olympian Gods via being bound to a rock where an eagle bearing Zues' emblem would eat out his liver each day, only to have it regrown and eaten again the next day. The truth behind Prometheus' existence was far less fantastical, in many ways, though if anyone in this day and age knew the truth they would probably shit themselves.

Homura blinked, then snorted and shook his head. "Out of all the things you take from what I just said," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry," he apologized, before refocusing on the conversation at hand. "So because of these adjustments, your being turned into a woman?"

"Yes, well, partly," Homura grimaced. "It's hard to explain. I told you that I was a bit more malleable than the other Sekirei. What that means is that in order for me to subordinate myself to my Ashikabi, my gender changes as my master desires."

"So because you're reacting to me, you're changing into a woman?" Naruto asked for clarification.

"Pretty much," Homura confirmed, and Naruto closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

What exactly did that mean? Was Homura's reaction and response the bonding process so extreme that it was literally capable of changing his gender? Homura had told him that he wasn't sure if MBI had done this to him or if it was just a natural part of who he was, and since Naruto didn't really know much about the adjustment process itself, he really couldn't make any theories on whether or not the fire user's predicament was the cause of some sick little turd, or if it really was natural for him. In either case, the blond couldn't help but feel sympathy for the silver haired Sekirei. Being gender confused in the most literal sense like that must suck.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy breathing. Opening his eyes, Naruto was able to see that the noises were coming from Homura, whose face was once more beginning to flush. The fire user was leaning towards him a bit, eyes half lidded as... well, he stared at him.

"Shit," Naruto swore. "Homura, you're reacting again." The fire user blinked, then jerked as though... he had been slapped. Shaking his head, he did his best to control his breathing, though it looked like he was having a hard time of it.

"Damn, it's getting worse," he muttered, and Naruto got the feeling it was more to himself than to him. Another grimace came to his face as he looked at the blond. "I think it's because I'm in such close proximity to you," he admitted, and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Wait," the blond said with a frown. "How long have you been reacting to me?"

"Pretty much since we first met," Homura answered, and as he spoke the room around him began to get room. Naruto's eyes widened in slight alarm. Was the fire user going to spontaneously combust again?

"So what should we do?" asked Naruto, making Homura blink at him, confusion in his eyes. "I mean, do you want me to leave you alone or something?" the blond continued, trying to think of ways around this without having to wing the fire user. "I mean, you went out of your way to avoid me so I'm guessing your pretty adamant on not letting yourself get winged by me, right? Would it be better if we made some kind of schedule so that could avoid each other more easily?"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Homura spoke, his eyes widening the more Naruto spoke. "Are you saying you're not going to try and wing me?" he asked, his voice clearly confused.

"Not unless you want me to," Naruto answered with a slight shrug. He looked away from Homura for a moment, feeling a bit uncomfortable. This entire situation was pretty messed up after all. "I got the feeling you didn't want to be winged by me because I was a man so..."

"You... you really are something else, aren't you?" asked Homura, chuckling a bit as he shook his head. "First you manage to wing a scrapped number, than you refuse to wing number one hundred and eight without her consent, and now when you've got another Sekirei in your grasp your thinking about how they feel about being winged instead of adding another member to your flock."

Naruto frowned, while a part of it was just as he said, a larger part of him was doing this for selfish reasons. He already had four Sekirei, and while he was beginning to deal with and accept the bonds he had to them a little more readily, it was still extremely difficult. How much more difficult would that be if they added a fifth Sekirei be?

Still, despite his worries, Naruto wasn't about to turn away Homura if the fire user actually wanted him. He was trying to be better, and if that meant winging another Sekirei, then that's what he would do.

"So, if you're winged by me, you'll change into a woman?" asked Naruto, trying to wrap his mind around everything he knew so far before committing to anything.

"Yes," Homura said with a small wince even as his face began burning an even brighter shade of red. "Unfortunately, because of the way my body was built, being winged by you will transform me into a woman." He looked down at his chest and grimaced. "The process has already started and you're not even my Ashikabi yet." Naruto felt a wince of sympathy for the man, possible soon to be woman, before him. Yeah, he had it hard with all these bonds he was now forming, his newly regained emotional awareness, and all the shit that's been happening to him recently. But the thought that he might be permanently turned into a chick because of someone else's whims disturbed him on a level he had not thought possible.

And so while a part of him felt really bad for Homura, another was just glad it wasn't him who had this particular problem.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Naruto, getting the, well, Naruto was no longer sure what gender Homura was at the moment. Whatever gender the Sekirei could be considered probably didn't matter, the moment the fire users eyes locked onto Naruto, the blush that had already grown quite fierce reached not only to the roots of Homura's hair, but also past the fire user's neck. With a small wince, the blond continued. "I mean, do you _want_ me to wing you?" He would give Homura wings, but only if the fire user wanted it.

Homura frowned, or at least tried to frown, it was hard to make any kind of facial expression with how short of breath he was. "I..." he paused, then shook his head before starting over. "If I... if we do... you know, I want you to make me a promise."

Naruto tilted his head at the fire using Sekirei before nodding. "What's the promise?"

"You know my job as the Guardien of Unwinged Sekirei," Homura stated, and even though Naruto didn't need to since it was clear the fire user already knew this, he still confirmed it with a nod. Taking a deep breath Homura continued. "A part of the reason I had decided to protect and help Sekirei find their Ashikabi was because I was told I would never find one myself."

"I see," Naruto said with nod, his face looking contemplative. "So you wanted to help those who actually could find their Ashikabis in the hopes that no one would have to face the same fate you were told you would." That actually made a lot of sense, especially to Naruto. Back when he was younger and realized what it meant to be a Jinchurikki, he had held similar thoughts. Though due to the fact that there were only nine bijuu in the world and all of them had already been sealed there hadn't been much he could do at first, but even than he had eventually managed to help one of his fellow containers. Gaara, the boy who would later on become the Kazekage and his best friend. The red haired boy had suffered a lot, and Naruto had made himself a promise that he would never let another person suffer just because they were a Jinchurikki. The whole promise eventually turned out to be a moot point due to the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but it still allowed Naruto to understand Homura's feelings on the subject the fire user was speaking about.

"Yes, that's it exactly," Homura gasped, and a sudden spike in heat had the blond nearly backing away from the silver haired Sekirei in case he burst into flames again. His reaction to Naruto's continued presence seemed to be getting worse, meaning they would have to close this dialogue soon before the man actually combusted again. "When I found out that I would probably never get winged, I decided that I would protect all the other Sekirei until they could," Homura's voice was harsh now, and the fire user was breathing very heavily, sweat began to trickle from the top of the Sekirei's scalp. "Since then whenever anyone or anything threatened an unwinged Sekirei I would stop them or it, no matter what. If I let you wing me, I want you to promise me that you won't interfere with my job as the Guardien of Unwinged Sekirei until all of them have been winged?"

Naruto didn't really need to think about his answer. Even if Homura had not bothered asking him to make this promise he still would have done it. Letting fire user protect the unwinged Sekirei actually fit in nicely with his plans. Since the third stage wouldn't start until all of the Sekirei were winged, the longer it took for that to happen the better Naruto could prepared for the later stages.

"I promise," Naruto said, turning his gaze on Homura. "Until all of the Sekirei are winged I will make no effort to stop you from protecting all of the unwinged Sekirei from any unscrupulous Ashikabi they may run across. Furthermore, should require help in this task you need only ask me and I will do what I can to aid you in your cause."

Homura blinked, his mind registering the blonds words. Then his face flushed even more and sweat began to break out on his skin. "Thank... you..." his voice came out in short, ragged gasps. The heat was beginning to get sweltering, and Naruto realized that if they didn't close this up soon, Homura may very well burn up again.

Deciding to take the initiative, Naruto stood up from his chair and moved to sit on the bed. He grabbed a surprised Homura by the shoulders and eyed him seriously. "You are so lucky you have breasts right now or I would seriously be reconsidering what I'm about to do," he said jokingly.

Homura blinked. "Wha –" was as far as the fire user got before Naruto pressed his lips against the silver haired Sekireis.

Fire erupted from Homura, a white hot torrent of powerful flames that seemed to erupt from a place on the fire user's back. It was hot, and yet it did not burn. In fact, though the conflagration of flames spread across in the room in great pillars that transformed into a pair of wings, nothing within the room was actually burned. Oddly enough however, they still acted like a physical force, and when they reached the other end of the room and found they could move no more, the great wings made of white and orange flames circled back, surrounding the two in a protective embrace.

As the great wings writhed and crackled, Naruto once more felt his chakra being drained. The act was soon followed by the familiar stirring in his mind as another presence made itself know, this one feeling shocked by the blond kissing him. When the flames died down, Naruto pulled back and looked at the flabbergasted Homura, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"So how do you feel?" he asked, and Homura blinked.

"How do I feel?" the fire user repeated blankly, as if not quite understanding the question. After a few seconds it seemed to register in the Sekireis mind and Homura looked from Naruto to his hands. "I feel, great," he muttered, sounding surprised as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Holding his palm out a ball of flames erupted above it and were just as quickly snuffed out. "Incredible in fact. I don't think I've ever felt this good before." The fire user looked up at Naruto, and then just as hurriedly looked away with a mild blush. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," Naruto said as he stood up and placed his hands behind his back, using them to help him crack his offending vertebrae. "So I guess we should go tell everyone what happened. They're all pretty worried, you know?"

"Yeah," Homura grimaced before standing up himself. "I suppose we should."

"Right, then let's go," Naruto said as he led the way over to the door. Despite what had just happened, he wasn't quite as embarrassed as he thought he would be. Maybe it was a consequence of being several thousand years old, or perhaps it was just due to him lacking any serious morals right now. Naruto wasn't really sure. Honestly, the only thing he could think of when considering this moment was:

Thank god Homura isn't Sasuke.


	15. The Game Starts Here

****Chapter 14: The Game Starts Here****

****XoX****

Much like the last time Naruto had been inside of Homura's room, Akitsu had at some point realized where he was and decided to sit in the hallways just outside of the room to wait for him. Unlike last time the ice user wasn't alone. Both Musubi and Kusano were also there. The Green Girl was laying on her stomach, feet kicking in the air childishly as she drew on a sheet of paper with a set of crayons. Sitting against the wall with her legs spread out before her was Musubi, the fist fighter had her eyes closed as she leaned back and hummed a happy tune. Naruto couldn't help but wonder about how long these three were out here. Had they come here straight from the bathhouse?

The moment he had stepped through the door and into the hall the three Sekirei took notice of him. Akitsu shifted, her chains rattling as placed a single hand on the floor, her touch light with only the tips of her fingers actually touching the wooden tiles. With a slow grace she stood up, the chains wrapped around her once more making their 'chinking' sounds as they rattled and shook together. Without a word she moved over to stand by him in her usual spot.

Kusano reacted about as could be expected. She scrambled to her feet, almost tripping in her excitement as she stood up. Her left hand came down to the floor as she snatched the drawing from the ground and made her way over to him, leaving the crayons where they were on the floor. Naruto made a note to himself that he would need to remind the little sprite that she needed to pick up after herself and not leave her things on the floor for people to trip over.

"Naruto-sama!" Musubi's exclamation of excitement brought the blond's gaze over to her. She retracted her legs, bringing them underneath her from their splayed out position before placing both hands on the ground and lifting herself off the floor. She quickly hopped over to him, stopping directly on his right and clasping both hands in front of her, the act causing her arms to squeeze her breasts together and had the affect of drawing Naruto's eyes to them. "How is Kagari-san? Is he ok?"

With a bit of effort, Naruto drew his eyes away from the delightful sight of his first Sekireis bosom. It really was quite difficult, his Sekirei were easily some of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on, and Naruto, well, he wasn't a pervert in the same way other men were, but he was still a guy. One also had to consider the fact that his body was still that of an eighteen year old, which pretty much meant he was a walking hormone.

Sometimes it sucked being stuck in the height of puberty.

"Homura is fine," he reassured her with a smile. His words seemed to cause her some confusion, however, with the fist fighter tilting her head to the side and looking at him with blinking eyes.

"Homura?" Musubi asked, pressing her right index finger against her lower lip as she looked at him in confusion. "Who's that?"

Naruto opened his mouth to ask her how it was possible that she didn't know of the only other male in Maison Izumo when he paused. Oh yeah, Musubi didn't know about Homura's true identity, did she? Even when they had teamed up with the fire user, Homura had never given his name, and all she knew him as was Kagari since that was the alias he went under while here. With that in mind, Naruto sighed and said, "Homura is Kagari." When all Musubi did was blink in a befuddled fashion, the blond decided to elaborate. "Kagari is the alias Homura goes under here. His real name is Homura."

"Oh!" Musubi's eyes lit up in understanding and she smashed the fist of her right hand in her open left palm. "I see," she said with a nod, then she blinked. "So if Kagari is Homura, then who is Homura?" If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto had gotten so used to Musubi's cluelessness he probably would have face palmed. As it was all he did was sigh.

"You probably don't remember since I don't think I ever gave you my name," Homura said as he appeared from behind Naruto. Musubi blinked as she looked over at the fire user who had just seemingly appeared out of nowhere from her perspective. The silver haired Sekirei continued without pause. "However, I was the one who helped you three when you rescued Kusano at the Arboretum."

Musubi looked at the silver haired... male with breasts some more, before her eyes lit up once again. "So that man really was Kagari-san!" she crowed, nodding her head as if everything now made sense. "At first I didn't think it was him, because that guy was wearing a mask, and Kagari-san doesn't." 'Kagari's' right eye began to twitch.

"It's Homura," he corrected the fist fighter. Naruto's lips twitched as he watched Homura try to deal with Musubi's air headed nature, all the while getting more and more frustrated by the girls seeming inability to understand what the fire user was trying to tell her, when a tug at his left pant leg caused him to look down.

The one tugging on his clothing was Kusano, the little Sekirei was staring at him with her bright green eyes, and from the annoyed look on her face she had probably been trying to get his attention for a while now. Once his eyes were focused on her, however, the Green Girl quickly held out the piece of paper she had been drawing on. "Onii-chan! Look at what Ku-chan drew!"

Amused, Naruto took a look at the drawing in the little girls hands. It was the kind of drawing one would expect from a girl as young as Kusano, four stick figures lined up in a row with large smiley faces, all holding hands. The one in the middle was obvious him, judging from the bright yellow spikes on it's head. The one on his immediate left was Kusano, seeing as how that figure was the smallest and had the same bright yellow color to it's hair, though rather than being spiky it's was squiggly and long, flowing all the way down to the figure's legs. Kusano was holding Musubi's hand, at least he was positive it was Musubu judging by the brown hair color, the single strand of hair that seemed to defy gravity, and the bright pink gloves on it's hand. On Naruto's right was Akitsu, the hair color being a strange combination of blue and yellow, obviously the girl trying to make the lighter tint that made up the ice users hair. There was also the fact that the one on his right had chains, which made Naruto sweat drop lightly and wonder if perhaps he should try and get the snow woman to wear them less so Kusano wouldn't be exposed to them so much. The four stick figures were standing on a green line, which the blond interpreted as grass, and above their heads in the far left corner was a yellow circle with a smiley face, obviously the sun.

Naruto smiled as he crouched down and looked at the tiny girl. "That's an excellent drawing, Ku-chan," he said, placing a hand on the girls head and gently patting her hair. "You're a really amazing artist." Kusano beamed at him, before running into his personal space and clinging to him like a limpet. With her arms around his neck, the small girl planted a kiss on his cheek, her happiness infectious as the blond lifted her up when he stood again.

"So you're Homura, but you're also Kagari?" Musubi continued asking, her need for clarification apparent.

"Yes," Homura sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Really, how hard was it to understand what he was trying to say? This wasn't rocket science.

"Got'cha!" Musubi bumped the fist of one hand into the palm of another, signifying her understanding. "So Homura's real name is Homura, but you call yourself Kagari."

"That's right," Homura nodded as he released an exhale of relief, pleased that Musubi finally seemed to understand what he was saying.

"I don't get it." Homura face palmed at the fist fighters words. It seemed he had spoken too soon. Musubi frowned, her nose scrunching up cutely in thought. "Why would you need to call yourself Kagari if your real name is Homura?" It was quite clear that she just didn't understand the need for an alias. In fact, Naruto was quite sure the girl didn't even know what an alias was.

The sound of palm slapping face resounded in the hall as Homura tried to control his irritation. "I called myself Kagari because I needed a name for the people I work with and my customers to call me," his voice sounded pretty frustrated, and the blond shinobi could almost picture steam rising from the man's head as his anger rose. "However, I don't want people who aren't a part of the Sekirei Plan to know my real name since it's supposed to be a secret from the average citizen. So I needed to come up with a proper alias, hence the name Kagari."

"Oh!" Musubi nodded in realization, once more doing the 'fist in palm' that seemed to be becoming more used by her. However, a second later the girl proved that she still didn't understand something when she tilted her head and asked, "what's an alias?" Her question had Homura releasing a strangled cry of frustration as he grabbed fistfuls of his hair. Seeing as the fire user's patience was being slowly eroded, Naruto decided it may be best if he interrupted the pair before his newest Sekirei could get any angrier.

"An alias is a false name to conceal ones identity, Musubi-chan," the blond answered for the ever increasing in frustration Homura. When the excitable fist fighter turned to him and tilted her head, he sighed. "Normally, people who don't want others to know who they are come up with fake identities in order to remain incognito."

Musubi blinked. "In-cog-ni-to? What's that?" In a strange form of synchronicity, Naruto and Homura both palmed their face in exasperation.

"It's... why don't I tell you while we're making lunch?" Naruto offered. "It's nearing lunch time and I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty hungry." In response his mentioning of lunch and hunger, Musubi's stomach began to roar with the same ferocity of a dinosaur. As the the fist fighter looked down at her rumbling tummy, Naruto gave a nod.

"So who wants to help me cook lunch?" asked Naruto, deciding to see if he could involve his Sekirei in the task. It was only right that he allow them to be with him, seeing as how he was their Ashikabi. Right?

"Oh, oh, I want to help you, Naruto-sama!" Musubi expressed almost immediately after he had spoken, throwing her hands in the air above her head as if trying to emphasis her point even more. Still attached to his neck like a limpet, Kusano nodded her head while giving her usual 'Mhm!' noise.

"Ah," Akitsu blinked, then nodded. "Me too."

"Homura?" Naruto said, looking at the newest member of his... flock, because there was no way he was going to call this a harem anymore when one of it's members had a penis. "Do you want to help in the kitchen?"

"Actually, I think I'll stay out of this," Homura told him. "I've never been that good at cooking," he admitted while looking rather sheepish.

"Considering you've probably had Miya cooking for you for the majority of time you've been released from the labs I'm not surprised," Naruto said, taking quick note of Homura's frown when he spoke Miya's name without the '-chan' suffix like he usually did. That's right, he was going to have to update the fire user on what's been happening recently, including his spat with the landlady. But that was for another time, like when they could speak privately. "Why don't you just sit tight then while we whip up some food."

Homura looked at him for a second, before shrugging and offering a small smile. "Sounds good to me," he said as Naruto lifted Kusano above his head and set her on his shoulders. The group made their way down the hall and towards the kitchen, with Homura separated from the others after reaching the entrance to the dining room.

As the group four entered the kitchen, Musubi turned an expectant look towards Naruto. "So are you going to tell me what in-cog-ni-to means now, Naruto-sama?" she asked with an expression of anticipation. Naruto just sighed.

Nope, he just couldn't get a break.

****XoX****

Cooking lunch, usually a task that took no more than fifteen minutes to half an hour depending on what you make, ended up being a very extravagant affair that took quite a bit longer than half an hour to accomplish. Much like the times when Naruto's Sekirei take to the task of helping him clean the dishes, it took nearly twice the amount of time, around an hour, to make what would normally have been a simple lunch of Onigiri with several side dishes that consisted of boiled shrimp, sweet potatoes, and pickled vegetables.

A part of the problem may have been Akitsu. In fact, Naruto was sure that the snow woman was the reason the meal took so long. He had given her the job of washing and peeling the potatoes, a job that she took to with the same slowness that she did everything else sans combat. The light haired ice user seemed intent on doing things in methodical manner that stretched the entire one minute process to that of a snails pace. She would grab each potato one by one, stare at it for no less then sixty seconds, peel it, rinse it under the tap for even longer, then set it aside to be cooked in sake. It was a ludicrously slow process, but one that Naruto could not find it in himself to complain about.

While Akitsu was peeling potatoes, Musubi was working the stove. Thanks to her ability to make curry, the fist-type Sekirei was (thankfully) well versed in cooking over a stove with pots and pans, though Naruto did have to give her directions on what to do. The child hearted Sekirei with the busty figure had to keep track two pots, one for the potatoes, and another for the boiled shrimp. The bustiest of his group seemed to be quite content, humming a little tune to herself as she occasionally stirred the contents of each pot.

The only one of his flock who was not doing as much was Kusano as he did not want the girl to make a big mess or hurt herself via burning her hand on the stove. That was not to say that he had her doing nothing. In an effort to include the littlest of his group, and to not get his leg chomped on by the girls sharp incisors, Naruto had the girl help him make the Onirigi. Thankfully this seemed to suit the tiny blond just fine, as a matter of fact she seemed ornately pleased to be working so closely with her onii-chan. She was also making a mess, getting rice and sauce from the umeboshi all over the place including but not limited to the table, the floor, her face, hair and clothes, and on Naruto as well.

Not that the much older blond could find it in himself to complain or scold the girl. If anything, he was having just as much fun as she was due to a combination of having not acted like a child in... well, a long time, and the bond working it's magic by sending Kusano's feeling over to him. By the time they were done, Naruto was positive they had wasted just as much rice as they had used, though he was pleased with the results. Rather than go the traditional route of making balls, triangles, or squares, they had decided to go with more elaborate shapes. Kusano had made several stars, a moon complete with dotted craters (though Kusano may have just been saying that to cover up her mistake), and hearts. Naruto had decided to be a bit more... elaborate, and had actually made his Onirigi into the faces of the tenants of Maison Izumo. It actually reminded him of the time Hinata had made him some onirigi in the shape of his own face, which at the time Naruto had thought quite creepy since he had not known of the shy Hyūga's crush on him.

He wondered if his housemates would feel the same way he had back then.

"Alright, Ku-chan," Naruto said as they finished putting the intricately shaped rice balls filled with umeboshi onto a serving tray. "Time for us to get cleaned up."

"Muuu~!" Kusano pouted as she looked at him, her covered in rice and plum sauce face scrunched up in a glare. It was actually quite adorable, and were Naruto a female, this would have most definitely been the moment where he 'kawaii'd' and snuggled the girl into his bosom. Since he wasn't a woman, and didn't have breasts, he did none of those things, though he did get the amusing image of Homura doing just that for a second before dispelling the thought. He didn't want to make himself look like a fool by falling on the floor and laughing for reasons only he knew. "Ku-chan doesn't need to be cleaned, she already took a bath this morning!" Ah yes, Naruto had almost forgotten that children her age didn't really like taking baths. It was anathema to them.

"Fortunately for you, you don't need to take a bath," Naruto told the girl. "We just need to wash our hands and wipe your face off, it's covered in rice and plum sauce."

"Mu, ok," Naruto sighed in relief that the tiny titan seemed to calm down. Grinning, he lifted the Green Girl into his arms, eliciting a squeal of excitement from the child Sekirei, and began walking towards the sink where Akitsu had just finished peeling the last potato.

"Akitsu-chan, would you mind leaving the faucet on?" asked Naruto as he saw the ice user move to turn off the faucet.

"Ah," the woman slowly turned and looked at the pair of rice covered individuals from head to toe. After a second of observing them she nodded. "Ok," she said, stepping aside and allowing the two to move in.

Using his shinobi granted dexterity, Naruto's left foot shot out, catching the stool that stood next to the sink and hooking it with his toes. He pulled, bringing it in front of him and setting the girl down on it. Reaching over Kusano's head, Naruto squirted several shots of foamy soap from the small bottle of hand soap that sat next to the bottle of dish soap, and then, much to Kusano's protest, began helping the girl wash her hands.

"Mu! Onii-chan, Ku-chan knows how to wash her hands!" The little girl grumbled and complained as Naruto rubbed her hands in between his, making sure that all of the plum sauce was off her fingers.

"Perhaps," Naruto said with a teasing grin that the little sprite couldn't see due to him being behind her. "But I also have to wash my hands, you know. Better to just do them at the same time I say." He looked over at Akitsu who was watching the proceedings almost curiously, or maybe she was just staring at him, both were very likely, and gave her a quick wink. Despite the fact that her face didn't change, Naruto almost thought he saw her lips twitch.

Kusano continued to complain and grumble, though Naruto knew she actually enjoyed him helping her wash up. Kids always complained simply for the sake of complaining. Over where she was still making sure the food boiling in the pots were being cooked, Musubi giggled at the site. "That looks like fun," she commented.

"We're having loads of fun," Naruto said brightly before looking down at Kusano. "Isn't that right, Ku-chan?"

"Onii-chan no baka," Kusano mumbled, more to herself than to him, though Naruto heard it all the same. "Ku-chan knows how to wash her own hands." Rather than feel indignant at the Green Girls words, which he would have felt if he was still the naïve genin he used to be several thousand years ago, the blond couldn't help but find amusement in the whole situation. Was this what it meant to let someone into his heart? He wondered. These feelings of joy, contentment, and happiness. For the past few days, since he had realized how dangerous the winging process was to his emotions, Naruto had kept his distance as much as possible. It hadn't quite worked out as well as he had hoped, but he had done his best to not let his Sekirei get to close to him. But now, this was the first time he had allowed himself to truly let go since that day he had realized the danger about the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei, and he had to admit, it felt... nice. He rather liked the simple emotions he was able to experience by being with his Sekirei. If this was what he had to look forward to everyday, even if it wasn't permanent, maybe letting them into his heart really was worth it.

Naruto decided to not respond to the obstinate little girls words. With a slight smile he grabbed one of the towels hanging on a rack by the sink and dried off his hands, then helped Kusano dry hers (he ignored her complaints as well). When he was done, the tiny blond tried to hop off the stool, but Naruto was quick to catch her and set her back on it.

"Ah, ah, ah," he said, wagging his finger at the pouting child. "We may have washed your hands, but we still have to get all the rice and plum sauce off your face, your hair, and your dress." The little girl just glared at him, her throat emitting the 'fuuu!' noise he was beginning to associate with anger. Not that he was going to let that bother him. "You don't want to go to the table looking like a slob, do you?" he asked as he grabbed a small rag and soaked it in the still running water. As he rung the rag out, his eyes looked over towards Akitsu, who was standing off to the side as she stared at him.

"Akitsu-chan," he called, getting the ice user to perk up. "Would you mind coming here and helping me clean off Ku-chan?"

"Ah," Akitsu cocked her head to the side, then nodded. "Of course, Ashikabi-sama," she said as she began making her way over to the pair of blonds. Naruto gave her the rag he had rung out and directed her to begin wiping down Kusano's face, while he began getting the rice out of the girls hair.

"Aki-chan!" Kusano whined as the snow woman began to slowly and gently wipe off the plum sauce and rice that was caked to the girls face. "Ku-chan can do herself! Ku-chan knows how to clean her face!"

"Ashikabi-sama's orders are absolute," the light haired Sekirei told the tiny titan, not at all bothered by the growl said child unleashed as she continued her cleaning. Musubi looked over from where she was, it looked like the potatoes and shrimp had just finished cooking as she had turned off the stove, and gained an excited smile at seeing the other three people in the room looking like they were having so much fun.

"Can I help, Naruto-sama?" she asked, skipping over to the trio and stopping just a few inches short of them, her hands clasping themselves together in front of her body.

"Sure," Naruto said, taking his attention away from his attempts at removing a particularly stubborn stain on the hem of the little blonds dress to grab another wash cloth and hand it off to Musubi, who had skipped over to him. He was really glad Kusano had decided not to wear her wagtail costume or these stains would be much harder to remove. "I got all of the rice off her already, but I need some help cleaning off these plum sauce stains."

"Got it!" Musubi said, pounding a fist into the hand holding the wet and soapy wash cloth. Consequently, this had the effect of splattering everyone with soapy water. Of course, the moment Naruto got wet, he simply had to retaliate himself by re wetting his wash cloth and using it to flick water on everyone else. It wasn't long before Kusano ended up getting into the fight by grabbing the removable faucet and spraying everyone in the vicinity. Soon enough, the kitchen was was alight with excited squeals, loud giggling, and the first honest to god laugh Naruto had ever let out in years. The only person who did not partake was Akitsu, who was still trying to focus on cleaning the now water logged Kusano.

"Ah," Akitsu started as she was sprayed in the face with a faucet. "Ku, stop."

Needless to say, her words had no effect.

Up above the entire fight, watching from her hidden spot in the rafters of the ceiling, Matsu quietly giggled into her hand. "It's a soap opera! A soap opera!"

****XoX****

It was nearly half an hour after the random water fight that a still slightly wet Akitsu, Kusano, Musubi, and Naruto emerged from the kitchen carrying the food they had prepared. Thankfully the group had managed to keep their battle localized and thus saved the food from getting sopping wet and ruined.

"He-heh, you guys sure sounded like you were having a lot of fun in there," Uzume said with a chuckle. She was sitting down at her usual spot, her legs splayed out before her, arms back to act as support and an easy going smile on her face. Naruto could still see a bit of tension in her posture, and correctly assumed it was due to her Ashikabi still being in Higa's clutches, but ever since the conversation they had yesterday, Uzume seemed to be in a much better mood. It was almost unnoticeable, but to those who were observant enough, it looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Jealous that you didn't get to join in, Uzume-chan?" asked Naruto began setting down the plates. Following right behind the taller blond, Kusano began placing the chopsticks and napkins she had been carrying next to the plates. Akitsu and Musubi both set down the large serving trays they had been carrying, Musubi had the boiled shrimp and potatoes while Akitsu was carrying the Onirigi, in the center of the table so everyone could reach the food.

"Hmm, maybe," Uzume admitted with a wink and a grin. "Inviting me to join you guys next time?" she asked, leering at Musubi whose still wet shrine maiden shirt was clinging to her form like a second skin. A soaking wet second skin that showed off her slightly hardened nipples. "I think you just want to see me get all wet so that my clothes cling to my skin and become partially see through."

"Hmm..." Naruto stood back up and took his chin into his left hand as he eyed the busty Sekirei in the star shirt up and down. "Maybe," he admitted shamelessly, causing Uzume to actually gape at him. The blond quickly hid his smirk by turning around. That would teach her not to mess with Uzumaki Naruto.

"Fuhuhu, fuhuhu. Did someone say something about getting wet?" Everyone in the room blinked at the sound of the voice coming from the ceiling. Looking up they all saw Matsu looking down on all of them from her spot hidden within the ceiling. Naruto couldn't help but wonder about how she got up there, but eventually decided he just didn't want to know. With a shake of his head, Naruto called her down.

"Matsu, get down from there."

Yep, just like that.

Matsu was quick to follow his instructions, turning around and lowering her body down the hole in the ceiling she had made by removing the panel as she gripped the edge of the ceiling. She dangled for a second before letting go and dropping to the floor. Being a Sekirei whose strength was not in combat, the red head did stumble a bit, but quickly managed to right herself.

"Spying on me again, Matsu-chan?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. Matsu froze, and for a moment she looked like a dear caught in the headlights.

"Sorry," she apologized, squirming a bit uncomfortably. Homura raised an eyebrow at the way Matsu was acting, but didn't comment.

"It's fine," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I didn't ask you to take your cameras down in the kitchen." It was his way of telling Matsu that she was allowed to peep on certain places in the house so long as they were not areas where doing so would be considered an invasion of privacy, like say, the bathroom and bedrooms. "Speaking of, I think I've got an idea on what we should do with those spy cameras."

"Oh?" Matsu looked at Naruto curiously. He didn't know if the red head had gone into all of the rooms and removed the cameras already, but figured since she had taken them down in Homura's room this morning, most likely had. He would do a sweep later on just to make sure.

"How good are you at creating programs and the like?" he asked, making Matsu frown in thought.

"I like to think I'm pretty good," Matsu admitted. "Though I don't go around making computer programs very often." She shrugged before looking at him thoughtfully. "So what kind of programs are you thinking about? And what does it have to do with the cameras."

"Well, I was thinking of using the spy cameras to form a perimeter around the house," Naruto tapped his chin for a moment. "If we could set up a perimeter around the house, and connect the cameras to a program that will alert us whenever a Sekirei that doesn't live in Maison Izumo comes near. Think of it as an alert system so that we can be prepared in case someone with possible hostile intentions comes knocking."

"That's..." Matsu blinked several times as she tried to put her thoughts into words. All around the table, those who understood the implication the blond's words had also had similar expressions of shock on their features. Naruto probably should have expected it, but the red head was the first to recover her voice, and give her thoughts on his words.

Her reaction was a bit... enthusiastic.

"That's brilliant!" she crowed, jumping on a startled Naruto, who was forced to take a step back to steady himself as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "I don't know why I didn't think of doing that. It would have made several... incidents that happened in the past s much easier to deal with."

"Maybe you didn't think of it because you were too busy trying to come up with more and more perverse ways of peeping on people while they bathed," Naruto said with a grunt. Matsu pouted at him, but the blond paid no attention to it as the girl began slipping down his wet clothes. In an effort to keep the girl from falling off him, the blond had to place his arms under her bum, gripping her twin cheeks and making the girl give him a coquettish grin.

"My you really are wet, aren't you, Naruto-tan?" she said, looking like the cat that got the cream. Matsu then began rubbing herself against his body, cutting most of the blood flow from Naruto's brain to another part of his anatomy. "Maybe I should help you dry off," she suggested with a grin that said she knew of the effect she was having on him.

Naruto began to feel light headed as he tried to figure out what he should do in a situation like this. Normally it would be easy, bend the girl over the table and have his way with her. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy this time. Aside from the fact that there were currently more than just him and Matsu in the room, the red head rubbing against him wasn't some fling or one night stand, she was his Sekirei. Would it even be right if he did something of a sexual nature with one of his Sekirei when they had only known each other for two days? As Naruto was struggling to quell both his internal debate and his physical reaction to an attractive young woman rubbing herself all over him, the voice of his littlest Sekirei helped end both of those arguments.

"Ne, ne, onii-chan, what are you and Ma-chan doing?" asked the little girl with an innocence only she could possess, her eyes wide and curious as she stared at the two. "It looks really fun! Can Ku-chan do that with you and Ma-chan too?"

Screw dumping a bucket of cold water on him, this was like throwing him into the freezing ass water of Antarctica.

"Not in front of Ku," Naruto said to Matsu, releasing his hold on the girl and forcing her to set her feet down, lest they slide off him and she end up falling, which would have happened since the next thing to go were her arms around his neck. She gave him a pout, but the blond just pointed his finger at the table, a silent gesture that was easily interpreted. With a huff and more pouting, Matsu made her way over to one end of the table, plopping herself down and crossing her arms in exasperation.

"So just why are you all so wet anyways?" asked Homura, eying the group as he finally decided to speak. The fire using male with breasts was sitting next to Uzume, his legs crossed under the table and his forearms resting against the wooden object. Naruto took quick notice of the silver haired Sekirei and saw that he had changed clothes sometime during the blond's cooking and ensuing water fight with his other Sekirei.

"We had a water fight!" Musubi crowed, throwing her hands up in the air while Naruto took a seat at the table on the opposite end of Homura. Before the fist-type could come back down from her excitement, both Akitsu and Kusano managed to sit down on either side of him, making the excitable brunette pout when she realized both spots next to her Ashikabi had been taken. She quickly sat down next to Kusano as Uzume turned her eyes on Naruto once more.

"So," she said, trailing off as a sly grin quirked her lips. Naruto eyed the busty young woman with a raised brow, waiting for the girl to continue. "I noticed something interesting about Homura here," she said, eying the man's chest. Homura had used wraps to bind his chest, but even though it did a decent job of hiding Homura's newly acquired assets, it couldn't quite make the two lumps unnoticeable. The fire user glared at Uzume, a blush on his face as he tried to cover his chest. The star shirted Sekirei ignored the glare, however, as she turned to leer at Naruto. "Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?"

Naruto looked over at Homura, who noticed his gaze and sent the blond a pleading look even as he held his arms against his chest. It was very obvious what the fire user wanted, and Naruto could understand why Homura didn't want Uzume, or anyone for that matter, knowing that he had been winged by a guy. Unfortunately, while Naruto himself had no trouble keeping that particular secret from Uzume, there was another in the room who already knew and was well known for her lack of discretion.

"Ah! Homura was just winged by Naruto-sama!" Musubi told the tomboyish Sekirei with an innocent smile, quite obviously having no clue what she had just done. Indeed, if anything she seemed to be so caught up in the happiness of Naruto adding another Sekirei to his flock that she remained heedless of everything else. "Isn't great!"

"He-heh, so you got another, eh bro?" said Uzume with a grin as she eyed the now 'head buried in his hands' Homura. "I didn't know you two swung that way."

"Swung?" Musubi asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. "Does Naruto-sama have a swing?" Her question went unanswered, not only did no one wish to spend the time answering a question like that, there were far more important things to pay attention to. Like the reaction Naruto and Homura had to Uzume's words.

"We don't!" The two said in unison, then blinked. Out of the corner of their eyes, Naruto and Homura glanced at each other, then just as quickly looked away when they realized the other was looking. While the fire user became a blushing mess, his face taking on the same color as his flame, Naruto coughed into his hand in an effort to regain his composure.

"He-heh, are you sure you two don't swing that way?" asked Uzume, clearly enjoying her chance to tease the blond. "Because you two seem pretty knowledgeable about each other."

"Says the girl whose Ashikabi also happens to be female," Naruto shot back, smiling pleasantly when he saw Uzume flush. "And I don't swing both ways," the blond continued. "Homura has boobs." The statement once more brought all attention to the fire user, who squawked indignantly and tried to cover his chest again. "And because Homura has boobs, that makes him at least half female," Naruto was either unaware of, or more likely, ignoring the glare the silver haired Sekirei was sending him as he spoke. "So technically, I don't swing that way. If the upper half is female, then so long as I don't do anything with the lower half I can still be considered one hundred percent straight."

"Why did I let him wing me again?" asked Homura, his tone laced with so much sarcasm it couldn't really be called sarcasm.

Uzume shook her head as she looked at Naruto. "You have some really twisted logic, bro," she pointed out to the blond, who merely nodded to her words. It was true, but at the moment Naruto was in denial, and everyone knows what they say about denial being the first phase of, well, anything that revolved around situations like this... Yeah, he didn't know either, but that was probably because their had never been a situation like this before, at least not one that he had heard about. Considering he was the writer of THE most famous erotica novels in the world that was saying something.

"Because you and Naruto-sama are connected," Musubi told the fire user, speaking in such a way that made it seem like she was disappointed Homura hadn't figured out the reason he let himself be bound to Naruto. Apparently, the answer was obvious to Musubi, who was nodding to herself as she continued speaking. "Naruto-sama was destined to be your Ashikabi because you two are connected by the power of love."

"Urk." That was the sound of Homura choking on air, because apparently such a thing was actually possible when you're that surprised and/or disgusted by someone else's words. Uzume began to pat Homura on the back to help him... unblock his throat of the oxygen that seemed to have gone down the wrong tube, and unashamedly snickering while she did so. Naruto also looked a tad green from Musubi's words, but he did his best to ignore them and instead decided to start eating. After all, he didn't want all the food and that hour and a half it had taken to make it going to waste.

"Fuhuhu, this is just like a soap opera!" Matsu giggled her old man giggle from where she sat, her left hand going to her glasses and adjusting them so that they reflected the light in ominous ways. Even as Naruto ate one of the Onigiri shaped as his own head, he wondered if the amorous red head knew of the effect adjusting her glasses in such a way caused.

Probably.

"Just be quiet and eat your lunch, Matsu," Naruto said with a sigh. The excitement of making lunch seem to have been drained out of him now that lunch had finally strolled around, and was it just him, or were both Uzume and the red head enjoying their current situation entirely too much for his liking?

"Fuhuhu," Matsu just giggled as she began piling some boiled shrimp and pickled vegetables onto her plate. Uzume on the other hand went straight for the Onirigi. She snatched up one of the strangely shaped rice balls and was just about to eat it when she paused mid bite, her eyes blinking as she realized just what the Onigiri she was about to eat was shaped as. She then took a closer look at the other rice balls and couldn't help but snort when she saw that more than half of them were made to look like the tenants of Maison Izumo.

"Did you seriously spend that much effort to make the Onigiri look like us, bro?" she asked, holding the rice ball in her hand in front of her so that everyone could see it. The one she was holding looked, ironically enough, like Uzume. The face was slightly heart shaped, and it was topped with what looked like potato shavings to make it look like hair. The left side even had the shavings intricately made to look like a ponytail. It was also complete with brown eyes, and a mouth set in Uzume's signature grin.

"I was having fun," Naruto said with a shrug as all of the other Sekirei at the table began looking over at the Onigiri.

"Hey, I see me in there!" Musubi said as she grabbed one of the rice balls that looked nothing like a ball. She held it out with a grin, "look, it's Musubi!" she crowed cheerfully. Matsu's giggling reached it's peek as she decided to find her own rice ball, then for kicks searched for a Naruto one.

"Fuhuhu, let's begin the experimentation!" she giggled perversely as she began to play with the two rice balls in her hand... by making them look like they were making out with each other. Naruto watched the red head for a moment, before shaking his head and releasing a sigh. Maybe making Onigiri in the likeness of those living in Maison Izumo hadn't been a very good idea. He could only pray Kusano didn't pick up the red heads bad habits, already the Green Girl enjoyed playing with her food far too much.

"Ah," Akitsu nodded as she grabbed an Onigiri that looked exactly like her. "It's me."

"And here's Ku-chan! Ku-chan too!" Kusano held up her own Onigiri face, this one with scraggly blond hair and green eyes. Naruto shook his head at the little sprite as he looked at the chaos he had unleashed. His eyes went over to Homura who was looking at his own Onigiri face with a rather perturbed expression. The blond wasn't quite sure what was going through his newest Sekirei's head, but it probably ran along the lines of the more feminine features the Onigiri face had compared to the last time he had looked in the mirror.

Uzume had actually just finished her own Uzume-Onigiri, and had grabbed another one, this one with lavender hair and purple eyes that crinkled. "He-heh, check it out," she said, holding the Onigiri out for everyone to see. "It's Miya!"

"Speaking of Miya..." Homura said as he looked over at the head of the table, which was still empty. "Just where is Miya?"

"I'm right here, Kagari-san." The voice came from the entrance into the dining room, and everyone turned towards it's source to see Miya entering the room with slow and careful steps. It was hard to distinguish, since the woman was covering herself admirably, but Naruto noticed that the slowness in her steps was due to fatigue more than anything else. Looking the woman over he noticed that she had slight bags under her eyes, though they were practically unnoticeable unless you had enhanced vision like him. There were also a few strands of hair out of place on her head, making it look like she had just woken up and forgot to brush her hair. Only Naruto and Matsu seemed to notice this, however, as the rest remained oblivious to the small distinctions in the woman's form.

"He-heh, check it out, Miya," Uzume said with a grin as she held out the Onigiri she had grabbed a hold of. "It's you."

"Oh my," Miya said, holding a hand to her face. Once more, the act was masterfully done, but there was a distinct lack of giggling that often accompanied it. "What an interesting Onigiri," the lavenderette continued, sitting down at the end of the table opposite Matsu, before beginning the process of putting food on her plate.

"He-heh, bro here made them," Uzume commented, her words causing Miya to stiffen slightly. Heedless of the reaction her words caused, the busty star shirted Sekirei took a bite out of the Miya Onigiri and almost moaned in contentment. "I gotta admit this is really good, even if he made them into weird shapes," she finished with a slight leer at Naruto, who merely shrugged at the tomboy and went back to his eating.

Naruto wasn't quite sure how to act around the landlady. On the one hand, he was still quite upset at her, and on the other, Miya was the proprietor of Maison Izumo. It wouldn't be a good idea to show disrespect to the woman, especially when it was more than just them. At the same time he didn't really want to speak with her. In the end, the eternal shinobi decided his best option was to simply ignore her as much as possible.

Miya took one of the Onigiri into her hands, this one holding the spiky blond hair of her only non-Sekirei tenant. She took a tentative bite, and almost immediately perked up. "It's very good," she admitted, her eyes roving over to Naruto, who was popping shrimp into his mouth with his eyes closed, his entire posture slightly closed off. "You're very talented in the kitchen, Naruto-san."

The recipient of her compliment stiffened slightly, his chopsticks freezing halfway to his mouth. Such a reaction didn't even last for a second, however, and Naruto was quick decrease the rest of the distance of his mouth from his food, while also forcing his body to relax. "Thank you," he replied in a distant voice as he continued to eat. Miya seemed to realize Naruto wasn't in the mood to talk with her. With a sigh, and a slight slumping of her posture, the normally unassuming landlady began eating the meal that the blond she was having so many troubles with made.

Conversation after that seemed to be stifled. As more and more time passed, the residence of Maison Izumo were able to sense the building tension between the landlady and the only Ashikabi of the boarding house, it was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even Homura, who had not been awake during the time that Naruto berated the lavenderette for spying on him, was capable of sensing the problem, even if he could not quite tell what that problem was. Matsu and Uzume shared a quick glance with each other and grimaced as they realized that while Naruto may have forgiven them, he hadn't quite forgiven Miya yet.

It probably needn't be said, but neither Musubi nor Kusano were aware of the current tension surrounding the rest of the group. The littlest of Naruto's flock had just finished eating a few minutes ago, and was now in dream land, her chin resting on the table as she slept. Musubi was simply munching away on her Naruto-Onigiri, humming away as she contentedly ate the head shaped rice ball.

Akitsu might have not noticed the tension either, busy as she was staring at her Akitsu-Onigiri with a blank look. Naruto still wasn't sure if she was just that absentminded, or if she was actually more observant than everyone else thought and merely acted absentminded.

"Miya," Homura called out into the now quiet room that had, until that moment, been broken only by the soft hums of Musubi. When the landlady head jerked to the left, her eyes blinking as they focused on his, it became pretty clear to the fire user that something had happened while he was asleep. "Are you alright? You seem... off."

"Ah," Miya actually had to take a moment to respond to Homura's concern, which in itself could easily be taken as a sign that not all was well. "I am fine," she said, finishing her reassurance with a slight smile, one that did not crinkle her eyes like usual. Homura frowned as his eyes went from the lavender haired beauty to Naruto and back again.

"Has something happened between you two?" he finally asked, indicating both Naruto and Miya as he got the crux of his concern. Honestly, someone would have to be daft or as air headed as Musubi to not sense the tension that hung in the air like a thick cloud of acrid smoke. Naturally, Homura didn't have a clue what was going on between the two that had caused so much... friction between them, but from the looks on both Uzume and Matsu's face, they were well aware of what was going on. Maybe he should talk to them after lunch.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about/Nothing's happened between us," the two people Homura had spoken about said in unison. Miya looked over at Naruto in surprise, while said blond merely stiffened a bit and then began trying to ignore the looks they were receiving by going back to his meal. A frown crossed the faces of those who were in the know. The problems between the landlady and their Ashikabi, sans Uzume who was also in the know but not one of the blond's Sekirei, was one that none of them likely knew how to deal with. As unfortunate as it was, only time would tell whether the issues that had arisen between the two would work themselves out in the end.

Those living in Maison Izumo could only pray it happened soon and that it didn't end with the boarding house being decimated by a fight between the two.

****XoX****

The rest of the week had passed without any serious incident. Since the issue of Homura's violent reaction had been resolved on Wednesday, Naruto had fallen into something of a routine. Every morning he would wake up to find all of his Sekirei sans Homura sleeping on his bed, this was neither surprising nor unwelcome, except for Kusano, all of the other Sekirei that slept with him went to bed when he did, so it wasn't like he had any right to be surprised when he woke up. Truth be told, now that he was actually trying to 'let his Sekirei into his heart' as had been suggested to him, he would admit, even if only to himself, that he greatly enjoyed the physical contact.

After laying in bed for a while, normally around half an hour, to fully wake up, Naruto would utilize a quick Kawarimi in order to replace himself with a clone. The copies wouldn't last very long, seeing as how shadow clones were not only very fragile, being made out of pure energy and all, but also that his Sekirei were very strong. Musubi in particular was quite adept at unknowingly killing off his clones when she squeezed one of them too tightly.

Once freed from the comfortable confines of his Sekirei ridden bed, Naruto would get dressed in some basic work out clothes and go outside into the back courtyard where he would begin getting himself back into shape. So far he had not been able to do much, push ups, sit ups, pull ups, suicide drills, shadow sparing, and few other exercises that could be done within the backyard. There was no place for him to practice his ninjutsu, nor his shuriken and kunai accuracy. Eventually Naruto would have to find a place he could practice such things in private, but at the moment he didn't need much. All he had been doing so far was getting his body back into fighting shape.

His exercises would normally last around three hours, and generally end when Musubi and the others begin to wake up and get ready to start their day. After he finished with his work out, Naruto would make quick use of the bathhouse to clean himself off. It was usually just a quick cleaning, the blond didn't allow himself the luxury of doing anything more then washing the sweat and grime that often became attached to his body while getting back in fighting shape. It was a bit disappointing, as he had very few chances to enjoy the Japanese styled bathhouse since coming to Japan, but for the sake of regaining what he had lost, Naruto was willing to make some sacrifices.

Afterwords, Naruto would go into the kitchen and begin cooking breakfast. Normally this was accompanied by the sounds of Miya and Musubi clashing against each other. Despite the problem Naruto and the landlady were having, Miya would still train his first Sekirei. By this time Akitsu and Kusano would come into the kitchen and help set the table and bring the food he made for breakfast, and after breakfast Naruto would spend time reading the profiles Matsu continued to update him with while sitting on the couch with his Sekirei as they watched television.

This was how Naruto's days had run themselves since Homura's winging, and while slightly annoyed by all of the things he had to do, things that could be done with a kage bunshin it weren't for the fact that he didn't want anyone who didn't already know about that technique (Musubi) to know about it, the past few days had been very productive to say the least. Already Naruto had managed to memorize the profiles of all the big name Ashikabi, those who would prove to be the biggest threats to him and his Sekirei, and while he had not yet managed to create anything aside from basic counter strategies for two of the big three, he had come up with a plan when it came to dealing with Higa.

A plan that would be put into action today.

"I don't like it!"

Naruto sighed as he looked up from his Android, which he had been using to scroll through Higa's profile in order to do some last minute check ups and make sure he had all of the information he needed for the upcoming mission, and into the angry eyes of his newest Sekirei. It had been a day since Naruto had come up with a plan to not only get Uzume's Ashikabi, a young girl named Hidaka Chiho, out of the hospital owned by Higa, but also disrupt as many of the Ashikabi of the East's plans as possible. It was a move that many people would probably consider outrageous considering who they were going against, but Naruto hadn't been known as the number one most unpredictable ninja back during the time of the Elemental Nations for nothing. It had been a long time since he had actually planned a large scale operation like this, but it seemed that his time off the field had not dulled his idea of thinking big.

"I am well aware of your dislike for my plan," the blond responded to Homura's angry statement dryly. "You've only told me about two hundred times within the past hour, six hundred times for the past day, and about six thousand times since I told you about it."

"And I'll tell you another six thousand if that's what it takes to get it through your thick skull!" Homura all but snarled. The semi-male Sekirei had been very displeased after hearing the plan his Ashikabi had crafted, and so far he'd had no problem telling the blond shinobi how stupid he thought this plan was, repeatedly.

"Higa is as dangerous as they come as far as Ashikabi are concerned," the fire user continued his rant to Naruto. "He's one of the few people who have managed to wing a Sekirei even when I tried protecting them. Higa's a vile, retched, scum ridden piece of filth that has no problem having a Sekirei beaten into submission and forcibly winged in order to increase the number of Sekirei he has at his disposal." By this point in his speech, Homura had taken to clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles had turned white. Naruto was actually surprised his palms hadn't started to bleed when considering how deeply his his nails must be driven into his skin.

"Don't forget that he also has no trouble using bribery, bullying, blackmail, and many other forms of coercion in order to convince other Ashikabi to have their Sekirei do his bidding," Naruto added almost absently as he went back to looking over the profile on his phone. Homura did not seem to like the blond's blatant dismal of the threat Higa posed if the growl he released was anything to go by. Naruto didn't really pay attention to the noise as he continued. "We should also remember that he's not afraid of blackmailing a Sekirei whose Ashikabi is in currently in the hospital he owns with some kind of terminal illness."

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go and meet him alone!" Homura said adamantly. It was the same argument they had been having since yesterday. Naruto's plan called for him to meet with Higa without his Sekirei, seeing as how they would be busy following through on the other phase of their joint operation, and the fire user didn't like that. "It could be a trap!"

"Possibly." Probably, Naruto was actually sure that meeting with Higa may very well end up being a trap. The man was too wily not to cover all his bases, but that was just all the more reason why Naruto had to go alone. Or at least, to go without his Sekirei.

Before Homura could explode at his nonchalance, Naruto continued. "But that's exactly why I won't be going alone." The blond touched a finger against the screen of his cell phone and began scrolling down the information presented to him on it as he continued to speak. "I've already made the call to Seo. He should be here within an hour or so with Hikari and Hibiki."

Homura, whose mouth had been opened in mid berate, closed his mouth for a moment, his anger seemingly quelled. While Miya did not consider Seo to be a very dependable guy, so long as there was money involved, he would be willing to do just about anything.

Just about.

"I still don't like it," Homura said at last, though his tone was much calmer now than it was before. "You should at least have one of your own Sekirei with you. Either me or Akitsu at least." As single digits both Homura and Akitsu were two of the stronger Sekirei. The only ones who could compete with were other single digit Sekirei, of which there were only seven of, and the only ones who could probably beat them were the Sekirei's one, three, four, and five, who Naruto had been told by Matsu were created without the restraints on their strength that the other Sekirei had. Naruto knew they would be able to protect him from anything Higa could throw at him easily, however...

"As I said already, you don't have to like it," the eternal shinobi repeated. "Whether or not you like the plan is irrelevant. It's really the only plan that will work. From what Uzume said," the blond nodded towards the busty star shirted Sekirei, who was grinning at the scene playing out before her. "Higa always has at least three Sekirei at the hospital guarding Chiho. Presumably, this is to protect her against potential threats from outside influence, but we all know better." It was a rather poorly fabricated lie, anyone with a set of eyes and a brain would be able to tell that Higa's 'guard detail' was not there to protect Uzume's Ashikabi, but rather to threaten the girl so that Uzume would have no choice but to do as she was told. It was a very blatant way of saying 'do as I say, or else'.

Homura knew this, even if he didn't want to admit it, Naruto knew that Homrua had to know this. From the look on the fire user's face, he was definitely struggling to come up with some kind of counter argument. Not that Naruto was going to let him.

"Uzume will be too busy securing her Ashikabi and escaping to engage in combat," Naruto continued before his newest Sekirei could get a word in. "And Kusano is too young to get involved in battle right now." It wasn't just a matter of Kusano being a young girl either. While Naruto was loathe to let his youngest Sekirei fight against other Sekirei due to her impressionable age, there was a lot more to it than that. The first problem was that Kusano's power was unstable, when her emotions wavered so to did her powers, and the last thing they needed was for tiny blond to turn the hospital into a forest. Not only would it complicate matters further, it would also reveal the existence of Sekirei to those who knew nothing about the Sekirei Plan. At the very least it would make the people in the hospital realize something weird was happening in Shinto Teito. Naruto didn't give a damn about Minaka's threat, but he could at least the value in making sure that the general populace remained blissfully ignorant.

The second issue with having Kusano involved in the coming battle was actually even simpler than the first problem. Kusano had the ability to make any plant within her vicinity grow at an incredible rate. She could make an entire forest sprout up from the earth within less than twenty four hours. Her powers were incredibly, and honestly a little scary. However, her powers were also more of a support ability at the moment. All she could do was make plants grow, that was it. She didn't have any control over them, not what they did, or how they grew, or anything that would allow her to direct her plants in battle. Quite simply, having her out in the field right now would make her a liability.

"With Uzume incapable of fighting, and Kusano unable to get involved, you, Akitsu, and Musubi are the only Sekirei I have that can provide the necessary fire power needed for this mission to be a success." This really was the only way the plan he had crafted could work. His plan was also the one that had the biggest potential gain. Sure, Naruto could go with a simpler plan, but than they would only be able to deal with one of the problems they were facing. The blond would much rather prefer to nip all potential problems in the bud before they grew too big.

"Than why can't you have Seo help Uzume while Akitsu and I guard you?" reasoned Homura, he looked like he was grasping at straws now. The fire user had to know that Naruto wouldn't budge on this, so just why was he being so adamant about having himself or Akitsu there to protect him during the meeting.

"Because as good a potential ally as Seo is, I don't know him well enough to trust him with a task as delicate as the one I've given you, Akitsu, and Musubi," Naruto responded. Seo was sharp, perhaps even too sharp for his own good. The man knew how to keep his ears to the ground, and when paid well enough, would work his butt off to get the job done. At the same time, Seo was very rough around the edges, his girls even more so. Naruto didn't want to risk sending him and the lightning twins in to do a job that could very well end with them accidentally destroying the hospital and surrounding buildings.

"But you trust him enough to guard you?" snapped Homura. Naruto sighed as he finally pressed a button on the top of his phone, causing it to turn black as he put it to 'sleep' to conserve battery power.

"It has nothing to do with trust," Naruto said calmly. "The task of guarding me has less potential to turn into a combat situation than your tasks do. I am well equipped to deal with Higa should the situation get out of hand. Having Seo and his Sekirei on standby is merely an added precaution just in case our friend from the east has a hidden ace up his sleeve." Even if the man did have such an ace, Naruto had two, the twins and Seo, and himself. Though he would admit that he didn't want to get himself involved in combat unless it became necessary. The longer most people in the Sekirei Plan went on oblivious to his own abilities, the better off he and his Sekirei would be in the long run.

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled as her carefully crafted control eroded. Well, maybe it wasn't quite so carefully crafted considering she and Matsu had been snickering into their hands since the argument over Naruto's protection began. The two of them had watched every attempt Homura had made to convince the blond that he needed more protection, seeming to find some form of amusement in the fire user's over protectiveness. "It hasn't even been three days and Homura's already worried about his Ashikabi. It makes me wonder how close you are to him."

"Urk," Homura seemed to jerk back at the words directed at him by the tomboyish Sekirei. Hastening to defend himself, the fire user tried to backtrack, waving his arms back and forth in front of him as he stuttered. "I-It's not like that!"

"Oh?" Uzume leered at the silver haired Sekirei. "Than what is it like?" As Homura began to sputter and try to defend his actions, Naruto decided to ignore the rest of this particular conversation. It wasn't going to be moving anywhere from the 'let's see how red we can make Homura's face' any time soon. Instead he turned at Akitsu and Musubi, who were both sitting next to him watching television. The fist fighter was on his left, while the ice user was on his right. Both of them were close enough that their thighs were touching his.

"So are you two ready for this?" he asked. It was more a question asked as a means to ignore the mental abuse his semi-male Sekirei was going through due to Uzume's taunting and Matsu's perverted giggling, but he was a little curious as well. This would, after all, only be the first mission they had gone on since the rescue of Kusano.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto-sama," Musubi said with cheerful confidence as she slammed a fist into her open palm. "Landlady-san has been training me a lot. I won't lose to anyone!" Well, it was good to see that she had so much confidence. Naruto didn't know where the fist fighter would rank in the power scale when it came to Sekirei. He only had Akitsu, Homura, and Uzume to compare her to after all. And of those three only Uzume had less power than she did. He supposed he could have also counted Kusano, but due to the girls inability to truly control her power, he didn't feel the comparison would be fair.

"I know you won't," Naruto said as he placed his left hand on her thigh as both a sign of affection and his own belief in her. While he had not watched her spars with Miya very often, he had occasionally managed to catch glimpses of them. Having seen her first spar against the powerful landlady, Naruto knew that Musubi was improving. It was a slow going process, it always was for people like her, but it was also steady, and each spar he had caught sight of seemed to show marked improvements in his first Sekirei's ability.

As his first Sekirei beamed at him, Naruto looked over at Akitsu, who was focusing on him as if he were the answer to the universe. "And what about you, Akitsu-chan?" he asked, not even batting an eyelash at the woman's blatant staring anymore. "Are you ready for this?"

"Ah," Akitsu tilted her head to the side as her mind registered his words. A second or two later she nodded, "yes."

"That's good, I'll be counting on you," Naruto told her, causing the ice user's cheeks to turn red as she turned her head away. Resisting the urge to chuckle at the light haired Sekireis cute reaction, the blond turned his head to look at the clock hanging on the wall. It was nearing eleven, which meant they would have to leave within half an hour or so if he wanted to get to the hospital in time for his meeting with Higa.

Naruto stood up, the action drawing the attention of everybody in the room to him, even Uzume had stopped teasing Homura to turn her stare on him. "I'm just going to get some supplies we'll be needing for this operation," he told them. "I'll be right back." That seemed to be the cue for everyone to remember just what they would be doing in a little over an hour. Uzume's expression suddenly became nervous but determined as the hand of her left arm grabbed the elbow of her right, it didn't take a genius to figure out what she was thinking of. Homura had calmed down and now that the busty Sekirei whose Ashikabi they were going to save was no longer picking on him he was no longer flustered. Instead he had a pensive look as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed under his newly developed bust, which was showing due to the fact that he was wearing his Guardian Sekirei clothes. Sitting in her corner where she had watched the events of the fire user getting mercilessly picked on by Uzume, Matsu's expression turned grim, a look that was more befitting a member of the first incarnation of the Discipline Squad than her usual childish and mischievous expression. The only three people whose expression had not changed were Akitsu, who looked as she always did; Musubi, who was exuding a combination of excitement and confidence; and Kusano, who had been sleeping curled in like a cat in Naruto's lap but was now in Musubi's. Naruto was glad the Green Girl was asleep right now, he didn't want to have to explain to her why she couldn't come to help Uzume and have her get angry at him.

Those molars hurt.

As he made his way out of the door, the clinking of chains alerted him that Akitsu was following. This was pretty much the standard with her, if she wasn't asleep, or doing something Naruto had asked of her she was following him dutifully, on his left, exactly four paces behind him. It was somewhat amusing to Naruto, especially when he thought of how her positioning reminded him of a Padawan when they were walking with their Jedi Master. He was tempted to start speaking Yoda, but unfortunately didn't think the ice user would get the reference.

Walking out into the hallway, Naruto didn't get very far before he was stopped in his tracks, his posture stiffening slightly. Miya was standing in the hallway in front of the stairs, blocking his path. She was wearing her normal kimono, the traditional frilly cleaning apron she often wore when doing household chores. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and she was standing there with a straight posture. To most people, no one would be able to tell that something was wrong with her.

Naruto was not most people. He could see the signs of nervousness on her as clear as day, the slight worrying of her lower lip before she had laid eyes on him, the way her thumbs twitched as if wanting to rub the backs of her hands, her posture was straighter than usual and stiff, very stiff as if she had been standing there for a while now. All were signs of someone who was nervous, they were just less noticeable on her than they would be on anyone else. Miya's acting skills were easily on par with a world class actor.

"Asama-san," he greeted the woman with stiff formality. Ever since his blow up on her for spying on him, their relationship had taken a downward turn. No longer were they comfortable in each others presence, there was no more friendly banter and teasing between them, Miya didn't even step into the kitchen anymore, instead allowing Naruto to make all the food in her effort to avoid him. The only time they saw each other was breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and those moments were always tense. It had gotten so bad that even Musubi had begun to notice that something was going on between her two favorite people.

The flinch Miya gave at his formal way of speaking was masterfully covered when she responded in kind. "Naruto-san," she started with nary a quiver in her voice. Her eyes did waver a bit, however, letting him know just how nervous she truly was. "Can we talk?" her eyes flickered over to Akitsu for a second, then were back on his. "Alone?"

Two options presented themselves to Naruto. He could snub her attempts at dialogue with the same alacrity that he had been ignoring her with, or he could accept her invitation to speak in private and see what she had to say. A part of him wanted nothing more than to commit to his first option. He really didn't want to talk to her anymore, she had broken his trust, something that he had not given to anyone in several thousand years. At the same time, there were plenty of reasons why he probably should talk to her, not the least of which is that he was living under her roof. While he had ignored her as much as possible for the past few days, he had still been respectful if a little stiff.

"Very well," Naruto replied, and this time the relaxation of her posture was visible enough that the other tenants of Maison Izumo would have been able to see it if they were here. He turned his head to look at his chain wearing Sekirei. "Akitsu-chan, in my room there's a large suit case under my bed, could you go get it for me?"

"Of course, Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu said without her usual pause or slowness. She cast one look at Miya, before she began walking towards the room she shared with her Ashikabi. Miya deftly stepped out of the stairway as the ice user continued moving, her gaze not leaving Naruto's.

"This way please," she said softly as she began walking down the hall. Naruto followed her several paces behind, his mind going over possible reasons Miya might have to speak with him. He could think of quite a few, though he had crossed some of them out as improbable. It wasn't long before the landlady had led him to her room, and once they were both inside, Miya turned to look at the blond with an expression he had never seen on her before. Perhaps that was because like him, the landlady of Maison Izumo was a master at hiding her true feelings, she rarely showed people anything she didn't want them to see.

Well, she wasn't doing that now. Miya's emotions were currently clear as day, visible on her face in the same way they would be on a person who had no skills at masking their thoughts and feelings at all. The saying 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' came to mind when looking at the combination of anxiety, nervousness, and steel that were blatantly obvious on the woman's face.

For a long moment they just stood there, anyone else would have probably gotten nervous by being in the presence of so much emotion, but not Naruto. Aside from the fact that he was too old to be truly bothered by others and their feelings, he was finally getting a handle on his own emotional issues. Seeing the barefaced emotions on another person didn't bother him in the slightest. And so he simply waited until Miya decided to speak.

However, Miya did not talk, not at first anyways. Naruto's face affected a look of utter shock as Miya, the strongest being he had met since Uchiha Madara, knelt down on the floor and prostrated herself before him in the Dogeza position. Her action was so surprising that Naruto actually stumbled back a step in his shock.

"A-Asama-san, what are –"

"I'm sorry," Miya's words halted the blond's mid sentence. Anything Naruto may have said died right then, allowing the woman prostrating herself before him to continue unabated. "I have greatly wronged you. You placed your trust in me and I abused it. You kept yourself from digging into my secrets, knowing that I did not want them to be revealed to you, but I did not extend the same courtesy. I have done you great injustice, and I truly, sincerely, apologize." Upon finishing her apology, Miya awaited his answer, not even getting up from her Dogeza position.

For a second all Naruto could do was stare at the woman before him. That had to be the most heartfelt apology he had ever received. No one in the history of his life had actually apologized to him before, not like this anyways, and for someone of Miya's stature and power to do something like this, to actually get down on her hands and knees and bow before him with her forehead actually touching the floor was enough that even someone who had lived for as long as the blond had to be stupefied into shocked silence. To see a woman like Miya bowing before him so was incredibly awkward.

It was also wrong. There was just something about watching this woman prostrate herself before him that was... wrong, there was simply no other way to put. There was a sense of wrongness to it, and it caused a horrible pit in the center of Naruto's stomach to see a woman he considered his equal debasing herself like this in front of him.

"Stand up, Miya," he said, his voice was soft, and held a slight tremor to it that showed just how much seeing the woman do this to herself was bothering him. However, Miya did not stand, did not even move from her position. She was completely still, only the rise and fall of her shoulders and back as she breathed letting him know she had not gone and turned into a statue. It was unnerving.

"Please stand up," his voice was pleading now, Naruto was beginning to feel more than just disconcerted. His discomfort was beginning to reach it's peak as his emotions ran wild inside of him. He wished she would get up, he didn't want to see her like this, didn't want to see her kowtowing to him, or to anyone else. Miya was supposed to be an image of strength and power, not a young woman who was willing to show so much deference to someone else by using a position of such humility.

This was too much, it was too much for Naruto to take. He couldn't stand seeing the woman doing this to herself, at the same time he couldn't quite come up with the words necessary to bring her out of such a shameful position. His mind was on the fritz, unable to even form coherent thought as he stared at the woman with his jaw agape.

It was only the ringing of the doorbell that brought Naruto out of his shock. That was probably Seo. He looked over at the door, then back at Miya. The woman still hadn't moved from her spot, not even at the sound of the door ringing. Unable to find the words to express himself, not that he would be able to speak anyways, Naruto made to turn towards the door. He couldn't be here, watching this scene unfold before him was too much, he had to get away.

"Wait!" It wasn't a command, it was plea. The plead caused Naruto to halt, all the muscles in his body stiffening as his mind, body, and soul warred with itself. His body twitched and moved against his will, his neck turning so he could look back at Miya. She was no longer in Dogeza, instead sitting in sieza as she stared at him. Naruto didn't notice, busy as he was staring into a pair of eyes that just didn't belong on the beautiful woman. They were no longer the strong, unyielding eyes he had come to know, nor did they hold an ounce of the mischievousness he knew they could posses. They were vulnerable, almost impossible so, and they didn't belong there. "Please, please forgive me."

"I..." Naruto stumbled, unsure of what he should say, do, or even feel.

"I..." He tried again but the words stuck in his throat, unable to form.

"I'm sorry." Miya's eyes widened as Naruto raced for the door, opening it and hurrying out as her hand reached out as if to touch him, even though he had never been within reach of her throughout the entire conversation. He never saw the look of abject sadness on Miya's face as he closed the door. Naruto stumbled down the hall for several steps, trying to get as far away from Miya's room as possible. He only managed to make it halfway between the door to the landladies room and the entrance to Maison Izumo before collapsing into the wall.

He leaned against the sturdy wooden frame as he tried to regain control over himself. His breathing was heavy and sweat was beginning to appear on his forehead. Closing his eyes, Naruto dragged placed his left hand on his head and dragged it down his face, as if doing so would somehow help quell the raging torrent of emotions he felt, tried to block out the sight of Miya looking so vulnerable and helpless. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Naruto-sama!" Blue eyes snapping open, Naruto turned towards the source of the voice to see Musubi running towards him with Akitsu, Homura, Matsu, and Kusano following.

"Musubi-chan?" Naruto blinked, nonplussed as the fist fighter stopped in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

"Are you ok, Naruto-sama?" the question surprised Naruto, so much so that for several seconds all he could do was blink.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, trying to play off their concern as nothing serious. "Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"Ah," Akitsu interrupted Musubi before she could speak, and the fist fighter and the others all turned to the ice user. "You were in distress," she told the blond, her tone belying her worry. Naruto blinked, trying to understand what she was talking about, before it came to him.

Of course, the bond, it was a two way link, right? It wouldn't make sense if Naruto were the only one capable of feeling the emotions being broadcast through the bond. That was why he spent so much effort shielding his mind from his Sekirei, just because he had to feel their emotions, didn't mean he had to broadcast his own back to them. It looks like he may have slipped.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized to the group. "I'm just feeling a little nervous about the upcoming mission," he lied to them, he didn't want them worrying about his relationship with Miya, and he was sure that the lavenderette didn't want the others to get involved either. Best to just let them remain ignorant for now.

"Does that mean you're thinking of having one of us protect you?" asked Homura, perking up as he heard his Ashikabi's words. Naruto shook his head, he had to give the fire user this much, he didn't give up easily.

"No," he said bluntly. "I have no intention of changing the perimeters of this mission just to ensure my own protection. I'll be fine with Seo and his Sekirei guarding me, so don't worry." Homura frowned at once more at being told that Naruto still wasn't going to let him or Akitsu protect him, it didn't look to be sitting well with the fire user, and he seemed ready to make his displeasure known one more.

"Oi! Anybody in there! Come on, open up already so we can get this show on the road!"

Thankfully, before Homura could lay into Naruto again, a loud and somewhat obnoxious voice shouted from the front door.

"Looks like there's no more time to make a change of plans anyways," Naruto started. "Akitsu, do you have the brief case I asked for?"

"Ah," Akitsu slowly held up a large black brief case for everyone to see, it looked like your stereotypical black leather business case, except for the complex looking fingerprint scanner replacing the lock. "I found it under the bed," she confirmed.

"Excellent," Naruto said, taking the brief case from the ice user and beginning his walk towards the door that Seo had apparently started pounding on as he continued to shout about how they needed to hurry up. "Alright everyone, it's time to get this show on the road."

As Naruto's Sekirei made to catch up with him as he began walking towards the door, the eternal shinobi began trying to get his head focused on the task at hand. It wouldn't do to get distracted by his own personal affairs during this mission.

"Oi! Come on!" The yelling on the other end of the front door to Maison Izumo continued as Naruto stopped in front of it and opened the door. "Now that's more like it!" Standing just outside of the door was Seo and his two Sekirei. The scruffy looking man had a sardonic grin on his face as Hikari and Hibiki stood on either side of him. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

"Sorry about that," Naruto said as he hefted the brief case over his shoulder and walked out the door, Seo and the lightning twins moving to the side so he could do so. "I was just getting something and it took a bit longer than expected to find it."

"I'll bet," Seo said, eying the brief case before they looked back at Naruto with a fierce gleam of intelligence. "Man, it's only been what, a week since we last saw each other, and you've already managed to wing two more Sekirei." As Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly, Seo's went over to look at the group that had assembled. Akitsu was standing just a few steps behind Naruto on the blond's right, with Kusano hiding behind her as she clutched the revealing kimonoesque bottom. Homura and Matsu were standing back near the entrance, one attempting to look nonchalant while the other was sitting down on her haunches as she watched the proceedings with interest. And Musubi was standing next to Naruto, hands clasped in front of her and pushing her breasts together in such a way that the scruffy Ashikabi's eyes were drawn to it... at least they were until his own Sekirei zapped him with lightning.

"Oi! Seo! Keep your eyes off other girls chests!" Hikari shouted in anger, shaking a fist in front of her face as she glared at the smoking and twitching body of her Ashikabi.

"Haa..." Seo sighed as he stood back up and began dusting himself off without concern. Naruto got the feeling this had happened so many times the man had become used to getting shocked on a daily basis. "I just can't win with you, can I? First it's 'don't look at my chest you pervert!' and now it's 'don't look at other girls chests you pervert!'. Man, when will I get a break."

"What was that!"

"Nothing!"

"I take it you three are ready?" asked Naruto, interrupting the two before they could start. As interesting as it may be to watch the byplay between them, he really just wanted to get this operation started.

"Of course," Seo replied easily enough. He eyed the brief case one more time, curiosity warring with nonchalance. "So what's in the brief case?"

Naruto's smile was cold, and those who saw it shivered a bit as they hoped to god it was never directed at them. "Just a few gadgets that I think may help us in the coming mission," he replied in a tone that had the hairs on the back of Seo's neck stand up. For some reason, the scruffy Ashikabi didn't believe the blonds words for a second.

"Hehehehehe." Great, and now the blond was emitting a creepy laugh while malevolent black energy radiated from his entire being. The expression on Seo's face made it clear that he was thinking what a few other people there were thinking: that perhaps siding with the blond wasn't such a good idea. He was worse the Miya!


	16. It's How you Play the Game

**Chapter 15: It's How you Play the Game**

**XoX**

_'Please, please forgive me.'_

Naruto almost growled as the words repeated over and over in his head. Ever since Miya's apology, no, apology wasn't an appropriate term for what she had done, perhaps desperate plea for atonement was better. Yes, definitely better. Ever since Miya's desperate plea for atonement Naruto had been able to think of very little else. He had managed to put on a front for his Sekire, he didn't want to worry them, after all, they had their own upcoming battles to deal with. But the truth of the matter was, he hadn't been able to think of much else besides his conversation with Miya just half an hour prior.

Crossing his arms, the eternal shinobi released a large sigh as he leaned his head back and looked up at the sky. Currently Naruto was sitting on a wooden bench in a small alcove of trees that was about two dozen meters away from Hayamaki Hospital. The hospital itself looked like any other hospital he had ever seen, it was big and blocky, the geometric shape of the entire hospital being that of a rectangle. It looked to be around maybe seventy meters in height, with seven stories total, and was made from white bricks with windows dotting each floor to show where the rooms were.

Just like every other hospital Naruto had ever laid eyes on he hated it, an animosity that he had gained from his childhood. He couldn't stand the site of the painfully dull building, with it's lifeless walls and drab interior. The smell of antiseptic that always accompanied the hospital and accosted his sense of smell with it's repugnant stench. The doctors and nurses that would always act so friendly and familiar when they were working on you but really didn't give a damn if you died or not, he hated all of it, and not even the fact that Sakura, Tsunade-baa-chan, and Shizune-nee-chan had worked at a hospital when they were alive could change that.

Ok, so maybe he was a little biased, so sue him. He was old, and as such could be as biased and hateful as he damn well pleased.

Up above him the sky was a clear blue, with only a few wispy cirrus clouds interspersed across the canvas that nature had painted. Without much in the way of cloud cover, the sun's bright rays shone down on the large metropolitan city, the many buildings and structures gleaming in the afternoon sun. Within his spot in the small alcove of trees, the sun was partially blocked from properly bearing it's intensity on the blond. Instead of a singular level of brightness covering all distance around his person in equal intensity, the branches from the trees blocked the sun and created several beams of light that shone in through the cracks. Yet despite the beauty of the scene, if he were to ignore that god forsaken building of lifeless white that was near him, Naruto was too restless to surrender himself to the surrounding beauty of nature, his mind still having trouble coming to terms with the events before leaving Maison Izumo.

The biggest problem, Naruto felt, wasn't that Miya had apologized, but the way she had apologized. It had been an act of desperate need. For what? Naruto didn't know. Perhaps she just needed some form of closure, maybe their distancing was affecting her more than he had initially assumed it would, however it could have just as easily been guilt. There were a large number of possibilities, but the fact remained that Miya, a woman whose strength was on par with a man who had been one of the strongest shinobi in the world, period, and someone who, despite her infraction against him he still respected greatly, had gone down on her hands and knees and begged him to forgive her. It just didn't seem right, and at the time Naruto had been unable to truly comprehend why she was willing to go so far for his forgiveness.

The matter was further compounded by the fact that he wasn't sure what to think, and not just when it came to her apology. The truth was Naruto was no longer sure of his own opinions on the matter. His anger, the self righteous flame he had stoked since learning that Miya had spied on him was gone. The incredible irritation he felt at Miya's hypocritical need to learn more about him when she was keeping her own secrets had all but disappeared. All that was left now was confusion, confusion about what had happened between him and Miya, his feelings on the matter, and the matter itself. Naruto no longer understood his own feelings on the subject, something that bothered him intensely.

"_It's Homura and Matsu isn't it?"_

"Hmm?" Naruto perked up, resisting the urge to put a hand to his left ear as the voice of Seo broke through his thoughts. In the face of his own inner conflict, the blond had almost completely forgotten that he wasn't quite alone. Without turning his head too much, his eyes glanced up towards the roof of the hospital. With his enhanced perception he could easily make out the three figures on top; Seo, crouching down as he looked at Naruto through a pair of binoculars, and Hikari and Hibiki as they stood on either side of the Ashikabi. "What are you talking about?"

"_Your new Sekirei, of course,"_ the reply that came back sounded amused, clearly Seo was finding something enjoyable in the blond's absentminded confusion. _'Heh, I had a feeling you would probably end up winging more Sekirei before the first phase ended, but I would have never guessed it would be 'those' two.' _

At first Naruto was confused by the man's words. How did he know of Homura and Matsu? The answer was obvious of course, Seo knew of Homura due to the lightning twins. From what he knew the scruffy looking Ashikabi's Sekirei had fought with the fire user on multiple occasions, naturally as their Ashikabi he would know about that. Matsu was just as easy after giving it a little thought. Seo had been Takehito's best friend, and Takehito had been married to Miya. Naturally the other Ashikabi would know about Matsu due to his relationship with the landladies deceased husband. The answers were so simple, the eternal shinobi would berate himself later for being so focused on an internal conflict that it took him several seconds to actually come up with a reasonable explanation.

"How do you know I winged them?" Naruto asked into the earpiece he was wearing. It was a very small device, no larger than a piece of copper wiring one might expect to find in a set of headphones, and was attached to a small ball that was stuck inside the ear. It was also nearly invisible, blending into the skin near seamlessly, making it the perfect tool for a mission like this.

The head set had actually been by him as a means of trying to help cure his boredom. After all, it hadn't like he had actually needed a new fangled communication device, he rarely ever spoke with anybody anyways. However, it had been a nice intellectual exercise.

The device itself was actually rather simple in it's make, just your standard headset walkie talkie. It was made up of the same components one might expect to find in those 'spy headsets' used by children. What made Naruto's so different from the other headsets out there, aside from it's smaller size and the ability to blend into a persons skin to remain unseen, were the many seals that layered the small device. Unnoticeable to all but the most powerful of microscopes, the small communication devices Naruto made had a sealing array crafted into it, thousands of tiny, microscopic seals that had been inscribed onto every single millimeter of it's surface. It was quite possibly the most complex sealing array he had ever made, more complicated than even his father's Hiraishin, or the summoning seal arrays of old. Of course, Naruto had had a long time to get good at Fuīnjutsu, it was the one ninja art that he had continued to study after the Fourth Great Shinobi War. After several thousand years of working on seal after seal after seal, it wasn't any stretch of the imagination to say that Naruto was the best seal master to ever grace the world.

The seal itself was what made Naruto's headsets so different than anything found on today's market, even MBI's technological advancements would not be able to match these particular devices. That was because of what the seals did, aside from linking the communication devices together, it also allowed for them to be controlled remotely via the touch screen phone Naruto had left with Matsu for that very purpose. And thanks to the fact that it was the seals themselves that allowed for the free flow of dialogue between the many different headsets, no one would be able to track the conversation down, because the devices simply had no communication frequency.

It was too bad Naruto had not been able to make these soon, such devices would have been an incredible asset during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

An amused snort came from the other end. _"You do know that Takehito was one of the lead researchers for the Sekirei Plan, don't you?" _The question was rhetorical, as Seo didn't give Naruto a chance to answer before he continued. _"He was the lead geneticist in charge of adjusting Sekirei and, well, let's just say he may have done some tinkering with me as well."_

Ah, that made sense. Naruto hadn't thought about it, but he supposed he should have suspected that Takehito, or at least someone involved with the Sekirei Plan would be capable of manipulating a humans base genetic structure in order to facilitate some kind of ability that was not unlike those of a Sekireis. Hadn't he been the one who originally thought Sekireis were just humans who'd had their genes manipulated to grant them super powers anyways? While his hypothesis with that may have been off, it stood to reason that someone would become interested in trying to do the same genetic restructuring on a human.

"So what? You can detect the presence of an Ashikabi as well as the number of Sekirei they have winged?" asked Naruto, actually sounding intrigued by the idea. If Seo really could detect the presence of other Ashikabi and how many Sekirei they had, it would be a great boon to any plans Naruto made in the future. That is, if he could convince the other Ashikabi to help him out. Thankfully, money seemed to be enough to motivate Seo, and if that wasn't enough, then the fact that Naruto lived with Miya probably sold him on the idea of lending a hand when needed.

"_Among other things,"_ Seo admitted in a statement that not only confirmed Naruto's suspicion, but also let the blond know that the scruffy Ashikabi had more abilities than just that of sensing Ashikabi and their Sekirei. From the tone of his voice, it was clear that Seo was attempting to milk the mystery of his hidden abilities for all it was worth. However, Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the reason his partner for this operation wasn't telling him this for another reason. Why admit you have one power that was given to you, but only give passing confirmation that it's not the only ability you have? Why even give that kind of information in the first place? It could have been chalked up to simple carelessness, or maybe idle boasting. Seo struck him as something of a blow hard, a braggart who enjoyed showing off the others, but Naruto didn't think so. There was also the possibility that Seo was trying to throw the blond off his game, perhaps he had been contracted by Higa who had anticipated how this meeting would go and that Naruto would hire the other Ashikabi to help watch his back. It was farfetched, but not entirely impossible. Of course, it could be something as simple as the fact that Seo trusted him because Miya... trusted... him...

Miya.

It was almost with a start that Naruto realized that at some point during his conversation with Seo, he had almost entirely forgotten his previous train of thought. His argument with Miya. It was still there, hovering in the back of his mind like a wraith, but it no longer affected him like it had just a few seconds ago. It was like the entire conversation had driven the thought out of his mind.

This time the blond's head whipped up towards the three figures standing on the roof of the hospital. Seo saw this through his binoculars and tossed a wave, and with Naruto's enhanced eyesight he was more than capable of seeing the grin on the man's face. It was a very knowing grin, as if he knew of what had just happened, of what he had actually done for the blond.

Had that been Seo's plan all along? To get him thinking about something else so that he wouldn't be so caught up thinking about his problems with Miya? Was it actually possible that the scruffy Ashikabi actually knew of the problems he and the landlady of Maison Izumo were having? No, Naruto shook his head ever so slightly. He doubted Seo knew that much, not even his own Sekirei knew the full extent of his argument with Miya so there was no way this man could. But Seo was sharp, uncannily so. It wouldn't be a very big stretch of the imagination to come to the conclusion that the other Ashikabi had been able to tell something was on Naruto's mind and set about distracting the blond via knowledge that he would no doubt find interesting. Then again, he could be wrong and simply over analyzing the entire situation.

Still, Seo's words had helped clear his mind, and for that he was grateful. Maybe he should think about hiring Seo for more jobs, he already had one in the works that he could use a helping hand with, and it would definitely be useful to have someone who knew the city better than he did for that job. It was something to think about anyways.

With his thoughts on Miya now gone, or at least temporarily placed on hold, Naruto was finally able to focus on the task at hand. Deciding it would be good to review all of the information he had on hand, the blond began a mental run down of everything he knew about Higa Izumi. Also known as the Ashikabi of the East, Higa was one of the three most prominent Ashikabi in the Sekirei Plan. He also had the second largest gathering of Sekirei under his personal command, twelve in all, including number twenty two, Kochou. This actually explained how Higa had been able to learn about Naruto. Much like Matsu, Kochou was a brain-type Sekirei with the ability to hack any and all electronic devices telepathically. While her skills were not quite up there with Matsu's, especially when considering his red haired computer hacking Sekirei was a single digit and the second Sekirei to awaken to boot, the other brain-type was talented enough to hack into MBI's database and gather a little information on him. How much she knew was a mystery, but Naruto doubted she had been able to find out anything beyond the bare basics. Not even Matsu had been capable of gathering much information on him before being forced out of MBI's mainframe.

Kochou's presence in Higa's ranks was both a problem and a possible opportunity as far as Naruto was concerned. The issue came with the fact that he just wasn't sure how skilled the woman was when it came to information gathering and analysis. While he didn't doubt that his Matsu was leagues above the other Sekirei, without a proper showing of her ability, Naruto would never be able to make any plans for Higa without being overly cautious. At the same time, Kochou's ability presented opportunities to implant false leads and information dumps that Higa would find interesting, but would ultimately lead to a trap should he decide to follow them. There was also great potential for pitting Higa against some of the other Ashikabi in the Sekirei Plan by feeding number twenty two false information. Of course, that was where Naruto's caution came in. without an estimate of her skills, he had no way of deducing whether or not the woman would be able to see the information for what it was. In the worst case scenario the act of pitting Higa's Sekirei against other Ashikabi's Sekirei could backfire on him via Kochou finding some way to trace the information back to him. It was why he would need to be careful and gather more information before making any real plans.

It wasn't just Kochou that posed a problem, however, and Higa had more than just Sekirei under his command. Aside from having personally winged a large number of Sekirei, Higa had several Ashikabi along with their Sekirei under his command as well. This was what made Higa the most dangerous Ashikabi in the Sekirei Plan as far as Naruto was concerned. With other Ashikabi and their Sekirei under his command, the famed Ashikabi of the East could easily break any and all rules of the Sekirei Plan without the act being traced back to him. Even more unfortunate was that Matsu had not been able to find out who all Higa had under his control, meaning there were several variables and wild cards in the game that Naruto couldn't plan for. Thankfully, most of his plans at the moment were still in the works and being kept at their most basic forms so that he could adapt them on the fly as the situation calls for. That would be enough to keep from being upended for the moment.

As for Higa, according to Homura, who had actually proven to be a well spring of knowledge when it came to Ashikabi like Higa and Mikogami, the man known for his control over the Eastern portion of Shinto Teito was well known for his hatred and distrust of Sekirei. He had no qualms when it came to forcing them into obeying him and was good at constructing carefully crafted lies to pit his enemies against each other. The Ashikabi of the East was apparently lacking in any form of moral qualms when it came to getting what he wanted.

This was actually a boon as far as Naruto was concerned. If Higa didn't trust his own Sekirei than it would mean the man would likely take their advice with a grain of salt, and instead rely on his own intuitive thinking when it came to planning any course of action. Combine that with his immorality and the actions he had taken thus far in the Sekirei Plan and you had someone that Naruto would be able to predict much more easily than others, especially when considering how many people he had dealt with that had been just like Higa throughout his long span of life. All Naruto had to do was look at the man's current actions, combine it with his personality profile and background history, and the whisker marked blond would be able to predict any and all outcomes when planning actions against Higa.

The only thing Naruto still wasn't sure about was the man's motive. Without having met Higa yet, he simply wasn't capable of ascertaining the Ashikabi of the East's reasoning for all of the acts he had committed since his inception into the Sekirei plan.

That was not to say he had nothing on Higa. According to both the background checks in Naruto had on the man's personality profile, the information unwittingly given to him by Higa's secretary, and the things that Homura had told him, Naruto had been able to gain a few facts that helped him gain a bit of a clearer picture of what the man wanted. Chief among the knowledge Naruto had was that Higa was apparently the heir of a large pharmaceutical company, which explained why the man was the owner of Hayamaki Hospital. It also gave Naruto a theory on just what Higa hoped to gain out of the Sekirei Plan.

Before MBI rose to prominence, Higa's corporation, which was a family owned pharmaceutical company that had been passed down from father to son for around one hundred and fifty years, had been the leading company when it came to advanced medical treatment. The company itself was well known for it's ingenuity when coming up with new ways of treating and curing illnesses, which explained how Higa was able to keep a supposedly terminal illness like the one Uzume's Ashikabi was suffering under from getting any worse. It also explained Higa's current actions. With the rise of MBI, Higa's company had fallen under hard times, comparatively speaking of course. The company itself was still powerful, but Mid Bio Informatics had managed to steal a lot of the contracts Higa's company had been the holder of. No doubt the loss of so many people and revenue they brought in with their business had caused a spike of jealousy in the young company heir. It would not surprise Naruto if Higa's goal was either the complete destruction of MBI, or the theft of MBI's wealth of alien technology for his own purposes. Both were viable options, and there were many more that Naruto could think of off the top of his head.

"_Oi, look alive brat. Higa's coming this way."_ Only Naruto's growing ability at concealing his newly unleashed emotions kept the blond from giving any of his irritation away via violent eye twitching. He was so going to get Seo back with Guerrilla warfare ass pranks for that. Maybe not now, but eventually, and when he did the scruffy jerk wouldn't know what hit him.

"It looks like it's show time then. Be sure not to attack unless I give the signal."

But that was for a later time, right now, it was time for the operation to begin.

"_And just what signal will we be looking for?"_

"You'll know it when you see it," the blond said, not giving the scruffy Ashikabi a chance to respond as he decided it was time to alert his other Sekirei that the plan was starting. Channeling chakra into his the communication device on his left ear, Naruto activated a seal he had prepped specifically for missions like this. "Matsu, the operation is a go."

**XoX**

Matsu was bored. Without Naruto and the other Sekirei he had winged there to entertain her and nothing else to do but wait for her Ashikabi's signal, the beautiful Sekirei was very bored. God she hated waiting. Unlike all of the other Sekirei under Naruto's employ, the red haired hacker was well versed in war, having fought during the invasion of Kamikura Island, and because of that she was well aware of how operations like this went. It was all a waiting game until the action started. And unfortunately for her, all of the action was several dozen miles away so she wouldn't even be taking part in it. Granted, she couldn't fight since she was not a type suited for combat, but that was besides the point. The point was, Matsu was bored.

Dammit, she wished Naruto and the others were here. She had never had so much entertainment in her life, watching the antics of her sister Sekirei and the blond was more fun than any of the soap opera's she had watched while hiding at Maison Izumo.

Of course, a larger part of her also wished her blond Ashikabi would start being more intimate with her and his other Sekirei. She didn't know why he seemed so intent on holding himself back when it was clear to her that he wanted to do things to her and the others, that he wanted to perform acts that would make her favorite Icha Icha series look like those children shows that could be found on the Disney channel. Matsu wasn't sure what was going on with her Ashikabi, but she was going to have to do something about his hesitance.

Such thoughts were best left for another time, however.

"Matsu," the sound of Miya's voice had the red head turning from the computer screen she had been watching. Kusano, who was also in the room looked up from where she was laying on her stomach and drawing a picture looked up as well. If Matsu had been looking at the colorful depiction of the Green Girl chomping down on Naruto's leg she would have sweatdropped. It seemed that the tiny titan had been quite displeased upon learning that her onii-chan had gone off on a mission without her, and would be more than willing to make that displeasure known when he returned.

"Yes?" Matsu called out as the hidden entrance to her room rotated and opened to reveal Miya standing there. The lavenderette stood there in indecision for a second, and Matsu was shocked to see her former boss looking so unsure of herself. It was so NOT Miya that the red head was tempted to believe this woman was an imposter. Only long time experience with the landlady told her otherwise.

After nearly a full thirty seconds of doing nothing but worrying the hems of her apron, Miya walked into the room. The light that had been shining on her from the outside disappeared as she stepped into the low lit room, the dim lighting casting a strange glow upon her figure and creating harsh looking shadows across her features. It also revealed to Matsu the slight bags under Miya's eyes. Something was obviously troubling the older woman, and if Matsu were a betting Sekirei she would place her bets on it having something to do with Naruto. Not that she would bet on something like that, or even mention it in Miya's presence, she wasn't suicidal.

"Miya-onee-san!" Kusano shouted in excitement as she scrambled to her feet. The tiny blond rushed over to her other familial figure, her hands clutching the drawing she had made. When she stopped in front of the purple haired beauty, Kusano held the drawing out to show the woman. "Look at what Ku-chan made!"

Miya's eyes drifted from the young Sekireis face down to the drawing in the girls hands. Her lips twitched once when she saw the drawing itself, but returned to a more placid look before it could register to anyone else. "That's a very good drawing, Ku-chan," she said, a beatific smile on her face. A bit of the mischievous gleam that had been missing since her altercation with Naruto returned to her eyes. "You should show Naruto-san when he gets back, I am sure he would appreciate it as much as I do."

Ok, so maybe Miya was feeling a bit vindictive towards the blond Ashikabi. It wasn't like this was her form of revenge for him ignoring her heartfelt apology. Not at all.

Kusano nodded her head enthusiastically and went back over to her crayons so she could draw some more. Matsu eyed the small blond for a second, then turned her attention back to Miya. "Is there something wrong?" she asked of the landlady. When Miya shook her head Matsu frowned.

"I was... wondering if the operation has started yet." Ok, now Matsu knew something was wrong with the woman. Miya had never been this soft spoken before. That unsure stance, the slightly jerky movements, the complete lack of authority in her voice coupled with the fact that she was not using the congenial attitude she had gained during her tenure as the landlady of Maison Izumo were all indications that something was seriously wrong. Just how much was the argument between her and Naruto affecting the youthful woman?

"It hasn't started yet," Matsu decided not to voice her concerns over Miya's behavior. Whatever was happening was something Naruto and her former boss would have to work out on their own. The red head knew better to get involved in an affair like this, even if said controversy involved her Ashikabi. "I'm still waiting for Naruto-tan to send me the signal to start the mission."

Turning back to the computer, Matsu began studying the monitor as she waited. The screen showed off a three dimensional map of the area around Hayamaki Hospital. On that map were several glowing dots, green for Naruto and his Sekirei, blue for allies, white for neutrals like hospital staff and patients, and red for other Ashikabi and Sekireis. Currently most of the dots were white, with a green one several dozen meters from the hospital to represent Naruto, and three more green ones on the opposite side representing Akitsu, Homura, and Musubi. There were also five blue dots, three directly on top of the building itself on the side closest to Naruto where Seo and his two Sekirei were, one within the formation of Naruto's Sekirei that was Uzume, and the last one in the room the busty star shirted Sekirei said was where her Ashikabi resided. So far there were only three red dots, two of them near the main entrance and one on the opposite side of the hospital.

"I see," Miya murmured as she looked at the screen with Matsu, her gaze studying the small blips that represented people. Matsu looked up at the woman leaning over her shoulder, and sighed in a bit of relief. It seemed that with something else to focus on, the lavenderette was able to at least become a semblance of her old self. That was good, Matsu didn't like seeing the woman she held in such high regard, and feared more than anyone else, when she looked so vulnerable.

Just than a small beep sounded out in her left ear, and despite the fact that she didn't need to, her left hand came up and pressed against the auditory appendage. "Matsu here," she said. There was a soft burst of static before the sound of Naruto's voice came over the line.

"_Matsu, the operation is a go."_

And there it was, the signal for her to start the second phase of the operation. With a sudden quickness that would startle those who didn't know Matsu had been a member of the first incarnation of the Discipline Squad, the red head grabbed onto the Android cellphone sitting near the keyboard. Naruto had given it to her so she could control the various communication channels between herself, Naruto's group, and the group consisting of Akitsu, Homura, Musubi, and Uzume. It was a rather ingenious way of ensuring the two groups only remained in communication when needed, and weren't distracted by dialogue from each other.

Turning the screen back on, her hands began tapping against the touch screen, pulling up the program that would allow her complete control over all communication between them. The program itself appeared as three groups with images of those who were in each group, and lines connecting those groups to signify who was connected to who. Right now all the groups were connected, though the red head had only allowed the group involved in the second phase to be connected one way. She didn't want Homura to start arguing with Naruto over his protection now that the mission had started. While the program itself looked very basic as far as visual appeal went, the hacker couldn't help but marvel at how complex the actual process must have been, and it was user friendly to boot. Matsu had no idea how Naruto had managed to create such an incredible program, but she intended to ask him once he returned from the mission.

Typing a few more times, Matsu replaced and separated the channel Naruto was using from the one she and the Sekirei that would be starting their mission was using. When she saw the small lines signifying the connection between Naruto's group and Homura's group disappear all together, leaving her as the only one connected to both groups at the same time, she knew it was time to begin her own part in Naruto's plan. That of the coordinator between the two groups and analyst. It was her job to make sure Naruto and the other group were kept up to date with a constant flow of information, and coordinate their efforts to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

Selecting the group consisting of the Sekirei, Matsu activated a link for dialogue to flow between just her and them before talking into her headset. "Homura, it's time for you and the others to begin the second phase of the plan. Operation Rescue Chiho is officially a go."

"_... Right,"_ the disgruntled answer from Homura came through over the device. It seemed the fire user still wasn't very pleased with how everything had turned out, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. _"We'll be counting on you to direct us, I guess." _It seemed he didn't like the fact that Matsu was directing their movements either. Oh well, too bad for him. Matsu wasn't about to let the male with breasts ruin their Ashikabi's plan by trying to tackle this mission his own way. Homura was used to single person actions, which were not at all suited to large scale, multiphase operations like this. This was her specialty.

Behind her, Miya watched as Matsu's fingers began flying across her keyboard. The monitor began to change from the three dimensional map with blips representing people, to real time feedback via MBI satellite that she had hacked into just for this purpose. "In that case I want you all to attack the following Sekirei as follows..."

**XoX**

Homura listened to Matsu's instructions, a frown on his face. It had been determined by Naruto that he would be the one in charge of the second phase of the plan, that of getting Chiho out of the hospital and safely ensconced in Maison Izumo. Of course, the only reason he was put in charge was because neither of the other two could do it; Akitsu simply lacked the charisma and ability to lead a group because of how taciturn she was, and Musubi, well, she would never be able to execute a plan like this. Most of her mental functions when it came to anything involving an enemy Sekirei remained strictly in the 'fight and fight and fight' aspect that the Sekirei Plan sloganed. Sparing a glance at the bustiest Sekirei of the group, his thoughts were confirmed his thoughts. Musubi was almost bouncing in her excitement, fists clenched under her chin, and her breathing heavy as she tried to contain her indomitable desire for combat.

Yeah, she wouldn't be any good at leading a group in something like this.

Uzume was also an option, she could have probably lead them with some measure of success. But the star shirted Sekirei was going to be too busy rescuing her Ashikabi to properly direct anybody. The fire user looked over at the Sekirei who this plan had been created to help. No longer was Uzume wearing her normal clothes, and instead had her Sekirei outfit on. A set of twin sheets that concealed her breasts and wrapped around her neck and ribcage, another sheet forming a strange sarong/loincloth garment on her lower body. Around her, bolts of white drifted and fluttered around her in such a way that they looked like they were alive. Another veil was resting on her head, pulled low enough to serve as a cowl which concealed most of her face. The look on her face told Homura that she was thinking of nothing else but getting her Ashikabi out of that hospital as soon as possible.

And with the only other Sekirei capable of leading the group too focused on her own personal mission, Homura had been named squad leader. Out of all of those he was the only one who could not only direct the others, but also didn't have so much of a personal stake in this that he couldn't function in capacity of leader. That didn't mean he wasn't worried about Uzume's Ashikabi, the woman had been his friend ever since he had moved to Maison Izumo. It was just that he could work without his feelings affecting his decisions.

That still didn't mean he liked the plan.

"_You got all that?"_ Snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Matsu's voice, Homura grimaced.

"Yeah, I got it," he said, running a hand through his hair. "We'll start the operation now."

"_Good luck."_

"Thanks."

With a sigh, Homura looked over at the three Sekirei with him, his eyes hardening a bit as he prepared to do something that he had never done before. Lead a group of Sekirei on a mission to rescue one of said Sekireis Ashikabi. He was nervous. It was understandable when one considered the fact that he had never done this before. Fight against other Sekirei to protect an unwinged Sekirei? Yes. Team up with the same Ashikabi and Sekirei he had for this mission to rescue the Green Girl from Mikogami's Sekireis? Yes. Lead a four man squad of Sekirei into enemy territory in order to rescue one of said Sekireis Ashikabi from the most ruthless man involved in the Sekirei plan next to that monster Hiroto Minaka? No. Yes, Homura had ever reason to be nervous. However, much as he didn't like this plan, much as he wished his Ashikabi would be more reasonable, he had no intention of letting it fail either. Naruto and Uzume were counting on him to do his part, so he would do everything in his power to make sure the plan succeeded.

"It's time for us to get started with our phase of the plan," he told the others with him. Musubi stopped her incessant jumping to look at him, Uzume's attention left the window of a particular room in the hospital (no doubt her Ashikabi's room) to focus on him, and Akitsu, well, she had been staring at him from the moment they had left Naruto's presence. It was kind of unnerving to be honest.

"About time," Uzume grunted as she crossed her arms. From the impatient look on her face she was more than ready to start this mission, her impatience was radiating off of her like a flame. "So what's the plan?"

"There are three Sekirei here at the hospital," Homura began to lay out Matsu's instructions. In an effort to keep mindless chatter from happening over the line, only Homura, Matsu, Naruto, Uzume, and Seo actually had a communication device on them, so none of the others knew what the plan was. Explaining it to them was his job. "Two of them are guarding the front, and one of them is standing watch in the back."

"Oh, oh, are we going to fight them? Are they strong?" Musubi was literally bouncing on the balls of her feet again. It was very clear where her focus lie, hence the reason she would probably never be given charge of a mission. "Which one am I going to fight? Huh? Huh?"

"Calm down, Musubi," Homura snapped, quickly growing irritated with the excitable Sekireis constant desire for combat. This was an important mission dammit! They didn't have time to indulge themselves in pointless violence. "I'm trying to explain the mission!"

"Right!" Musubi stopped bouncing, seemingly calming down, and pounded a fist into an open palm. "The mission! Sorry, I forgot we're here to rescue Uzume-san's Ashikabi." She took her fist out of her palm and rapped her knuckles against her head while poking her tongue out. Homura sighed, really, this girl was just too much. How did Naruto deal with her?

"Anyways, our job –" he gestured to himself, Akitsu, and Musubi, "– is simple. We need to engage the Sekirei guarding the hospital and lead them away from the hospital grounds. If possible, we are to eliminate them, but if not than holding them off long enough for Uzume to get her Ashikabi away is fine. Akitsu," he looked over at the ice user as said woman perked up. "You're going to be taking care of the one behind the hospital. Musubi and I will take out the ones in front," that way he could keep on eye on the overly enthusiastic fist fighter so she wouldn't do anything stupid. "While we do that, Uzume is going to sneak into her Ashikabi's room and get her out of there post haste. Does everybody understand their part!"

"Yes!" Musubi shouted cheerfully, her left fist pumping into the air.

"Che, I know what I'm supposed to do." Uzume looked over at the hospital again, her eyes focusing on something only she could see.

"Ah," Akitsu's delayed reaction came in as she looked at Homura and nodded. "Yes."

"Ok then," Homura exhaled a large breath of air, it was the only thing he could think to do in order to release the tension in his body. "Let's get started. Musubi, you're with me."

"Right!" Musubi nodded her head once, her face the oddest combination of serious and excited. It seemed to switch between the two at random intervals, and Homura was not quite sure what to make of that. Maybe Musubi was trying to calm down her excited demeanor and having trouble? It seemed plausible enough, and would be in keeping with what he had seen of the girl so far. At the very least she seemed to be ready for the mission, so he supposed that so long as she was ready and willing to follow his directions things would be fine.

"Alright then, let's go." No more words needed to be said, it was clear that everyone understood what the task was and what was at stake should they fail. Uzume's eyes were hard, they were the look of a Sekirei who was about to protect their most treasured Ashikabi. Akitsu seemed ready as well, though it was hard to tell since she kept her facial expression blank. Homura wasn't even sure how ready Musubi was, she was fidgeting some, and seemed raring to go, but that could just be excitement. At least she wasn't bouncing on the balls of her feet anymore.

With their paths determined the group of Sekirei split off to their respective tasks, Musubi and Homura speeding towards the front of the hospital, Akitsu moving towards the back, and Uzume making a direct rush towards the hospital room of the person who meant the world to her. Phase two of the mission to rescue Chiho and undermine Higa Izumi's forces had begun.

**XoX**

Bishounen. That was the first thing that came to Naruto's mind when he saw Higa Izumi in person. Dressed in an elaborate pure white business suit that looked to be more expensive than the average citizen made in a year, maybe even two, with a white shirt underneath his business suit and a black tie gave the young man an air of refinement. He was fairly skinny, yet from the way he moved it was obvious he kept himself in shape. His light brown hair was cut in the slightly messy yet refined look that most stereotypical bishounen had these days, similar yet slightly different from Homura's hair style. The bangs of his hair hid light gray eyes that held a sharpness to them if one looked hard enough. Cold, calculating, they were the eyes of someone who not only held a fierce intellect but a lack of morals. Naruto determined right then and there that this man would be one the most dangerous to cross, and one of the most useful if he played his cards right.

As the man approached him, Naruto stood up from his spot on the bench. Japanese was a world of customs, tradition, and etiquette. He needed to play along for now, and it wouldn't do for someone of his standing to show blatant disrespect to someone as rich and obviously powerful as Higa. Not that such a thing really meant much to Naruto, and if they were going to go with accumulated revenue then he had the bishounen boy beat by centuries. Of course, no one knew about Naruto's wealth or that he was the author to the acclaimed Icha Icha series, and he wasn't going to admit to that anyways so lording his wealth over someone else was pointless. So Naruto stood up as the man closed in and offered a slight bow, enough to be polite but not enough to show deference.

"You must be Uzumaki Naruto," Higa started, his voice sounding younger than Naruto would have expected. His eyes glinted as he offered the blond a nod, and Naruto had to suppress the urge to raise an eyebrow. This man was sharp if he was capable of noticing how the blond had bowed before him not as one would before a person of higher station, but as an equal. Definitely dangerous. "After all of the things I've heard about you, I must admit it's nice to finally meet face to face."

He had stopped exactly one meter away from Naruto, in normal circumstances it would be far enough away that he could call for backup if they were nearby, which they most assuredly were, yet close enough that he would not seem cowardly by keeping his distance. It was a smart move, even if Higa himself did not know how smart. Because he wanted to keep his abilities as much of a secret as possible, Naruto would not be able to use his chakra enhanced speed to reach the other man, and if his assumption of there being at least one Sekirei somewhere in the area watching them than it meant he wouldn't be fast enough to reach Higa before the company heirs Sekirei were on him.

"_There are two Sekirei hidden within the tree line to your left."_ Naruto took the information Matsu gave him without batting an eyelash, simply noting what she had said and adjusting his plans for what would happen if things turned violent accordingly.

"Indeed," he spoke to the much younger man, his tone casual and his stance loose and seemingly relaxed. "I'm surprised you've heard of me though, given that I'm still fairly new to the Sekirei Plan and Shinto Teito in general." Once more Naruto relied on standard political speaking, giving the man a small statement to see what he would say. Would he reveal more than he intended to? Or would he maneuver around it much like the blond himself had often done?

"_Don't worry about them kid, I can see the two."_ Naruto almost slipped out of character and had his right eye twitch at the kid comment. He was so going to get the scruffy little brat back. Screw Guerilla warfare, this man was getting the King of Pranks unleashed upon his ass. _"If they try anything, I'll have my girls zap 'em."_ At least it was good to know he could count on the man, not that that would save him when Naruto decided to show him what happened when you called Uzumaki Naruto a child.

"I think you underestimate yourself, Uzumaki-san," Higa replied with a smile that didn't quite reach those sharp eyes. "It is no small feat to wing a Sekirei who had been considered unwingable. To wing a scrapped number is something that I don't think anyone imagined was possible." Nothing. He gave nothing than what he knew away. This man was a lot better than his secretary when it came to keeping things close to the vest.

"Perhaps," Naruto admitted, "but then again, I was told by a reliable source that very few Ashikabi knew of my existence or what I had done. He only found out by chance."

"As did I," Higa replied in controlled tone. "In the most recent batch of Sekirei, I had managed to wing one and she told me about what you had done. It seems you have impressed many of the unwinged population." There wasn't a hint of a tremor in his voice. If Naruto had not been as skilled as he was at detecting lies, he would have almost missed it. Of course, even if he had not recognized that the man was lying, the information he had on Higa's Sekirei made that point moot. Which brought up an interesting question. Had Kochou not bothered checking the MBI mainframe for an update on his profile? Did Higa really not know he had winged Matsu, or was he just hiding that information as a form of misinformation to make Naruto underestimate him?

Unfortunately for Naruto, he would not be able to find out. The man before him was too canny to let that kind of information slip. So perhaps it was time to get down to business.

"I was told you wanted meet with me," Naruto kept himself relaxed as he went straight to the point. There was no use beating around the bush any longer, as it was quite obvious that the Ashikabi of the East was too skilled to let any useful information slip during this meeting. There was no needless for pointless banter when nothing would come of it. "I take it there is something you want of me?"

"Indeed there is," Higa said with a chuckle. "I would like to speak with you about your stance in the Sekirei Plan, and whether or not you would be interested in being in a position to help move events away from the vision that Hiroto Minaka has for us."

If it hadn't broken character, Naruto would have allowed himself a smile. It looked like he was right, the man wanted to bring MBI down, and most likely elevate his own company in the process. It was time to play the age old game of back door deals.

Naruto hated wasting his time like this, but such was life.

**XoX**

If there was ever any doubt in Homura's mind that there was something seriously wrong with Musubi, it flew out the window the moment the mission started. From the very first moment they appeared before the two Sekirei they were too lead away from the hospital, Musubi had been practically hyperventilating with excitement. Standing in front of the two Sekirei who were guarding the entrance to the hospital, hands fisted under her chin, and stars in her eyes, Musubi looked like she was just about ready to burst.

"A strong opponent, two strong opponents. Oooh, which one do I get to fight?" Yeah, Homura was starting to get pretty worried for the other Sekireis mental health. There was simply no way someone could be that crazy about battle and be considered sane.

"Oi! Who the hell are you two?" The sound of impatient shouting reminded Homura that this was no time to be worried about Musubi's possible mental instability. With a shake of his head, he focused on the Sekirei that had yelled at them.

The girl before him had short blond hair and light grayish blue eyes set on a face that seemed to have perfected the art of looking impatience and petulant. Her clothing consisted of a black leather tube top with lighter gray stripes that showed off her belly button. Two leather bands around her clavicle just before reaching the shoulder and under her armpits, and leather armbands of the same make went from the middle of her bicep all the way to her hands and ended there to meet a set of black leather gloves. Following the consistency of her outfit, she was also wearing a pair of black leather bloomers with a belt attached to it, stockings that followed the same pattern as everything else, and a black choker around her neck. It was a very indecent outfit bordering on lewd, not that Homura paid as much attention to that other than noting it with distaste.

What really got his attention, however, were the long strings with blades attached to her hand. She had three in each hand sticking in between her fingers, eight in all. They were an unusual weapon, very much unlike the swords, whips, katanas, nagitanas, and other more standard forms of weaponry that most of the weapon-type Sekirei tended to use. They looked quite deadly.

While Homura observed the six blades on the short haired Sekireis person with the sort of nonchalance he was known for, Musubi was watching the blade user with an expression that was almost like a woman during orgasm. "She looks so strong!" Musubi said in a breathless fashion. She turned to Homura as he gave her a strange look. "Can I fight her? Please! Please!" She begged, and it seemed to him that the busty Sekirei wearing shrine maiden clothes had completely forgotten about the reason they had come here in the first place now that she was faced with someone to fight.

"No," Homura said, his eye twitching at the girl. "This one is mine. You can take on the other one." He indicated the other Sekirei that was with the bladed one. She was another short girl, but with a vastly different personality it seemed. Where the other one was projecting an air of anger and impatience, this girl looked like she might run at the slightest sign of violence. She was wearing a modified form of shrine maiden clothes similar to those of Musubi's yet different. Her sleeves had two slits in them near the shoulder, the smaller one on top being smaller than the one below it. Red stitching was attached just below the second slit, and the sleeves themselves were very wide. The obi was dark pink with a whie bow attached to it, and the skirt below that was a lighter pink. Her outfit was finished with a pair of white stockings and boots.

"OK!" Homura's eyes widened in shock when Musubi spun on a dime and shot off like a bullet from a gun, charging straight towards the frightened looking Sekirei. "My name's number eighty eight, Musubi! I'm a fist-type!"

"No wait! Musubi!" Homura shouted, his hand outstretched towards the fist fighter as if he could reach out and stop her. Not that he was close enough to reach her, and at the speeds she was moving he wouldn't reach her before she reached her opponent. "Dammit! We were supposed to lead them away!" Seriously, what the hell was wrong with that girl?

"OI!" The short Sekirei shouted again, her impatience seeming to reach it's peek as she tossed one of her blades at him. "Don't ignore me you bastard!"

The blade came in fast and hot, shooting at Homura with speeds that a human would never be able to catch. Homura was a Sekirei, however, and while not as physically powerful as the fist and weapon-type's, was more than capable of keeping pace with the projectile. Being a single digit also helped.

He dodged the blade easily enough, jumping to the side and letting the sharp implement attached to a string sail past him. The Sekirei who had thrown the weapon 'tched' and yanked on the string attached to the blade she had thrown, causing it to get pulled back towards her where she caught it in between her fingers once again.

"Now answer me!" she shouted, something she seemed to do a lot. Maybe angry was just her natural state of being. "Who the hell are you two!" With the mission to lead their opponents away from the hospital pretty much destroyed thanks to the excitable fist fighter, Homura responded to the Sekirei facing by causing a large ball of fire to appear above his left hand. Without preamble he threw the white hot sphere of flame at the blade user, eliciting a squawk from the short haired Sekirei as she made to dodge it.

"You want to know who I am?" asked Homura as he conjured another ball of flame. "Very well, I'm number zero six, Homura. And I'll be your opponent this evening."

"Shit, a single digit!" The blade tossing Sekirei cursed as she seemed to realize just how much trouble she was really in now. The single digits were feared for a reason, it was said that any Sekirei with a single digit was just as strong unwinged as normal Sekirei was when they were winged. And since her Ashikabi wasn't here, it wouldn't matter if Homura was unwinged or not because she couldn't use her Norito. Still, as she readied her blades again it was clear she wasn't going to give up. "Damn, I never expected to fight against a single digit. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with coming here and ignoring me like that! I'm number thirty one, Sai!"

While Homura prepared for his battle with the now known Sai, Musubi had already made first contact with her own opponent. In a show of just how much stronger she had gotten since first meeting Miya, the fist-types left fist came in fast and hard, a speeding blur that was much more fluid than it used to be before she and her Ashikabi started living at Maison Izumo. Her attack was so fast that the Sekirei she had attacked barely had enough time to jump back and get out of the way. There was an audible 'woosh!' noise as Musubi's fist displaced the air in front of her, the attacking missing her target who began a tactical retreat. This did not deter the excited woman one bit, and with dogged determination and a joy that most people would probably consider creepy considering she was in battle, Musubi began speeding after the other Sekirei.

It soon became a game of cat and mouse as Musubi launched attack after attack with her fists an impossible blur. There was a large smile on her face that belied the fierceness of her attacks, it was quite clear that the fist-type Sekirei was greatly enjoying her second taste of combat. Her opponent on the other hand did not seem to be enjoying the thrill of battle, instead looking like frightened prey in the face of a predator. It was a terrible analogy when considering the fact that Musubi looked about as threatening as a rabbit, but there you go.

In spite of her apparent fright for Musubi, or perhaps for combat in general, the timid looking Sekirei did her best to dodge the attacks as they came, moving backwards, to the left, to the right, ducking, but even though she managed to dodge all of the strikes directed at her it looked like it was only a matter of time before she was overwhelmed.

In an effort to gain some space from the battle crazy Sekirei, two blades shot out from her arms. They looked like a set of very large wrist blades, the blades themselves were in the shape of a curved triangle with a hollowed interior. They were attached to a circular projection that likely had some kind of mechanism on the inside to make them appear like that. Bringing out her left hand in a slashing motion, the blade made to carve a slice from Musubi's stomach. Thankfully the fist fighter gained more than just experience from Miya, she also gained excellent reflexes. The landlady was far faster than this girl after all.

Musubi ducked under the swing, her hair – and her breasts – seemed to remain in place at the quick move, and the blade that passed mere inches over her head sliced off a few strands of it before gravity came into play. By that time Musubi was already moving again, her opponent had decided not to fight gravity by trying to drag that blade she had just attacked with into a reverse swing, and instead was slashing at her with the sword in her right hand in a move that had her spinning a full three hundred and sixty degrees. The attack missed when Musubi jumped backwards, the tip of the blade missing by a good margin this time.

With her opponents swords now out the battle began anew in a fast and furious pace. The girl she was facing was actually pretty good despite her timid demeanor, and Musubi seemed to be enjoying herself more and more. The fight had become less of a cat trying to catch a mouse and more of dance where the two would move around each other, striking with their respective attacks and dodging when needed. Musubi relied on the strength her training with Miya had given her to not only dodge the attacks sent her way, but also redirect them with simple jabs and taps to the flat end of her opponents swords. Aside from keeping the blades from cutting into her, the redirecting of the sword users weapons caused the two blades to move in wider arcs that not only took more energy, but more time to properly bring back into play. It was something Musubi had been working on, but had been unable to do on the landlady because she was far too fast. On this girl, however, the fist fighter found herself able to redirect the slashing strikes much more easily.

As time went on it was clear that her opponent was getting desperate. Her strikes became sloppier, her moves came in with less precision, and the look of wide eyed desperation on her face was very telling. It was as the battle looked like it was beginning to reach it's conclusion that the sword user, in her distress, came in with a piercing attack that was meant to stab Musubi in the chest.

With an incredible move dexterity and acrobatic skills, Musubi leapt up and over the blade, kicking her legs back to gain momentum and launch herself into a spin. When her body had reversed it's position with her head now pointing towards the ground, her right hand shot out and she tapped the flat top of the blade that had been set to slice into her, which had the effect of knocking the Sekirei using the weapon off balance. The blade was sent into the cement underneath their feet, gouging out a large chunk into the ground. Now behind the sword user, Musubi landed adroitly on her feet, grabbed the hem of her opponents shrine maiden outfit and yanked the entire top off.

"Kya!" Having her entire body now exposed to the elements, her opponents, and any potential perverts that might be watching from the windows in the hospital, caused the sword user to scream and quickly kneel down as she covered her chest with her arms in a failed attempt at protecting her modesty. This was a bad move to make on her account. Without her arms she was no longer able to attack her opponent with her swords, and Musubi seemed quite ready to put an end to the battle.

Pressing her index finger against her opponents Sekirei crest, Musubi began to recite her Norito. "By the fists of my contact, my Ashikabi's perils will be shattered!" Light began gathering at the tip of her fingers, energy gathered around the Sekirei Crest. The symbol began to hiss and steam, and before long the Sekirei Crest, the symbol that showed everyone the Sekirei it marked has been winged by someone, disappeared. With the crest gone, the sword using Sekirei ceased functioning. Her body fell forward, hitting the ground with a dull thump.

It was over.

While Musubi had her battle with the unnamed Sekirei, Homura was busy with his own confrontation. Sai was quite talented with those blades, tossing them at him one, two or even three at a time, then using the strings to swing them around and try to hit him from another angle. Constantly he was being forced to dodge attack after attack as the Sekirei he faced off against continuously brought her weapons into play, and whenever he knocked one off course, she would simply make that one return to her and launch another of her blades which she always kept in the wing.

This normally would not be much of a problem. As a being of fire, Homura's ability to bring intense flames into combat was usually enough to burn through just about anything if he so desired it. He had proven this just a few days ago when he had helped a young unwinged Sekirei with silver hair not unlike his own escape from Mikogami's bloodhounds. The blond whip user, he never got her name, had tried to restrain him and take him to her master as a consolation prize. That idea had lasted only long enough for him to burn her whip straight through and send her packing with a few well placed fireballs. So yeah, his flames were pretty damn hot and could melt or burn just about anything, including metal.

The problem was that he couldn't get a proper bead on the weapons being tossed at him. It was partly due to the fact that this girl was much more skilled with her weapon than that other one was, and partially because there was more than one being aimed his way. The blades themselves were constantly moving, slicing at him from behind, to his sides, from above, always coming in at the same time and from different angles. Number thirty was very good at multidimensional attacks it seemed. All the power in the world sometimes couldn't compete with numbers.

Another issue that compounded onto this battle was the fact that they were fighting in front of a hospital. In any other circumstance, Homura would have just turned up the heat and encased himself in a flame so hot that the throwing weapons being directed at him melted long before they reached him. However, since they were so close to a hospital, and in a damn parking lot with lots of cars that had gasoline in them to boot, he couldn't simply cut lose lest he wanted to risk blowing the entire parking lot to kingdom come.

And this is why Homura was beginning to regret bringing Musubi along. Maybe he should have sent her towards the other Sekirei instead of Akitsu.

"Tch!" Homura tsked to himself as one of the blades came in from in front of him, while another came from behind, and one more from above. Dodging the first was easy, merely stepping to the side and letting it past him. The second was more difficult as the Sekirei controlling it twitched her hands and caused it to shift into his path. Despite that, Homura was able to duck under the blade at the last second by performing a barrel roll across the ground, which consequently helped him dodge the last blade as it cut into where he had been and sliced a chunk out of the cement.

"Come on!" Sai shouted as she once more launched her attack at the fire user. "I thought you single digits were supposed to be strong! This is pathetic!" Homura grunted as he once more dodged a set of blades that came in from multiple angles, twisting and spinning his body around the intricately moving weapons.

This entire fight was beginning to become a task. It was actually quite easy to dodge her attacks, while number thirty one was acting the braggart and proclaiming how she was stronger than a single digit, the truth of the matter was that while she may be skilled with her weapons, it was nowhere near enough to actually make him fight seriously. At the same time, he couldn't just cut loose. Sai had figured out near the beginning of their fight that he wouldn't attack if there was a possibility that he might hit a car instead of her when one of his fireballs had gotten a little too close to one of the vehicles. Since then she had made sure to always keep a car behind her so that he wouldn't shoot anymore flames at her.

He needed to find someway to ensure that he could hit her with his flames without hitting a car. His fire was too slow to use as a single projectile however, and he couldn't use any wide coverage attacks. That meant he would need her to get close. But how to do that...

As he ducked under a blade that would have impaled him in the face, an idea struck his mind. It was stupid, dangerous, reckless, and sounded like something Naruto would do.

Thank god his Ashikabi wasn't here or he would never hear the end of it for doing this.

Three more attacks came in, two closing distance from his left and right, and one going straight at him from the front. They were all set at different angles, low, middle, and high, and were designed to take out various parts of his body, legs, torso, and head, or to ensure that he had no way of dodging without getting hit. That was fine, it didn't matter where they came from for what he was about to do.

The attacks had been coordinate to reach him all at the same time, and when they came in Homura acted. He jumped into the air, but not very high, only about three feet off the ground. His body twisted until he was parallel to the earth, and than he began to spin. Rotating like a corkscrew Homura's hands shot out, catching the two blades that had been coming towards him in a pincer move. The last one he let pass over him, missing by nearly a foot.

"What the!"

His hands burst into flames as he landed on his feet. The metal of the blades melted under the intense heat, sloshing off his hands like wax. Likewise the strings began to spark and burn, the intense fire burning it's way up the fabric where it hit Sai's hand, making her let go of the now nothing more than ash strings with a hiss as she was burned. Before she even had a chance to react to this new development, Homura was in front of her, his fist covered in a ball of flame that had her eyes widening.

In that moment they both knew that this battle was over.

**XoX**

While Homura and Musubi were fighting Sai and Shi, Uzume was busy sneaking into the hospital. Unlike the others who had rushed in to combat their respective targets, she had hidden herself in the surrounding treeline. She had stood on one of the higher branches and watched as Homura and Musubi engaged the enemy Sekirei guarding the front, shaking her head when she noticed that the fist fighter had gotten a little carried away and began duking it out with her opponent right in front of the hospital. So much for being discreet.

Well, so long as her two friends kept the enemy occupied, Uzume guessed there was no real problem. Since this was a Sekirei battle, MBI would take care of it, and while she knew Naruto had wanted them to be a little more cautious and secretive, this was probably the best they could hope for.

Since all of the Sekirei were now occupied, and Uzume could see a few spikes of ice several dozen meters in the distance to signify Akitsu was battling her opponent, the busty star shirted Sekirei decided it was finally time for her to make her way inside of the hospital.

Jumping down from her perch, Uzume alighted the ground with soft feet, then took off at a quick trot until she reached the hospital. She was on the end opposite of where Naruto's meeting with Higa was to take place, meaning once she snuck in it would be a bit of a walk to get all the way to her Ashikabi's room. With a bit of a sigh at that thought, Uzume utilized her powers to make her cloths shoot up into the air and latch onto the fence on the roof. She placed one foot on the wall, then the other, and soon began to walk up the vertical surface. Her Ashikabi's room was on the sixth floor of the hospital, and while scaling up a wall via long stretches of cloth that looked like they were being powered by magic wasn't exactly discreet or conducive to remaining unnoticed, Uzume was in too much of a hurry to care.

Upon reaching the sixth floor the busty Sekirei took control of another one of her cloths, sending it through the small crack underneath the window she was in front of. Thankfully, no one was in the hallway to see the cloth as it moved up and knocked open the latch that kept the window locked. As the cloth pushed the window up a bit, Uzume wiggled her fingers underneath the window, then lifted it the rest of the way up. She stuck her head inside and peered down each side of the hallway.

The hallway was empty. She had expected this of course, very few people ventured to this floor since it belonged to her Ashikabi, and Higa preferred keeping everyone that was not involved in the Sekirei plan or paid by him to administer her Ashikabi's treatments away.

As her flowing cloth pulled loose of the fence they had been clinging, Uzume stepped onto the white tiled floor. She took one more glance around, before heading off in the direction she knew her Ashikabi to be.

The hallways looked just as she always remembered them, drab white walls, and plain white tiles, windows on one side showing the metropolitan cityscape of Shinto Teito and dozens of doors on the other that led to patient rooms. Most the rooms on this floor were empty, used only for temporary patients for the same reason only a select few were allowed to come up here. Before, knowing that Higa was trying to isolate her Ashikabi had bothered her, but now she couldn't help but feel grateful as it meant she would be able to rescue her Chiho without being seen.

She also couldn't help but feel grateful to her friends that were currently fighting for her and her Ashikabi's sake. Naruto was currently dealing with Higa, Musubi and Homura were fighting those Sekirei at the front, and Akitsu was probably fighting the last Sekirei if she hadn't finished the battle already. They were doing a lot for her, more than she had ever dreamed possible, especially if Naruto really could heal her Ashikabi. Uzume couldn't help but feel indebted to them, and wondered if there would ever be a way to repay that debt.

Those thoughts were shaken off a moment later when she reached the door to her destination. Quietly as she could, Uzume grabbed the hand, turned, and opened the door, then stepped through. After closing the door behind her, she took a moment to look around.

The room she was in was a small hospital room that remained consistent with the theme of the hospital, white walls, ceiling, and floors, a desk on the wall near her left with several cabinets containing medical equipment. There was a window on the opposite side of where the door was, and right next to the window was a twin sized bed.

And lying on that bed was none other than her Ashikabi, her peacefully sleeping face made Uzume's eyes soften, and a soft and beautiful smile form on her face. Her whole countenance became different, as if by just being in the presence of her Ashikabi, Uzume's heart and soul became at peace with the world.

Moving lowly towards the bed, Uzume kept her eyes on the face of her Ashikabi. Despite looking so frail, she had never met someone as beautiful as her Chiho. Perhaps she was being biased, after all, to a Sekirei nothing is more important, more beautiful, or more amazing than their Ashikabi, but Uzume didn't care. To her, Chiho was the most beautiful and wonderful person in the world, and she doubted anything would change that.

As she knelt by the bed, one of her hands reached out and began to gently caress Chiho's hair, however, before long her hand went from her Ashikabi's hair to caressing her face. Uzume let her thumb lightly trail over Chiho's left cheek and very lightly over her Ashikabi's lips, the action causing the young girl she had bound herself to, to stir.

Light brown eyes slowly opened, blinking several times before they locked onto Uzume's. For a moment, there was nothing but silence as the two stared at each other, their eyes reflecting their innermost feelings towards each other. Then Chiho smiled. "Uzume-chan," she whispered, her voice sounding weak, much weaker than it had when they had first met. It was almost heartbreaking, probably would be heartbreaking if not for the fact that Uzume had someone who could help them.

"Hey," Uzume said softly, her eyes gaining a warmth no one at Maison Izumo had ever seen. "How have you been? Feeling alright?"

"I'm better, now that you're here," Chiho said, her voice still laced with the last remaining dregs of sleepiness. Uzume's cheeks gained a healthy yet almost unnoticeable shade of pink as she felt her heart speed up in an effort to supply more blood to her face. Her Ashikabi used that time to gain a more lasting hold on her consciousness, and smiled at the Sekirei she had bound herself to. "And how about you? It doesn't look like you've been crying again..."

"Crying?" Uzume blinked, her expression morphing from one of peace to that of a deer caught in the headlights of a semi-truck. Her face gained a much more noticeable shade of red. She recovered admirably, an easy going grin on her face as she made to dismiss the girls concerns with a genuine, if slightly embarrassed laugh. "Haha! What are you talking? What makes you think I would be crying?"

"You don't have to pretend," Chiho told her, weakly raising one frail hand and clasping the one Uzume had been waving about in her attempt to deny the girl's accusation. Uzume froze, her heart began beating even more erratically in her chest as the girls weakened hand clenched hers in a surprisingly firm grip. She could have pulled away, of course, quite easily. Yet she did not. All she did was blush an even fiercer color of red. "I know," Chiho said, smiling at the busty tomboyish Sekirei. That smile. It both put Uzume at peace and caused her heart to race with the strength of a stampeding herd of elephants. "I know when Uzume-chan is sad, because when she's sad I am sad. I know when Uzume-chan is happy, because when she is happy I am happy. Even though you always look like you want to cry, you still smile for me. I know this because I am your Ashikabi."

"I..." Uzume gulped, her mind unable to think of what to say, and her mouth incapable of speech even if it was. Her heart was hammering in her chest, speeding faster than a bullet train, it felt like it would beat out of her heart at a seconds notice. She sniffed, once. Then brought an arm up to her face and began to scrub it surreptitiously. Her mind began to work once again, and a smile lit her face, as brilliant as the blush that had settled on her cheeks. "I love you too, Chiho." And she meant it. This girl, her Ashikabi, Uzume loved her more than life itself. That was what it meant for one to be bound as Ashikabi and Sekirei.

At least, that was one of the things it meant.

"Ne, ne," Uzume leaned in closer, her grin suddenly turning mischievous and playful, eyes swimming with mirth. "Can I have a kiss?" she asked, puckering her lips as she continued to close the distance between her and her Ashikabi.

"U-Uzume-chan!" Chiho gasped, this time it was her turn to blush. The girl buried her face beneath the covers up to her nose, her entire face a shade of red that matched a fire trucks, yet seemed to burn with the intensity of a star. Uzume thought it was adorable. "I-Is now really the best time?" At the word time, Uzume paused. Blinking a few times, her mind seemed to reboot from whatever fantasy world she had entered.

"Oh yeah," the busty tomboy frowned. That's right, she wasn't here for hugs and kisses but for something else. The hugs and kisses could come later. "Now probably isn't the best time. Listen, Chiho," Uzume said hurriedly, her tone making her Ashikabi stop blushing and pay more attention to her. There was an urgency in her voice that had not been there before. "We need to get out of here."

Chiho frowned, and gave Uzume a searching look. Uzume wasn't sure what the girl was looking for, but after a few seconds she seemed to find it, for she gave an understanding nod and said, "ok."

"Ok?" Uzume blinked, nonplussed. "Just like that? You're not even going to ask me why we need to leave? Or where I'm going to be taking you?" She had expected Chiho to at least ask where they were going, or maybe even ask for an explanation. Uzume had even prepared a 'there's no time' speech just for such an occasion. It had obviously never even crossed her mind that her Ashikabi might simply accept her decision on faith.

"You're my Sekirei," Chiho said with a shake of her head. "I trust Uzume-chan, and if you say that we need to leave, then I believe you." Uzume began to sniff as more dangerous moisture gathered at the corner of her eyes before she wiped it away. She wasn't crying, it was just that she had gotten dust in her eyes from the ventilation system. A ventilation system whose fan wasn't on at the moment and therefore could not have possibly thrown up any dust, the fact that the hospital was ridiculously clean notwithstanding.

"Thank you," Uzume said as she began to rise, her arms going out to her Ashikabi and pulling her up and into a hug. Her arms wrapped tightly around the frail body of the girl that winged her, and in return a pair of weakened arms went around her. Despite how thin Chiho's arms were, her grip was deceptively strong. Perhaps it was not only the Sekirei who gained strength from such a bond. "Thank you for being my Ashikabi."

"No," Chiho shook her head as a few small droplets of water splashed against her face from above. Uzume was crying. "Thank you, Uzume-chan."

**XoX**

"So you want me to join forces with you, help you oust MBI and demolish the Sekirei Plan," Naruto concluded at the end of Higa's speech. The blond had listened to the man all the way through as he listed his 'grievances' about MBI; stating how evil they were for bringing two people together and ripping them apart so cruelly, how Minaka was a madman that found amusement in the suffering of others and had to be stopped, and how he, Higa Izumi could do that if he had Naruto's help. It was a rousing speech, almost passionate in the way he declared his desire to defeat the heartless conglomerate known as MBI. He had to give the man credit, not only had he made a bold and upfront proclamation, he had done so in a way that would make most people jump at the chance he was offering.

Too bad for him Naruto wasn't some random smuck off the streets that had found himself randomly chosen to be an Ashikabi. He was a several thousand year old immortal who had fought in a war that made this game look like a school yard fight between children. He had watched as entire empires rose and fell with the tides of time. He had seen humans as they advanced, been there as they moved forward, watched them as they grew, and he had made sure to blend himself into their society seamlessly, learning every trick in the book to ensure that no one discovered his secrets. While Higa's speech may have invigorated and roused others into joining him, Naruto had seen too much to be moved so easily.

It probably helped that the man couldn't hide his true desires and intentions behind a mask. Forearmed with the knowledge that Higa hated Sekirei and owned a rival company of MBI Naruto had all the information he needed to know that the Ashikabi of the East's proposition designed to convince him to join forces had been nothing more than a rehearsed and carefully crafted speech that the man had no doubt practiced for countless hours to get just right. It was a complete lie with the sole purpose of turning those it convinced into tools for Higa to use and toss aside when they had outlived their usefulness.

"That's right," Higa said with a nod and a smile that was probably designed to be friendly, but to someone like Naruto was as transparent as Matsu's sleepwear. He could easily spot the cold glint in Higa's eyes when the man spoke. "That's right, as someone who has winged so many Sekirei, surely you can understand why I am doing this. Hiroto Minaka is a madman who needs to be stopped in order for Ashikabis and their Sekirei to live peaceful lives together. With you helping me, I am sure we can accomplish this goal."

"And what happens after that?" asked Naruto. "When MBI is defeated what happens then? Will you take over MBI? Steal their technology in order to elevate your own pharmaceutical company to the status it used to be before Minaka created MBI? And what will happen to the Sekirei without the company to regulate them and keep the world from knowing about their existence?"

There was a reason Naruto hadn't tried killing Minaka yet, aside from the fact that he didn't want to tussle with the Discipline Squad. If the President of MBI was killed, and the large company really did fall, it would create chaos. The Ashikabi and Sekirei, freed from the need to keep their existence a secret by MBI's rules, would be free to reveal themselves without fear of reprisals from MBI. This in turn would lead to the average citizens finding out about Sekirei, which in turn would lead to all the governments around the world finding out about Sekirei, and that in turn would lead to a mass of military units being sent here by various governments to try and capture a Sekirei for themselves.

Naruto wasn't altruistic, he didn't care for the majority of the Sekirei population, and he could care even less about their human Ashikabi counterparts. He wasn't a hero, he was no defender of the peace, no dark knight of justice, he was just an immortal man who had lived too long, seen too much, and suffered too many failures. Perhaps it was immoral to think that way, to have all this power and not try to use it to help humanity, but he had tried that before and it didn't work, and so had decided that humans could help themselves. He wasn't responsible for what they did, and he no longer cared if humanity as a whole started committing mass genocide against each other. Naruto was too old to care about that.

However, just because he didn't care about the majority of Sekirei and Ashikabi, didn't mean there weren't those he _did _care about. He did care about his own Sekirei and those living at Maison Izumo. As much as he may have tried pushing his feelings away, he couldn't deny that he cared about them; Akitsu, Kusano, Homura, Matsu, Musubi, Uzume, and yes, even Miya despite their recent argument. They had become important to him, even if he wasn't sure how important.

"You need not worry about what happens after MBI has been defeated," Higa said in a tone that sounded like a mixture between placating and condescending. "Once I have taken control of Shinto Teito, I will make sure everything is taken care of." Naruto frowned upon hearing those words, there was something about the way Higa worded that sentence that just screamed 'hidden intentions'. It had been clear from the start of their conversation that the man was not as altruistic as he was trying to come off as, and it was obvious that the man had plans for those who have become involved in the Sekirei Plan that was highly likely to be very unpleasant. Naruto just wished he knew what the man's goal was. As unfortunate as it was, he simply hadn't been able to get that information out of the company heir, which meant he wouldn't be able to make anything more than basic plans to disrupt Higa's day to day operations.

How disappointing.

Still, it was not like this meeting was a total loss. Naruto now knew the face of one of his enemies, and now that they had met he was confident in his abilities to outwit Higa when they crossed each others path again. When, not if, Naruto knew that in the next few moments, they would become enemies. It was already a foregone conclusion.

"Sorry," the blond stated with an almost bright smile that stretched his mouth wide enough that his eyes became fox-like slits. "But without knowing of your intentions for Shinto Teito, and the Sekirei and their Ashikabi, I'm afraid I'll have to decline your invitation to join forces."

"I see," Higa sighed as he closed his eyes and looked down at the ground, as though hearing Naruto's words caused him immense disappointment. "I'm sorry to hear that, because unfortunately, that means I am going to have to make you come with me by force."

That statement seemed to be some kind of signal, for the next thing Naruto knew he was surrounded by two people, Sekirei from the looks of them, one behind him and one in front of him. The two Sekirei looked a little older than many of the other ones he had come across. They were taller than most and their figures were more mature. The one in front of him had long black hair that almost looked like it had a green tint to it and blue eyes. She had long black gloves that went all the way up her biceps and stopped just at the shoulders, and boots which were attached to leather straps that led to a belt placed high on her hips like some kind of dominatrix version of a garter belt. Beneath that she had on a mostly blue outfit that was very similar to the many pinup girls he had scene posing on front of magazine covers for cars and motorcycles. The outfit itself had two parts to it, a set of short shorts, and a cleavage baring top that had a white stripe on the very top of it where a Sekirei crest was being displayed on the right hand side, a large gap in the middle to show off the swell of her breasts, and no coverage on the bottom, allowing for her well defined stomach muscles to show. The last thing that caught Naruto's eye about her ensemble was the long red lance she was wielding.

A quick glance behind him revealed the second of his ambushers. That particular femme was decked out in some kind of purple, yellow, and black outfit that wrapped around and was being held together at the top of her abdominal muscles by a metal ring. Portions of her midriff, her sides, her arms, even the outer portions of her thighs were exposed, while the rest was checkered back and forth with purple and yellow. She had long black thigh high boots and short black gloves to finish it. She was also the first Sekirei he had seen with hair that looked like it would be more suited on a male, something not even Homura could lay claim to. It was short, less than an inch long, and framing her skull closely.

Both of them were eying him with a look of bloodlust, and from the way they held themselves, Naruto knew that these two were not like Yomi. When he had faced number forty three, he had come to the realization that the Sekirei MBI had unleashed were not warriors. They had powers that could be comparable to the ninja in his day, but they had not been formally trained in it's use.

These two, however, were definitely fighters, skilled ones too if their bodies were anything to go by. Both were very muscular, a fact which did not detract from their features at all, their bodies were toned in such a way that told Naruto all he needed to know about them as far as combat went. It was quite clear that while most Sekirei were not truly fighters, these two had trained themselves rigorously for combat.

"I would like to ask you again," Higa stated, an almost pleasant smile still on his face. "Please agree to ally yourself with me. It would be a shame if these two were forced to apprehend you and accidentally killed you."

"You're concern over my well being is touching," Naruto said dryly as he allowed his eyes to rove around the clearing. If he was going to be entering combat, then he wanted to know what he was working with. He had about five meters of space with which to move, that is if he didn't decide to use the trees or any of his chakra abilities. There were a few lone trees that he might be able to use to his advantage if given the opportunity.

He could work with this.

"However," a flick of each wrist caused two kunai to shoot out from his sleeves and into his awaiting hand. He crouched down low, crossing his arms in front of him with his left hand holding it's kunai in a reverse grip and the other in a normal grip. "I'm still going to have to decline."

"I see," Higa said. "That is most disappointing." The Ashikabi of the East shook his head. "Very well, Ichiya, Toyotama, see to it that our friend is taken care of, but try not to damage him too much. I'll need him if I want to get his Sekirei to cooperate."

"Heh, it looks like we've got an interesting one here," the one in front of him said, Toyotama, Naruto knew from having read on all of Higa's Ashikabi. She looked at the blond as he stood in his ready stance. "Do you really think you can defeat us? You're a human."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Naruto said brightly, not at all concerned about the possibility that these two might be better than him. If they became too much for him to handle he would simply call Seo, but as this was only his second time facing off against a Sekirei, and he had been reconditioning his body for the last few days, Naruto wanted to see where he stood when compared to them. "It doesn't really matter to me one way or the other."

"In that case," the one behind him, Ichiya, started before rushing him. "We'll make this quick and show you your place!" She came in with a side kick to his temple, aiming to smack him with the heel of her foot. It was a good move, well executed, and clearly something this Sekirei must have practiced quite often during her spare time, if she had any spare time. If the kick had connected, it probably would have sent him crashing into a tree if it hit.

Naruto was moving long before Ichiya's foot had even left the ground. The blond moved forward, rolling across the ground. Toyotama used the time it took his body to move into a full rotation and land back on his feet to swing her lance at him with an overhead swing. As Naruto came up, his left hand shot out, catching the lance on his kunai. The sound of steel grinding against steel ran throughout the clearing. It last only a second though, as Naruto's reverse positioned kunai was angled in such a way that when the lance struck his all purpose utility weapon, it glanced off the blade and slid down towards the ground on his left side.

Normally, that would have been the perfect opportunity for him to strike with a fast counterattack, either by moving into Toyotama's personal space and slicing her throat with his kunai, or plunging his weapon into her floating ribs. When in combat against an opponent who used something like a lance, staff, or halberd, it was imperative that one engaged their enemy as closely as possible. Due to the length of their weapon, they were ill suited to fighting those who were fast enough to move into their personal space. However, Naruto didn't have the luxury of following through with his attack as Ichiya had already closed the distance between them again and was attacking him from behind.

Spinning around and lowering his body into a crouch, Naruto ducked under a reverse heel kick that had been aimed at his floating ribs. A good thing too, if the displaced air was any indication then the power behind that kick would have done serious damage. Not only was the dodge good for his continued physical health, it was also a very nice strategic maneuver. Because of how close he had been to Toyotama, when Naruto dodged the kick, it had come very near to actually hitting the lance wielding Sekirei. Toyotama was forced to back pedal lest she be hit by her own partner, and Naruto used the opportunity presented to him to engage Ichiya in one on one combat.

The first thing he noticed about this woman's taijutsu was that it relied primarily on kicks, rarely ever did the woman use her hands and when she did it was only to act as a counter balance. If Naruto came in with straight jab to the face, then Ichiya would bring a leg up and block it with her calf. When he allowed her to kick his fist away, and instead of letting it go far brought it back around and under the leg to strike her neck with a knifes edge, the same leg she had blocked his first attack with came down and knocked this one off course. She would then return his own attacks with counters of her own, relying on her long legs to deal a series of devastating combinations. The taijutsu user was so good with her legs and had such superb balance that she could unleash at least ten kicking combinations before having to even set her foot back on the ground.

Naruto found himself almost evenly matched with this woman as far as taijutsu went. He could probably do a little better than her, but he wasn't allowing his chakra to flow through his body unrestricted like he had during his battle with Yomi. The last time he had actually unleashed his chakra, his body had suffered from a series of torn muscles and ligaments, and although they had healed within a few seconds after the battle, it didn't change the fact that once he had become aware of the damage, or after damage as it were, his self inflicted injuries had caused him quite a bit of pain. He couldn't afford to let that happen right now, so he stuck to carefully regulating how much chakra his body used to enhance himself, thus putting him at more or less even footing with the kicking Sekirei.

Behind him, Toyotama had regained her balance and rushed towards the blond whose back was now turned as he engaged Ichiya in taijutsu. Sensing the attack behind him, Naruto waited until Ichiya came in with another kick, a front kick, and just as she extended her leg to stomp a mud hole in his stomach, jumped onto the leg and used it as a springboard to push himself into a flip. Due to her leg being fully extended and Naruto having used his weight to push it down, Ichiya stumbled forward a bit. Having already rotated until his head was pointed towards the ground, Naruto reached out and grabbed the taijutsu user by the shoulder. He swung his body around, planting both feet on her back, knees drawn up to his chest, and then he kicked off, hard. Ichiya was sent forward, and it was only thanks to Toyotama's quick reflexes that allowed them both to avoid colliding into an undignified heap on the ground. Ichiya spun around to face him as Toyotama twirled her staff over her head before moving into a ready stance.

The entire engagement had only taken two minutes.

Despite himself, Naruto felt a smile creep up on his face. His theory on his body simply not being used to the stances of his taijutsu anymore were correct, it seemed. Much like learning to ride a bicycle, thanks to the fact that he was already familiar with the stances themselves, it hadn't taken him long for his body to become a custom to them. It had only been a week since he had begun practicing hand-to-hand combat again, yet in spit of that, the blond's body was already adapting to the familiar stances with relative ease. He still wasn't perfect, Naruto could tell from the way his muscles were already beginning to ache, but it was a noticeable difference than before.

"It looks like we've got ourselves some talent here," Toyotama said, a smirk crossing her face. It was hard to tell with the bloodlust radiating from her, but Naruto thought he saw a hint of respect as well. "I never expected to find an Ashikabi capable of fighting a Sekirei on even ground."

Naruto didn't move from his ready stance, but did shrug his shoulders. "I think you'll find out that I have a bit more than 'some talent' if you stick around long enough."

"Heh, I think I like you," Ichiya chuckled, and the bloodlust surrounding her seemed to increase. These two Sekirei, it seemed, really were true warriors. He had yet to meet a Sekirei that got off on battle like they obviously were. "I'm number eighteen, Ichiya."

"And I'm number sixteen, Toyotama," the lance wielder said with her own smirk.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blond told them, smiling a bit as if speaking to a couple of friends. "No number, unfortunately, I'm just a simple Ashikabi." The two Sekrei smirked at his words before charging, and Naruto soon found himself completely on the defensive.

"_Hey, uh... not to interrupt or anything, but do you want me and my girls to help you now?" _The voice of Seo came over the line on the communication device on his ear. If he weren't in combat, Naruto would have smirked at hearing the befuddled sound in the man's voice. It had been a calculated risk letting Seo see him in action. Naruto had determined that the weight of keeping his hand-to-hand skills a secret had been outweighed by the potential benefit in showing them off.

The first benefit he got was seeing himself in action. He had been practicing on his own for a while now, but had not had a chance to use them in true combat yet. Right now Naruto was seeing the results of retraining his body to fight, and while not as good as he would have liked, it was at least passable considering he had only restarted a week ago.

The second benefit was reputation. Right now Naruto was an unknown to all but a few who knew him as the 'Miracle Worker', however, that anonymity could only remain for so long. As he understood it, the name came from the unwinged Sekirei that had heard his winging of Akitsu from some scientist. By now, at least twenty percent of those Sekirei must have been winged, which meant they may have very well told their Ashikabi's about him. To Naruto, this meant he needed a new reputation, one that instead of inspiring Sekirei to find love, brought either fear into the hearts of Sekirei and Ashikabi alike, or let them know that he was not to be messed. Someone like Seo would be great for spreading word of his exploits to areas the Ashikabi of the East's influence didn't extend to.

"Tch," Naruto moved his head to the side as he let the blade end of the lance pass through the spot his head had just been. He didn't get off scott free, however, as blood began gushing down his cheek from the cut he gained. It wasn't very deep, so that was good, but he didn't like the fact that Toyotama had actually managed to land a hit on him. He would need more practice when he got home.

He had to admit, the two he was fighting were good, damn good. While Ichiya was no Rock Lee, her skills in taijutsu were superb, especially when compared to what he had seen of Sekirei combat so far. Likewise, Toyotama was leagues above Yomi was with her weapon. It was evident from the fluidity of her movements and the precise jabs, thrusts, and slashes she made that number sixteen likely spent hours training in it's use. If Naruto wasn't handicapped via limiting himself to taijutsu, he was confident he could beat them, but without the ability to add ninjutsu into the equation, the two before him were giving him a run for his money.

Also clear was that unlike what seemed to be the modusoperandi with most Sekirei, these two were well versed in fighting as a team. Whenever one would attack, then other would be ready to defend, and whenever Naruto got the upper hand, the one not being attacked would be there to make him back off the other. Constantly the blond was being forced to back off from one of the two by the other, it was beginning to get to the point where Naruto had only managed to land a few inconsequental blows to the both of them, as evidenced by the light bruising on Toyotama's ribs and the slash mark from his kunai on Ichiya's stomach.

Keeping light on his feet, Naruto wove away from the lance wielder, spinning on his toes as Ichiya came in and attacked him with a combination of low, high, low, and sweep kick, all of which were blocked or dodged respectively by jumping, ducking, then backpedaling to avoid the last two. Rather than rush back in to engage the hand-to-hand specialist, Naruto sidestepped to the left just before Toyotama's lance impaled the air where he had been standing. Before it could retract, the blond grabbed the pole end of the lance with his left hand, then yanked on it with a chakra enhanced pull. The quick double thud that followed let him know Toyotama had been knocked off balance and was stumbling towards him. He would have extended his leg to kick her in the torso, but was forced to dodge when Ichiya came in and attacked with a roundhouse kick, forcing him to break off from his plan and dodge her.

"Not yet," Naruto muttered just loud enough for Seo to pick up. "I haven't given the signal." He was forced to stop speaking when a muscular leg came towards his face with the intention of smashing his nose in. Naruto ducked under the attack, then snatched Ichiya's ankle between his hands. With a loud yell, the blond lifted the woman off the ground and threw her into the air. Without waiting to see what happened to Ichiya, he spun on a dime, dropping low and rolling under the thrusting of a lance that would have impaled his back. With a kip up, the eternal shinobi was on his feet, and this time the jab he gave to Toyotama wasn't blocked. Naruto watched in satisfaction as the woman gagged and stumbled back, a hand going to her throat as she hacked and coughed from the brutal knife strike he had given to her throat. Not wanting to allow the lance wielder a chance to recover, he rushed forward in an attempt to get into her personal space and brutalize her with his fists.

And he would have too were it not for Ichiya nearly blindsiding him. Only his instincts let him dodge the powerful crescent kick that would have sent him spinning to the ground. He lowered his body just enough to let the kick pass overhead, his left hand shooting out and striking the calf away with his knuckles to further the distance between the foot and his head. He lashed out with his own kick towards Ichiya's sternum, but the attack was not only blocked, but captured when his opponent hooked her leg around his, and then grabbed his foot with her hands.

"Now Toyotama!" Ichiya shouted, and Naruto realized their plan when he heard the quick thuds of running feet coming near him. Emitting another 'tch' noise from his mouth, Naruto pushed off the ground with the foot that wasn't caught. Because Ichiya was busy keeping his leg in her hold, she wasn't able to do anything when he smashed his knee in her face other than to let go. But Naruto wasn't done with just that. Before Ichiya could stumble backwards, the blond hooked his foot behind her head and, with his fingers digging into the earth underneath them and utilizing the chakra sticking method to keep them grounded, Naruto yanked the fighter towards him. There was a loud 'woosh!' sound as all of the air was forcefully expelled from Ichiya's lungs as he planted the heel of his right foot into her gut. This was followed by another yank as Naruto forced her onto the foot entirely, and then in an incredible display of physical prowess, tossed her over his body and towards Toyotama with a single leg. This time, the lance wielder could not move in time since she was so close, and was only able to move her lance out of the way so she wouldn't impale her comrade as the two collided into each other with a loud thud.

"_And just when do you plan on giving the signal?"_ Seo asked sarcastically as the two Sekirei Naruto had just sent on a collision course with each other got back up. Naruto would have used the time it took for them to return to their feet to attack them, but decided against it. He was beginning to tire, the fight may have only been going on for ten minutes, but that was ten minutes of nonstop furious combat the likes of which he had not been in for a long time. These two were way better than anyone else he had fought since the Elemental Nations had been in existence.

Instead of charging in, and possibly getting caught between the two, Naruto stood where he was and tried to get some much needed oxygen into his lungs. As he did, a glance to his right showed him that Higa was no longer smiling, and if Naruto were a betting man he would take a guess that the wealthy company heir was not pleased to see that his top two Sekirei had failed to take down a single Ashikabi. It was probably even worse since the blond himself only had the one injury on his cheek, while both Toyotama and Ichiya were suffering from multiple cuts and bruises.

"And I told you," Naruto started to retort. "You'll know it when you –"

"_Ashikabi-sama,"_ Matsu's voice broke over the line, causing the blond to halt his response mid sentence. _"I have just received word from Uzume that she has managed to acquire her Ashikabi and is making her way to the rendezvous point with Akitsu, Homura, and Musubi. I repeat, I have just received word from Uzume that she has managed to acquire her Ashikabi and is making her way to the rendezvous point with Akitsu, Homura, and Musubi."_

Naruto's reaction to the red heads words was instantaneous. Reaching into his pocket, the blond grabbed a handful of smoke pellets, and threw them onto the ground, engulfing the area around him in a large cloud of black smoke. Creating a ram seal, he spread his chakra in a thin layer across his body, then utilized the basic shunshin to appear on a tree branch several meters away. Just in time too. The moment his body had been engulfed in smoke, Ichiya and Toyotama had rushed towards him. They both burst into the cloud of smoke, then came out the other side looking confused.

Naruto couldn't blame them.

"Where the hell did he go?" asked Ichiya, looking around as she stood in a combat ready stance. "I know he was there! I saw him! He couldn't have just disappeared!"

"Keep your guard up!" Toyotama warned, readying her staff. "This man is definitely one to watch out for. No doubt he'll strike when we least expect it."

Naruto smiled at the words. They were true, after all. However, it would not be him who did the striking. "In case you were wondering," he began speaking into the earpiece in a soft whisper. "That was the signal."

"_Got'cha! Ok girls, let 'er rip!"_

It happened faster than the human eye could track, several large bolts of lightning surged from the top of the tower and struck the clearing Naruto had just vacated, tearing the entire landscape around it asunder. Too bad Sekireis weren't humans as they would not have been able to dodge the lightning bolts as well as they had, or at all. The two Sekirei were quick to react, going over to their Ashikabi and taking cover behind a tree. Since their positioning was relative to the tree branch he was hiding on, Naruto had a clear view of the trio as they hid.

"Dammit!" Ichiya cursed as she looked at the graze wound on her shoulder. It was still steaming and the flesh looked burnt, like someone had accidentally left a steak in the oven for too long. "I hadn't expected him to bring back up."

"We should have though," Toyotama muttered with a frown. "A man like that wouldn't have come here without back up."

"Che, hindsight is always twenty-twenty, right?" said Ichiya, before turning to her Ashikabi. "Master, what should we – huh?" she blinked several times when she saw that Higa was paying more attention to his phone than the lightning that continued to strike the ground in the clearing they had been in. Naruto glanced over at the area, before shaking his head at the amount of damage Hikari and Hibiki had done. And Homura wanted _them _to help Uzume.

"Let's go," Higa told them as he stood up. "We're leaving." Naruto's lips twitched as he realized that the man must have just received a message about what had happened at the hospital proper.

"H-huh? But master," Toyotama started, looking confused. "We haven't caught that Ashikabi yet."

"That is no longer our concern," Higa told them a with a cold glare. The two didn't flinch, but there was a definitive stiffening of their muscles. "There is nothing left for us to do here as it is clear that the one I came for has left. I shall administer your punishments for failing me later." Once more, there was not even a flinch from the two, and Naruto couldn't help but frown at how cold the man was. Sure, he had tried ignoring his Sekirei before deciding to accept the bond and see where it went, but to punish your Sekirei for something that wasn't really their fault and more of a case of bad intelligence? That was just stupid.

Naruto sighed as he watched the trio leaving. He hoped he had made the impression on them that he had intended. Hopefully, things would begin to play out as he hoped. Only time would tell, however.

"_Did we get 'em?"_

A roll of the eyes was all Naruto gave to the sound of Seo's voice before he responded in a dry, sarcastic tone. "What do you think?"

"_Well, we did do a lot of damage to that clearing. A lot of damage."_

Naruto nodded. "Yes, and with all that destruction your Sekirei unleashed, none of you saw when the three you were trying to hit escaped."

"_Damn, so we didn't hit them?"_

"No, you didn't."

"_Well... that sucks."_

Naruto didn't even deign to respond. Seo had taken the words right out of his mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>Before I end this chapter, I believe I will answer a few questionsconcerns that people have. **

**First, someone mentioned to me how the beginning of the story didn't mesh with the middle chapters, stating that Naruto was overly affectionate at the beginning, then became an angst ridden emo the likes of which would make an Uchiha green with envy near the middle (He didn't use those words, they are mine, but I thought it would be funny). To start, I will agree with you there, but I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective. Naruto is a several thousand year old immortal and he has had several thousand years to perfect his social mask, the personality everyone sees him with when he's in public. I believe I mentioned something to this affect in chapter 2. However, while he can 'act' like he has emotions, Naruto had pretty much closed himself off emotionally for the past several thousand years. **

**Now, take some girl falling on top of you from the sky, and throw in an empathic bond that pretty much saturates you with what she is feeling every second of every minute of every hour of every day, then throw in the fact that you are an emotionally stunted several thousand year old immortal who has forgotten what it actually means to feel emotions and are now feeling them for the first time in a long time. I'm pretty sure you would be overwhelmed. That is what happened with Naruto. He was essentially overwhelmed by the feelings emanating from the bond, making him more receptive to Musubi's own emotions and causing him to act on them without realizing it. It's like being high, except riding on emotions instead of drugs. After chapter 5, however, he realizes this and tries to pull himself back from the bond so he doesn't get any more emotionally involved with the Sekirei than he already has. Hope that answers that concern.**

**Next, in one of my reviews, someone claimed that Naruto was a Gary Stu. Now, I don't know what your definition of a Gary Stu is, but the TRUE definition**** i****s a ****fictional character ****with overly ****idealized ****and ****hackneyed ****mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a ****wish-fulfillment fantasy ****for the author or reader. It is generally accepted as a character whose positive aspects overwhelm their other traits until they become one-dimensional.**

**Now, I do not know about any of you, but I'm pretty sure that my Naruto has WAAYY too many issues to be a Gary Stu. Let's look at those shall we? He's emotionally stunted, he's bitter, he has some major trust and anger issues, so far he has made several rookie mistakes during the rescue of Kusano arc that could have ended with him failing to rescue Kusano, he's unable to move forward, he's afraid of the bond he has formed with his Sekirei, he's hypocritical... need I continue? Or have I made my point clear? If not, then how about this. Gary Stu = perfect character who can do no wrong, Naruto = serious mental issues that need to be fixed.**

**I will admit that my original Naruto was very much a Gary Stu. However, this Naruto is nowhere near perfect.**

**And finally, the last issue I plan on addressing. Naruto not being overly affectionate with his Sekirei. I didn't want him to just randomly accept everything that was happening in his life and become this perfect Ashikabi/mate/husband/boyfriend right off the bat. I wanted to take a more realistic approach to this. For those of you who are concerned about the lack of progress, don't be, eventually Naruto will get his head out of his ass and start acting better, but I want his emotional development to feel real. During the first few chapters, Naruto was riding on the emotional high from Musubi. During the later chapters, Naruto realized this and tried to distance himself with very little effect. As time goes on, Naruto's own emotional responses will steadily improve as he regains his own emotions and realizes that it's ok to open up to others.**

**And yes, there will be lemons, quite a few, but not for a while yet. As I said, relationship building comes first.**

**With my long ass rant finished, I will let you all get back to your previously scheduled reading program. Thank you and have a great day.**

**Pokemaster12, going to bed.**


	17. Uncomfortable Moments

**Chapter 16: Uncomfortable Moments**

**XoX**

"I'm kinda surprised you let them go." Naruto looked up from where he was walking to the rendezvous point to stare at Seo, who had his twins standing on either side of him as they made their way down the street. "Higa I mean," the scruffy looking male clarified when he saw the blond raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm surprised you just let him go like that."

"You thought I would kill him?" asked Naruto, tilting his head to the side as he tried to understand where Seo was going with this.

"Well, yeah," Seo shrugged. "You don't seem like the type who would be skittish about killing someone else." Once more those deceptively sharp eyes came into focus on looked at Naruto. "I kinda figured half the reason you wanted to meet with Higa was so that you could take him out of the game."

Naruto nodded, he could see the man's point as Seo had pegged him to a T as far as killing went. "There are many more ways to defeat an enemy than simply killing them," Naruto had plans for Higa and his Sekirei. As one of the big three, Higa would prove incredibly useful in whittling down the number of Sekirei Naruto and his own flock would have to fight. It was the whole reason he had let the man go when he had the opportunity to kill him.

"Is this one of those 'enemy of my enemy' situations?" asked Seo, seeking clarification.

"Not really," Naruto said, casting another glance at Seo before turning back to the road. "I don't really have any 'enemies' right now, not unless you count every Ashikabi and Sekirei pair in the Sekirei Plan as an enemy." At his words the lightning twins, Hikari and Hibiki, both tensed. Seo on the other hand dismissed everything the blond said with a laugh.

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I'm not interested in the Sekirei Plan," Seo said with a feral grin. He looked at the blond once more and shook his head. "I don't think I'd want to be on the receiving end of whatever it is you have planned for the other Ashikabi in this game."

"Game?" Naruto blinked at the word, then shook his head. "Never mind," he gave the man an amused look. "And yes, it's a very good thing you don't have any interest in the Sekirei Plan. Otherwise we'd end up being enemies at some point, and I'd hate to have to kill someone who was friends with Miya's husband." Once more the twins tensed and Seo laughed.

"Somehow, I don't think that would stop you if you really wanted to kill me," it was almost disturbing how easily this man spoke of Naruto killing him. Granted, the scruffy Ashikabi probably knew the blond didn't have any intention of doing so and was just cracking a joke, but if Naruto were anyone other than himself, he may have very well been disturbed by Seo's ability to speak of his death so easily.

There was a moment of peace after that, Seo had placed his hands behind his head and was walking with a slumped posture as Hikari and Hibiki walked beside him, casting anxious and slightly mistrustful glances Naruto's way. It seemed his talk of death and killing had disturbed them, not that he actually cared about what they thought. It wasn't like the two were his Sekirei. Hands in his pockets, the eternal shinobi simply continued walking as his mind wandered back to the battle so he could properly review his actions.

He was on the fence about how the fight had gone. On the one hand he didn't do badly, he had kept pace with two Sekirei in combat while being limited to taijutsu while being able to use only a small amount of chakra to enhance his muscles. Of course, the term small was VERY relative when it came to him and chakra. Still, it was definitely a noteworthy feat.

At the same time, he knew that he could have done better. Had he been in his prime during the fight, pure taijutsu or not, those two wouldn't have lasted long against him. However, he did have to allow himself a bit of leeway with this. He had only just started retraining his body in taijutsu a week ago, even if his muscles hadn't atrophied, his body had become unaccustomed to the rigors of intense combat. After all, there hadn't been anyone within several thousand years who was capable of using chakra, and while he had met some decent fighters in the earlier years of his immortality, they didn't quite compare to the raw power and talent of a Sekirei.

There was also the matter of his chakra that had to be taken into account. Naruto's chakra was very much a double edged sword. It had incredible regenerative properties that when combined with his Uzumaki genes and intunement with nature made him pretty much impossible to kill. In fact, he had yet to find a type of wound or damage that he couldn't heal from. It was also this combination of potent chakra, Uzumaki bloodline, and the powers granted to him as a Sage that had made him immortal. Yet it was this very chakra that had torn his muscles to shreds during his fight with Yomi. His battle with number forty three had actually been the first time in over two thousand years that he had used chakra for anything other than his seals and his henge. It only made sense that his body would not be able to withstand the amount of power that had been coursing through it without suffering damage.

After all, despite his immortality, his body was still human. It would take time for his body to become accustomed to his inhuman chakra again.

Thinking back on his use of it during this battle, Naruto did have to admit that he was pleased with how he had been able to control it. For a while he had been worried that he would have issues keeping his power reigned in, but while it had been difficult it had not been impossible. The battle against Ichiya and Toyotama had proven that. He had controlled his chakra admirably, not only had he _not_ suffered from having his muscles ripped to shreds by his own chakra, he had also managed to keep his enhanced body down to a level that would not make people think there was something off about him, only allowing his chakra to bring his bodies physical prowess to a level that was a little less powerful than the average Sekirei. While such a boost in strength would normally be a cause for suspicion, Naruto had made sure to keep his speed down to a more human level, merely using the chakra to reinforce his muscles and skin so they could withstand damage more easily, so that no one would realize just how powerful he truly was.

At least that was his hope. He had taken a big risk by showing his combat prowess. It was his hope that by fighting against a Sekirei, or in this case two Sekirei, Higa would realize that Naruto didn't need the protection of his Sekirei to keep safe, and that he was just as capable of fighting as his own Sekirei were. This would in effect, make it so that once word spread about what happened at the hospital, people would know not to mess with him and stay away. That would allow him time and space so he could begin making more plans for the Sekirei Plan.

"You're a pretty weird guy, you know that?" Seo's words snapped the blond out of his thoughts. Turning, Naruto looked over to see the man walking next to him in a slouched posture giving him an amused look.

"How so?" the eternal shinobi asked, more out of a need to rid himself of inane thoughts then any real form of curiosity.

"You've always struck me as the 'jump in feet first' type of guy," Seo mused out loud, idly scratching his chin. "You know, the one who prefers rushing into his obstacles headlong without giving it much thought." Naruto almost snorted in amusement at those words. Once upon a time he had been exactly like that, someone who, as the relatively (to him) new saying went 'shoot first and ask questions later' kind of guy. But that was a long time ago, before he had suffered more failures than he can accurately count due to his inability to think things through. Not that Seo was aware of this as he continued. "I never really saw you as a deep thinker. Yet every time I've seen you, you always get this intense look on your face, like your thinking about something deep."

"Perhaps you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover," Naruto said with a shrug.

"Heh, maybe," the man admitted as he placed his hands behind his head and continued to walk with his two Sekirei alongside him. The silence that permeated the group only lasted for another few seconds or so before the non blond male spoke up again. "So I noticed your not calling that shrew who owns your boarding house Miya-chan anymore," Seo commented, watching Naruto as he walked on. For his part, the blond did not let himself react to the words. At least, not on the outside. His mind did seize up a bit at the thought of Miya, more specifically the thought of just what he was going to do about the situation they were in, which was unfortunately nothing because he was unsure of what he should do.

"We're..." Naruto paused, then frowned as he wondered what he should tell Seo. His problems with Miya weren't any of this man's business, and if Naruto didn't want to tell his Sekirei, then what made this man think he would tell him? And yet, Seo had known Miya far longer than anyone else, except maybe Matsu. But Matsu was also a Sekirei on top of being female. He doubted she would have any useful insight into his problem, but maybe Seo would. "... having some troubles at the moment," he finally admitted.

"I'm not surprised," Seo told him with a nod. "That damn shrew is hard to get along with that's for sure. I honestly don't know what Takehito saw in her." This time Naruto did react, a slight twitching of his hand that made it look like he was about to withdraw one of the kunai hidden up his sleeve. The scruffy Ashikabi noticed this and chuckled. "Actually you and Miya are pretty similar when you think about it. So it would make sense that you two might not always get along."

Naruto frowned. "And just how are we similar?"

"Well, for one thing both of you are pretty scary," Seo said, and were the situation not serious, for Naruto at least, said blond may have actually found some amusement in the man's words. "You two also seem to have similar opinions on certain issues, similar ways of speaking, at least when your insulting others, and both of you have this strange... feel about you that I just don't get from anyone else. Really, it's kinda creepy," he finished with a shudder that Naruto could not tell whether or not it was being faked.

The blond frowned as he pondered Seo's words. They were true, in a way they were more true than even Seo realized. He and Miya were very similar; both were beings of incredible power, both were well acquainted with loss, and neither of them had any qualms about spying, blackmailing, and using intimidation tactics to get what they wanted. Really, their similarities in those regards were actually quite uncanny, and after coming to this realization Naruto couldn't help but let out a self depreciating chuckle.

"I'm such a hypocrite," he muttered to himself, his two jaw length bangs swaying back and forth as he shook his head. How had he not seen it? It was so obvious now that it had been pointed out to him. He had gotten angry at Miya for doing the same thing to him that he had done to hundreds, thousands of others. And why? Because someone had finally managed to do what so many people throughout history have tried and failed to accomplish? Because it was perfectly acceptable for him to spy on others but not the other way around? Miya had only done the same thing he would have done if their situations were reversed. He couldn't fault her for that.

Perhaps that was also why he ran out on her. From the moment they had met, Naruto knew she was different than everyone else. There had been something about her that just demanded respect. It wasn't the persona of the kind hearted landlady, or the understanding and compassion she possessed, nor it her wit and teasing nature. It was her aura, the way she held herself. While much different than his own, Naruto could not help but see her as an equal, which explained why he could tell her things he had not told his own Sekirei. And it explained why he ran out when she had prostrated herself before him and begged for his forgiveness. Because she had done something that Naruto was not sure he himself would have done if their positions were reversed.

"You say something?" asked Seo.

"Not a thing."

**XoX**

"Ah, Naruto-sama!" As expected, Musubi was the first one to greet him when he got to the rendezvous point. The blond put on a slight smile as the most enthusiastic of his Sekirei ran up to him, stopping just as she reached him. He was slightly surprised to note that his smile felt genuine and that it came so easily. Was this a sign that he was actually beginning to let himself enjoy the emotions his Sekirei brought to him? "Did your part in this mission go well?" Musubi was unaware of his thoughts as she asked her question, looking quite excited by something. She felt excited to, it was so thick in the bond that it was almost palpable.

"My part went fine thanks to Seo and his girls," Naruto said with a gesture towards the lazy looking male and his two Sekirei.

As he spoke, Hikari leaned over and cupped her hand to her mouth to whisper into Hibiki's ear. "Not like he actually needed our help," her soft voice was accompanied by her twins subtle nod of agreement. Hibiki may have said something in response to her sister, but at that moment Naruto turned his head and cast a glare at the pair, causing the two to almost seize up as they stood ramrod straight. After a second or two Naruto turned around and the lightning twins relaxed and gave identical sighs of relief.

"What were you two saying?" asked Homura with a suspicious narrowing of his eyes. The twins tensed, their gaze traveling to Naruto who thankfully spoke before they could.

"Hikari was just saying that without them I would have been in much more trouble." Homura frowned, then eyed the trio behind his Ashikabi. Seo just gave a lazy grin while the lightning twins looked unsure whether to accept his praise or not. The blond almost smiled, it looked like he was right in his thoughts about Seo knowing when to speak up and when to keep his mouth shut. He was quite intuitive that way.

Looking back at Musubi, Naruto asked, "and what about you? Did you and the others do well?"

"I had a great time!" It seemed Naruto's question went over Musubi's head. Rather than thinking he meant 'did you get hurt?' she assumed he was asking 'did you have fun?', which were two completely different questions. "I got to fight this really strong opponent who used swords, and fighting her was really tough! But I did it! I beat her! I think I'm getting stronger, Naruto-sama!" The busty Sekirei in shrine maiden garb held a fist to her face, her eyes alight with fire. "I won't stop until I become as powerful as landlady-sama!"

"And I'm sure you'll get there eventually," Naruto assured her, his lips fighting a grin. For some reason the blond knew not, he couldn't help but find amusement in her words. Really, there was something disturbingly familiar about this girl. He just couldn't place his finger on it...

Shaking his head he eyed the others that had been with Musubi. Homura was looking at the two of them, arms crossed as he gave Musubi and exasperated look. Perhaps the mission hadn't gone as smoothly as Musubi had said. A clinking of chains had Naruto turning his head to look at Akitsu as she walked up beside him, positioning herself on his left, her usual position. Standing a few feet from the main group was Uzume, who was holding another person in the large swaths of cloth that must have something to do with her Sekirei Powers. The person in question was a young girl, probably nearing the end of her teen years. She was a frail looking girl, possessing a rail thin body under the hospital gown she was wearing. She had long, light brown almost blond hair, and soft brown eyes that bespoke of great kindness. Naruto thought she was a decently attractive girl, but would definitely need some special nourishment so she didn't look like a stiff breeze would blow her away.

Walking over to the duo Naruto stopped in front of them and put on a grin. "Hello, you must be Chiho, right?"

"That's right," the girl, Chiho as he had guessed, said, her voice sounding just as frail as her body looked. Despite that, there was a hidden... something in her tone that Naruto couldn't place. He would have tried to figure out what that something was, but Chiho continued speaking before he could begin his ponderings. "You are Uzumaki Naruto-san, right?" she asked before smiling. "Uzume-chan has told me a lot about you?"

"Nothing bad, I hope," Naruto said, casting an amused glance at Uzume, who was suddenly looking a tad pale.

"She says that Naruto-san is very funny to watch," Chiho stated. "That he has a lot of funny stories to tell about his travels, and that he's a really good cook." Naruto glanced over at Uzume to see the tomboys face burning red. Turning back to Chiho, he saw that the girl had a wistful smile. "I've always wanted to be able to travel myself. I've often wondered what it would be like to go to the beach and see the ocean, to visit places where the sky is clear and unobstructed by the city. It sounds very nice."

"You will, Chiho," Uzume said, her voice slightly choked. A quick look at her face revealed unshed tears, clearly this was a conversation she and her Ashikabi had many times in the past. "I promised you that we would visit these places, remember? That I would take you there. We'll be able to do that now, I found someone who can help us."

"Which is why she took you out of the hospital," Naruto interrupted, drawing attention to himself. "According to Uzume, the medication they were giving you at the hospital was only a temporary solution. However, I'm fairly sure that I can cure your disease permanently."

"Really?" asked Chiho, looking from him to Uzume in confirmation.

"Really," Naruto said as Uzume nodded.

"Thank you, Naruto-san." Chiho bowed her head towards the blond, she probably would have made an actual bow if she could, but considering she was wrapped in cloth and had a very frail body it was understandable that she couldn't do more.

"There's no need to thank me," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "Uzume simply asked me for help and I agreed to give it to her. That's all there is too it." Despite his words, Chiho smiled at him, causing the blond to turn his head slightly.

"Still, I thank you anyways," she stated firmly, or as firmly as a frail girl wrapped in cloth like a cocoon could state. "For agreeing to help my Uzume. She's been getting really sad lately and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. This was the first time since I've seen her where she doesn't look like she's about to cry." Naruto's face adopted an uncomfortable look. For some reason, hearing this frail girl thank him bothered him immensely. Perhaps it was because he was simply not used to being thanked for the things he had done, not so earnestly anyways. Or it could have just been that he was so unused to such heartfelt thanks that it made him uncomfortable, it had been a long time since he'd really helped someone just because he could after all. Current Sekirei he had winged not included in this of course. Whatever the case was, the blond felt distinctly... distressed, perhaps, by her heartfelt words, even if he didn't know why.

"Chiho," Uzume pouted, puffing up her cheeks slightly in complained, though just what she was complaining about was anyone's guess.

"Sorry, Uzume-chan," unless of course your name just so happened to be Chiho, who seemed to understand her Sekirei well enough to understand the reason for the tomboys pouting. The bond between them must be quite strong.

"Right, well," Naruto coughed into his hand in order to regain control of the situation. He didn't need any thoughts distracting him and didn't want the others to notice how uncomfortable he was. "We should probably get going. While I doubt Higa will do anything rash, I don't want to risk him sending Sekirei after us to reclaim Chiho."

"Higa?" Chiho mumbled, then looked at Uzume. "Isn't that the man who owns the hospital I was in? Does he have something to do with why Uzume-chan has been so sad lately?"

"Of course not!" Uzume's cheerful reply was quickly marred by her glare at Naruto, a silent message for him to keep his mouth shut. The blond frowned, but seeing as he didn't want to antagonize the situation, decided it would be best if he remained quite. "Now let's get going! I want to be home soon so we can get you fixed up." Chiho looked at her Sekirei in some concern, but eventually just seemed to accept that Uzume wouldn't be saying anything more and nodded.

"Right," Naruto sighed before straightening and began issuing orders. "We'll be using a diamond formation to get home. Homura, I want you in front. Anyone matching the description of a Sekirei under Higa's employ comes to close, blast them." Homura nodded and Naruto turned to Akitsu. "You're going to be behind us. If we end up getting followed, it will be your job to slow the enemy down as much as possible."

Akitsu nodded her head once. "Yes, Ashikabi-sama."

"Musubi," the eternal shinobi turned to his bustiest Sekirei, who was looking at him in excitement. Obviously she thought this was good fun, he should have figured she would. "You'll be on the left hand side while I take the right."

"Don't worry, Naruto-sama," Musubi told him with a confident smile. "I'll make sure to protect everyone here!" Naruto repressed a small grin as Musubi clenched her fist.

"I'm sure you will," he told her, before a snicker caught his attention. Turning to look at Seo he saw that the man was coughing into his hand to hide his laugh. "Something funny?" he asked mildly, a single eyebrow raised in inquiry.

"It's just that you almost sounded like a military commander right then," Seo said, grinning widely. Naruto shook his head, not even tempted to tell the man that he had been a military commander, a horrible one that had gotten almost all of his friends killed. There was no need to bring up his past, especially one as painful as the first in a large series of failures.

Deciding the man's commented was even worth a response, he instead asked a question. "What will you three be doing now?"

"Well, you've already paid us," Seo started. Naruto nodded, already knowing this. He had been them in advance after all. "So I guess we'll just head home," he looked at the blond as he spoke, "unless you need us for something else?"

"Not at the moment," Naruto replied with a shake of his head. "However, give me a few days to work out the details and I should have another job lined up for you. This one will actually be much easier to, something I'm sure you'll like."

"You bet I would," Seo told him with a grin. "I'm never one to turn down easy money!"

"Especially since we're almost always broke," Hikari mumbled angrily. Hibiki nodded in agreement, causing Seo to frown.

"Aw come on," he whined. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad," Hikari's right eye gained a violent twitch. "We almost never have any money, we always have to mooch off Miya because we never have enough food because what money we do earn is usually spent by you on booze, and the few times you do get a job they only last a few weeks before you get fired for slacking off! How is that not bad?"

"Well, when you put it like that," Seo started with a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't seem particularly concerned that his temperamental Sekirei looked like she might shoot lighting at him at any moment. Naruto concluded that this was probably one of those long standing arguments they'd had and decided to ignore it. It wasn't any of his business what Seo did with the money he earned.

"L-Let's just go," Hikari said with a sigh, almost seeming to deflate. Perhaps this argument had happened so often that the fight had been taken out of her?

"Right," Seo wrapped an arm around both his girls, and gave one last look at Naruto. "We'll be seeing ya, kid," he said, and once more Naruto had to suppress an eye twitch at being called a kid. He understood that he looked young, but having someone several thousand years younger than him constantly calling him kid was seriously beginning to piss him off. "Be sure to give a call when you have that job lined up, I'll even give you the friend rate."

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said, thanking his growing control of his emotions that none of his annoyance escaped into his tone when he spoke. He watched as Seo, Hikari, and Hibiki walked off, disappearing around a corner, then turned to his Sekirei and the two that he was not bonded with. "Shall we be off then?" he asked. There was a unanimous agreement between them and the group found themselves walking back to Maison Izumo in the formation that Naruto had placed them in. It was only a few seconds after they began moving that a loud shout of 'PERVERT!' followed by the sound of lightning striking the ground, and probably a person if Naruto's theory was correct, followed by a loud scream of anguish that confirmed his theory reached their ears.

And that was the man Naruto would soon come to rely on when he wanted a job that he couldn't do himself done.

Naruto couldn't repress a sigh.

**XoX**

When they arrived at Maison Izumo it was much later than most of them had expected. Homura and Musubi had wanted to roof hop, and truth be told, Naruto had kind of wanted to as well. It had been a LONG time since he had done any ninja style roof jumping. In spite of that, he had been adamant that they remain on the ground and simply walk home, his justification being that jumping from roof to roof wasn't conspicuous, and while it didn't look like there was anyone following them, that didn't necessarily mean they weren't. Granted, Matsu would probably let them know if they were being followed, but the instincts that had been bred into Naruto since integrating himself amongst regular humans had been very against the idea of roof hopping. And so they were stuck walking.

By the time they had gotten back home, the sun was already beginning to set. It was actually quite a beautiful sight, with the sun slowly sinking on the horizon, gentle rays of light creating an array of colors that ranged from orange and red to purple and magenta. The vast metropolitan city spread out before them served as a startling contrast with natures canvass, yet only seemed to enhance the scene rather than detract from it.

Miya was waiting for them to return, it seemed, as the woman was standing outside of the boarding house when they walked up. "Welcome back," she said, smiling at the group as they all walked up to the front porch. Naruto frowned as he looked at the landlady. She sounded very cheerful, too cheerful when considering what had occurred just minutes before they had left on their mission. He couldn't help but feel that there was something off about this situation. When Miya turned began greeting each of his Sekire individual, then went over to Uzume and her Ashikabi, ignoring him, he realized just what was off.

"And who is this?" the lavenderette began with her perennial smile as she looked at Chiho, her eyes crinkling. "Is this your Ashikabi, Uzume-san?" she asked, turning her eyes from one girl to the other. Uzume gifted the woman with a smile, her eyes softening as they moved down to look at Chiho.

"Yeah," she said softly, a truly beautiful smile lighting her face. "This is my Chiho." Said young woman in question seemed to blush a bit at the look of devotion and absolute love she was getting, but still managed to smile in spite of her face turning the same shade of a lobster. Naruto closed his eyes and suppressed a grimace as he watched the scene. He had a feeling this would happen, one of the theories he had come up with when thinking up Miya's reaction was that she would ignore him like this; the other two was that she would either try talking to him again, or staying in her room where she wouldn't be bothered. It seemed he had just been given the worst case scenario for when the time came to apologize.

And unfortunately he wouldn't be able to get that part out of the way for a while yet. He still needed to heal Chiho first.

"Uzume," Naruto said, despite his voice being soft he managed to catch everyone's attention. Everyone except for Miya who was still ignoring him. The eternal shinobi tried not to let that bother him as he spoke. "We should probably get Chiho to your room so I can begin healing her," he stated, and Uzume's eyes widened as she seemed to remember the reason they had gone out of their way to rescue her Ashikabi in the first place.

"Right," She said, nodding her head as a serious expression took over her face. "I'll just go put her in bed then." Naruto watched as Uzume walked towards the door, which opened through a nifty use of her cloths, then walked into Maison Izumo. Turning, he looked over at his Sekirei.

"I'll be going upstairs with Uzume," he started. "I don't know how long the healing process will be so you guys should probably use this time to relax."

"Right!" Musubi was the one who spoke up first. "I think I'll go take a bath than, all that fighting made me sticky like when I spar with landlady-sama." She turned her head to look at the light haired ice user next to her. "Would you like to join me, Akitsu-san? We can wash each others backs!"

"Ah," Akitsu tilted her head to left, seemingly considering Musubi's suggestion. She then looked over at Naruto, who upon seeing her questioning gaze gave her a nod and encouraging smile. The snow woman than looked back as the fist fighter and nodded. "Yes."

"Great! Let's go," Musubi crowed as she grabbed Akitsu by the hand and began leading her inside Maison Izumo, leaving Homura, Miya and Naruto as the only ones outside.

"Well," Miya started with a slight smile that was directed everywhere except towards Naruto. "I think I will go and start dinner." And with that she spun on one heel and began walking back inside of the boarding house. Naruto closed his eyes and released a large exhale of breath. It looked like his conversation with Miya was going to be a lot harder than his original estimation, not a good thing since he had been going for a worst case scenario in that estimation too.

"Naruto, are you alright?" asked Homura. After casting the fire user a casual glance, the recipient of his question noted that the partial male Sekirei was looking concerned. His eyes kept darting from Naruto to the doorway as if he had just now realized he was missing something and was hoping to figure it out.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto answered with a tired sigh. "Just trying to think of a reasonable way to get out of the hole I seem to have dug myself in." Homura's brow furrowed at the strange words, no doubt trying to discern their hidden meaning. In the end he seemed to decide it was better that he not know what was going on in his Ashikabi's head and shrugged.

"In that case, I think I'll take a nap," he concluded, before beginning his walk towards the door. He stopped just before entering however, and turned his head to look back at the blond shinobi with a small smile. "You did a good thing today Naruto." His expression than morphed into a small frown. "Even if I still don't agree with the plan we went through."

"Complaining about it now won't help much," Naruto said with a shrug. "What's done is done, and my plan seems to have worked, possibly better than I thought it would." Idly his left hand went into his pocket in a casual display. He looked over at Homura, noting the fire user's small scowl before smiling. "Thanks, Homura. It actually means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"I-It's nothing," Homura stuttered slightly, turning his head so that Naruto couldn't see his face. The blond frowned as he stared at his newest Sekirei's back, his head tilting to the side in confusion. "Anyways, I'll talk to you later, Naruto." And with that Homura walked through the front door, leaving Naruto to himself. The blond stared after him, taking a moment to empty his mind before deciding it was time for him to get a move on. He entered the boarding house and began to make his way upstairs. It was just as he was finishing his climb that Matsu came out from behind the swinging door that hid her room.

"Naruto-tan," she greeted him brightly. "I'm glad to see the mission went off without a hitch."

"Oh it went off a bit better than that," Naruto said, smiling in a way that told the red head he was very pleased with the way the rescue Chiho operation had panned out. When Matsu just looked at him in confusion, the blond reached into his left pocket and he pulled out a very small thumb drive, it was black, and rectangular with rounded edges. He tossed the device to Matsu, who caught it in her hand and gave it a curious look, before turning said same look on him.

"When I fought against Toyotama and Ichiya I managed to put a tracking device on their clothes," the blond explained. "It's very small, almost unnoticeable, and water proof so it won't get destroyed if the clothing it's attached to get's thrown in the wash."

"You... you really know how to please a girl, don't you?" Matsu said, giving him a look, her glasses glinting with an ominous, perverted gleam and her cheeks taking on a mild red hue. Naruto recognized the look well enough, and once more found himself in a conundrum as he tried to decide just what he should do in response to the red heads look and mild teasing. How far should he go? Should he just flirt back or should he actually do something that involved more physical intimacy? It was a frustrating position for him to be in. Naruto, for all his know how on pleasing woman, had very little experience in the way of maintaining a stable, healthy relationship. Those few relationships he did have at one point were near the beginning of his existence and, well, it was quite obvious how those all turned out.

"Glad to know you like my gift," in the end Naruto just decided a little back and forth banter would be fine for now. He didn't want to rush things after all. The small moment ended however, when Naruto realized he should probably hurry this up so he could get to healing Chiho. "From what I could determine from my meeting with Higa, Toyotama and Ichiya seem to be his go to Sekirei when it comes to the more important jobs like when he's attempting to blackmail an Ashikabi into doing his bidding. They may also be his bodyguards, which is good for us if true. I want you to monitor them constantly. Keep at least one of your monitors on those two and record everything they do for later perusal. Each night, the two of us will review what they did that day to see if there is anything we can use to disrupt Higa's operations."

While a part of Naruto wished he could simply take Higa out of the game, or even capture him and keep him locked up somewhere so the man's Sekirei would have to do as Naruto said, this way was really the only one that was feasible at the moment. It was also the best option as far as he could see. Taking Higa out of the game may have rid Naruto of some competition, but it would have also meant that there would be a power vacuum in the east. Normally such a thing wouldn't be a problem, but when putting the fact that the Sekirei Plan was supposed to be a secret into consideration, it created a whole new slew of issues that Naruto didn't want to deal with. Right now, the east, west, and south were stable because of the respective big game Ashikabis living there. Take them away and you had a bunch of people who would begin fighting in order to fill that gap, which in turn held the possibility of revealing the existence of Sekirei, which further led to the possibility of his own existence being revealed when the Sekirei battles caught the eye of government agencies other than MBI. Nothing good would come of it, and so for the moment it was best to leave Higa and the other two respective powerhouses to their own devices.

As for the other plan, Naruto didn't even want to think about the trouble that would come from keeping Higa captive. The man wasn't just a high profile Ashikabi, he was also the heir to a large pharmaceutical corporation. His disappearance wouldn't go unnoticed, which would lead to the same problem that getting rid of him in a more permanent way would do, only instead of the other Ashikabi's being the ones to reveal the existence of Sekirei, it would be the authorities that would no doubt be sent to look for Higa upon his disappearance. Aside from that, Naruto had no place to keep the man captive, Miya most certainly would not let him hold a man prisoner here, and even if he managed to find a place to hold him, there was no guarantee his Sekirei wouldn't find and rescue him. It wasn't like he could keep on eye on the man twenty four seven.

At least, not without clones, but that just wasn't something he was willing to do right now.

"Right," Matsu muttered as she turned her eyes from Naruto back to the thumb drive in her hand. She seemed disappointed for some reason, but the blond was hardly paying attention to that as his mind was already focused on possible plans of action to take. "Matsu will get on this right away."

"Thanks Matsu," Naruto said with an honest smile. It still felt kind of weird, smiling that is. Most of his smiles before the past week had been fake, merely a mask he had used to hide his cynical nature from the rest of the world. Since immersing himself into the bond he had formed with his Sekirei, his smiles had become easier and less the mask they had been and more of the genuine article. That didn't change the fact that it had been so long since he'd honestly smiled that it felt unnatural, but he supposed it was just something he would have to get used to.

"No problem," Matsu said with a sigh. She waved her free hand at him, a gesture to make him get moving. "Go on, Naruto-tan still has to fix up Uzume-tan's Ashikabi. I'll get started on this... oh! Wait here for a moment." Naruto blinked, nonplussed when Matsu rushed back inside of her room. He heard some scuttling from behind the secret passage before the red head came back out, his android phone in her hand.

"Here," she said, holding the phone out to him. "Matsu figured Naruto-tan would probably want this back."

"Thanks Matsu," Naruto said, he had almost forgotten that he had given his phone to the red head for this mission. It wasn't too important, seeing as how he rarely used it for anything other than constant updates from his network via email, but he usually liked having it on hand at all times so he could check his accounts the moment he received a message. As his hand touched the phone, Matsu placed her free hand over his, keeping it in place. Naruto stiffened slightly when he felt a soft jolt run from his hand down the length of his arm at the touch, and he couldn't help but look at his information specialist in confusion.

"Naruto-san is thinking about this too much," Matsu said, her voice taking on a slightly more mature quality as she switched out the childish '-tan' suffix for the more formal and adult '-san' one. "You don't need to worry about how fast or slow you need to take your relationship with your Sekireis. You're our Ashikabi, anything you want to do with us, I guarantee we'll want to do with you." She gave him a slightly mischievous smile, her more childish persona returning. "Matsu knows she wouldn't mind experimenting with Naruto-tan."

Naruto opened up his mouth, then just as quickly closed it. How had she managed to tell what he was thinking? Was he really that transparent? No, that couldn't be it. Even though he had been having issues with his emotions since becoming and Ashikabi, he had gotten much better at keeping them under wraps. So then...

"How did you know?" Naruto asked weakly. Matsu just smiled.

"Matsu is Naruto-tan's Sekirei," she told him in a chiding tone, speaking as if the answer should have been obvious. And perhaps it should have. Naruto knew that the bond went both ways, he had seen an example of it before the mission, but he thought it only worked when he was feeling strong emotions. Whether or not that was the case, it didn't seem to matter as much at the moment as Matsu continued to smile at him. "Of course she would know what her Ashikabi is thinking."

"I suppose you would," Naruto allowed, speaking slowly. He decided that, for the moment at least, he would not think about this slightly new discovery he had made in regards to the bond. It wouldn't do him any good, and his attention was needed elsewhere at the moment. With the equivalent of a mental head shake, he banished the thoughts on bonds and refocused on Matsu. "However, it isn't that simple."

"Oh?" Matsu raised her eyebrows. "Matsu doesn't see what is so complicated about it. You're our Ashikabi, we're your Sekirei. Seems pretty simple to me."

"Maybe it is for you," Naruto started. "But that's because you're a Sekirei, you've probably grown up knowing that you would eventually be bound to a single person for the rest of your life." It was probably also instinct for Sekirei to know that they would be bonded to one person who they would devote their lives to. How else would they be able to recognize their Ashikabis otherwise? The blond didn't voice that as he continued. "However, for me it's not that simple. I never expected to find myself being bound to even one woman, let alone five."

"Four and a half," Matsu corrected with a grin. It took Naruto to understand what she was talking about, but when he did a snort of amusement escaped his lips.

"Alright, four and a half," he corrected, his lips forming a wry grin. "Maybe even just four if we count Kusano has a half as well. In either event, finding myself not only in a relationship with so many females, but also bound to them isn't something I ever expected to happen. And truth be told, I've never had a stable relationship before." Not in several thousand years at least, but Matsu didn't need to know that right now. Shake his head he continued. "I just don't want to rush into this and screw things up."

Matsu stared at him for several seconds that felt like they were stretching out into minutes. "Are you still afraid of letting us get close to you?" she asked, the switch from first person speaking to third going unnoticed by both of them. "Is that why you're not doing anything with us?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply in the negative when he paused and actually thought about her words. Was that why he wasn't being very affectionate with his Sekirei? He was being a lot more open with them, Naruto knew, but he still had yet to do anything that would be considered romantic or intimate with any of them. And even though he wouldn't admit to it, he was still doing his best to keep his Sekirei so busy that they didn't have time to eve think about doing the activities that couples usually do, much less do them.

"Maybe," he admitted with a small sigh. Matsu opened her mouth to speak, but Naruto interrupted her before she could say anything. "But you have to understand, Matsu, things aren't as simple for me as they are for you." He paused for just a moment, deciding on how much he should tell her. Out of all the Sekirei he had, the red head was the only one who had a small inkling about who he was. Or at least, who he was in the eyes of Hiroto Minaka. At the very least she had probably already guessed that he was older than his eighteen year profile said.

"I've been like this for a long time," he finally admitted, it was a vague enough answer that she would be able to make her own interpretations without him giving anything away. "As a Sekirei, when an Ashikabi wings you it's pretty much an instantaneous love. I'm guessing that from the moment you begin to react, you're mind and body are already telling you that you love the person you're bonding to, yes?" Matsu hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod. "For humans it's different, and for me it's even different still. I have never bonded to anyone before now, not even in a figurative sense, and I don't trust easily either. While you and the other Sekirei can go straight from getting winged to the bedroom, it's going to take me more than just a few days for my mind to accept everything that's happened." Unspoken was the request that Matsu be patient and let things come at their own pace.

Matsu huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. "Matsu still wishes Naruto-tan would get his head out of his ass, be a good Ashikabi and let Matsu experiment on him," she said, and Naruto smiled as he realized that while the red head may not like it, she was at least willing to accept his answer for the moment. There will probably come a time when she would no longer be willing to wait, but hopefully by that time he would actually be ready to accept all that being bonded to a Sekirei, or in his case a group of Sekirei, meant.

"Well, maybe if your a good girl and get those profiles I requested finished I'll let you do some experimentation," he joked. Matsu however, seemed to take his words in a more literal sense, as she quickly perked up.

"Then Matsu will get started on those profiles right away," she told him seriously, as seriously as a childishly acting Matsu could be. Before Naruto could make a comment, she hurried back inside of her room and the turning door/wall rotated shut. For a few seconds, Naruto stood there, blinking, before shaking his head and deciding that whatever had just happened wasn't something he needed to think about at this point. Thus he turned and began walking down the hall towards Uzume's room. When he got there, the blond knocked on the door and then waited patiently for it to be answered. There was a moment of silence, followed by the thud of bare feet on tatami mats that grew closer. A second later the door opened and Uzume stood there, staring at him with an expression that was both determined and nervous.

"Naruto," she said, using his first name for the first time. She hesitated for moment, worrying her lower lip, then seemed to pluck her courage and plunged ahead. "Can you really heal my Chiho?" she asked.

"Well, I first need to find out what's wrong with her," Naruto answered honestly. "Without knowing what it is I'm supposed to be healing there isn't much I can do." His answer did not seem to please Uzume, who opened her mouth to respond when he cut her off. "But I am positive that whatever illness your Ashikabi has caught can be healed." Uzume closed her mouth, stood there for a second, and then gave him a nod as she moved aside to allow him entrance into her room.

"Come on in," she said softly. Naruto nodded as he entered the room. It looked a lot like the bedroom he shared with his Sekirei, though considering they were in the same house that wasn't surprising. The only differences between the two rooms came in appliances and furniture; Uzume didn't have the desk or bed nor the same style in decoration that he had. What she did have was a small futon laid out in the middle of the room that her Ashikabi was currently lying in, a dresser drawer on standing next to a door that Naruto assumed led to her closet, and a long poled lamp standing in a corner of the room near the window. Other than that it was pretty bare.

Naruto moved forward, making his way towards Chiho where he sat in sieza upon reaching her. The young girl in her teens watched him with calm eyes, she didn't seem at all concerned that he might have duplicitous intentions, most likely due to her trust in Uzume.

For a moment, Naruto sat there, unsure of just how to get this whole thing started. He was about to use what essentially amounted to supernatural powers that humanity simply wasn't capable of anymore, abilities that, except for his most recent lapses in judgment when it came to his Sekirei, he had kept hidden for thousands of years. It seemed that he hadn't quite thought about the consequences of just what using medical ninjutsu on a girl who was not only _not _one of his Sekirei, but also held no loyalty to him other than possibly gratitude for helping Uzume. Once again, it seemed that he had jumped head first into a situation without really thinking about all that doing so would entail. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this was going to become the standard when it came to dealing with instances where people asked him for help.

"It looks like I'll be in your care, Naruto-san," Chiho said, snapping the whiskered blond out of his thoughts.

"Ah," Naruto started, blinking. "Please, take care of me too." He blinked again when the words came out of his mouth registered. As one who had not only lived for a long time, but never stayed in the same place for very long, he had never been one for tradition and customary formalities. With so many different customs around the world, which continued to change as people changed, keeping up on customs had never been one of his strongest points. One might even say it was a weakness. After all, if your living in England, adding the '-san' suffix to someone's name would cause many odd looks.

This fact didn't even include his time before the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Back then Naruto had never followed customs either, aside from adding the '-chan' suffix to the names of people who had become important to him, he had always ignored customs and etiquette, examples of such being the disrespectful names he had often given to people in higher positions of authority.

Which was why he found it somewhat disturbing that he had replied to Chiho's formal response with what appeared to be a knee jerk reaction. It was just not something he would have expected himself to do.

Naruto would have thought on this some more, but upon remembering where he was and what he was about to do, figured that strange out of character moments could wait for analysis until after he had finished healing Chiho. And so, with a shake of his head, the eternal shinobi once more forced himself to focus on the girl in front of him.

"Alright," he started, frowning for a moment before giving a nod. "I want you to close your eyes and relax, if possible, try not to think of anything that might be distracting. Ok?"

"Ok." It just went to show Naruto how much trust Chiho had in Uzume when she did exactly as he asked without hesitation. She seemed to trust in her Sekirei's judgment so completely that she would even follow through on the advice of a complete stranger. It made him feel vaguely uncomfortable, though he did not show that.

Instead he began the process of healing her. His hands came together and began forming a chain of handseals, going through them a bit more slowly than usual to make sure they were correct. When he finished on the ram seal, his left hand began to glow a light blue. A startled gasp from behind him drew his attention to the fact that Uzume was still in the room. He thought about stopping and asking her to leave, but since his healing abilities were already well known decided to allow her to stay, for the moment at least.

He gently placed his glowing hand directly over Chiho's forehead. There was a moment in which nothing seemed to happen, then all at once the young Ashikabi seemed to relax. Her muscles loosened, her breathing evened out and deepened, and her mouth parted slightly to allow for a higher intake of oxygen.

"What are you doing to my Chiho?" asked Uzume, sounding both worried and angry. Naruto turned his head to look at the tomboyish Sekirei.

"Just putting her to sleep," he answered mildly. "It's easier for me to heal a patient if their completely relaxed." When she didn't respond immediately he wondered if she had caught onto his small lie. The truth was Naruto had put Chiho to sleep because he didn't want another person finding out about his powers, in his mind there were already too many people who knew, and adding another person to that list was a risk he didn't want to take. However, when Uzume eventually gave him a nod he barely managed to cover his sigh of relief.

"I suppose that makes sense," she admitted, though she didn't sound like she liked doing so. With a small shake of her head, the cloth using Sekirei focused on a topic she deemed much more important. "So how long will it take for you to heal her?"

"I don't know yet," Naruto answered, mildly annoyed at the Sekirei's one track mind. He knew she was just worried about her Ashikabi, but that didn't mean it didn't bother him that she was already asking him questions when he had yet to even find out what was wrong with her. "I still have to discover what's wrong with her in the first place."

"And how long will that take?" Uzume pressed.

"A lot longer than it normally would if you keep asking questions while I'm trying to work," Naruto quipped in a slightly irritable voice. When Uzume stopped talking he nodded his head and went onto the next phase of healing. Several more handseals later Naruto activated a medical scanning jutsu and began to run his hand, now covered in a wreath of green flames, up and down Chiho's body with only a few inches of space between them.

The first thing he discovered was that, yes, he could heal Chiho. In fact, aside from the fact that doing so would require even more concentration than when he had healed Homura, the actual process of healing the much younger Ashikabi would be quite easy.

The second thing he noticed was the reason for this. It seemed that, much like his theory on what made someone an Ashikabi an Ashikabi was correct. The answer was chakra. Chiho had chakra, enough that she was capable of winging a Sekirei. It wasn't much when compared to the average ninja, in fact she only had about as much chakra as Sakura had after graduating from the shinobi academy, and Sakura had below average chakra reserves back then. However, while not much compared to the ninja of his era, that was about ten times more chakra than the average human in this era. When put into that perspective, the difference in reserves was quite extraordinary.

And it was because of this that Chiho was ill. Uzume's Ashikabi was actually suffering from a very rare case of chakra poisoning. It seemed that much like most people who are born in this day and age, her tenketsu had remained closed. For most people this wouldn't be a problem, they didn't possess enough chakra for it to be a big deal. But for Chiho it was.

It was not a well known fact, and something Naruto had only discovered through years of meditation, but when a persons chakra reserves were at full capacity, the excess chakra they produced would be released through the tenketsu in order to prevent the chakra within them from building up and damaging their body. This illness had actually be very common amongst civilians during the Shinobi Era. Some civilians had possessed naturally higher than average reserves, but because they had never been trained to use their chakra, their tenketsu remained closed and thus, the chakra inside of them built up and began to damage their body. In these instances, all it would have required for them to be fixed was for the civilian in question to take a trip to the hospital and have the excess chakra purged from their chakra coils. Which of course, would explain why no one had been able to cure the illness Chiho was suffering from.

There was only one problem Naruto could see in all this, and that was that he did not know the jutsu medical ninja used to purge chakra from someone's tenketsu. Because he had never needed to learn it Sakura had never taught it to him. However, while he did not know the jutsu she had used, he had a theory on how he could repair the girl another way. It would just take a lot longer and a lot more effort on his part.

"So..." Uzume started once again, she had been fidgety ever since Naruto had first placed his glowing hand over her Ashikabi's still form, and it seemed that after five minutes of silently watching her patience had finally come to an end.

"I can heal her," Naruto started, and just as Uzume began to sag in relief he dropped another bomb on her. "But I'll need you to leave the room." Uzume stiffened once more and cast him a glare.

"What do you mean 'leave the room'?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch. "I'm not leaving Chiho's side until she's healed!"

"Then I'm afraid you're going to be waiting forever," Naruto replied mildly. He might have been angrier by her response had he not expected her to react like this, but considering that her Ashikabi's continued health was on the line, the blond had already taken into account that this was the reaction he would be getting.

Uzume narrowed her eyes. "Are you telling me that you won't heal my Chiho?"she asked in a dangerous tone.

"Not unless you leave the room," Naruto answered with a nod. Before Uzume could make an angry retort he held up his hand to keep her from speaking. "Before you throw a hissy fit, you should at least let me explain myself." She hesitated and for a moment it looked like she might disregard his words, but then seemed to think better of it and made a cutting gesture with her hand for him to continue.

"It had better be a damn good explanation," she warned, an unspoken threat present in her voice. Naruto frowned at that, but tried not to let her words bother him. She was just worried for her Ashikabi, he told himself.

"The first thing you should know is that I'm not a healer by profession," he told her slowly, his mind working on a way to tell her what she needed to know without revealing too much. "The abilities I have were gained through a lot of hard work, and even now requires more effort for me to use then most. This is because of the amount of concentration required to use healing techniques like this."

"Concentration?" Uzume questioned, her brow furrowing. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, in order to heal someone it requires me to... to pump my power into them." That was the laymens explanation anyways. It required a lot more than just pumping chakra into another person, like actually turning said chakra into medical chakra, but there was no need to go that far into his description.

"So what's the problem then?" Uzume asked with a huff. "You just pump your strange healing power into them and let it do it's thing, right? Doesn't sound that hard to me."

"It's hard because if you pump too much power into someone it could kill them," Naruto snapped, instantly shutting Uzume up. "Having a foreign energy invading your body may not do much to a Sekirei, but humans are much more frail than you are. If I pump too much power into a person, their body would be unable to handle the strain that having a foreign energy produced and would they end up being destroyed from the inside out." As Naruto continued speaking Uzume's face got paler and paler until it was so white it looked almost translucent. "Because of that, I need absolute concentration when healing someone, and I won't be able to concentrate with you hovering over my shoulder."

Uzume oscillated between staring at Naruto with unease, and looking down at her Sekirei in worry. It was impossible to miss the internal debate she was having in her mind over what to do, Naruto could almost see the cogs in her head turning. On the one hand, she didn't want to leave her Ashikabi's presence for anything, yet if she didn't then there was a very real possibility that he could screw up and Chiho would die as a result. The answer on what to do was clear, even Uzume knew she only had one option, but getting the heart to realize that took time.

Fortunately not much time in this instance. A few seconds after Naruto's words registered, Uzume's postured slumped in on itself and her face looked resigned. "Alright," she said, sounding incredibly depressed. Were it not for the fact that he was actually being dead serious and knew this was as much for Chiho's own good as it was anything else.

"I'll just wait outside." With that she stood up and began a slow walk towards the door. The reluctance to be away from her Ashikabi was clear in her steps as the time between each moment she put one foot down increased the further away she got. It took almost five minutes alone for her to reach the door, which in Naruto's mind was just five minutes he could have been using to save Chiho.

When she got to the door she placed her hand on the handle, then stopped. "You can save her, right?" she asked, turning her head just enough to give him a glimpse of her profile.

Naruto gave her a nod. "Yes."

Uzume nodded, closed her eyes, then grimaced as she left the room without another word. When the door clicked shut behind her, Naruto sighed and turned back to the task at hand. Cracking his kncukles Naruto began going through a set of handseals he would need to heal the young teen in front of him. Chiho wouldn't heal herself after all.

**XoX**

It took Naruto a lot longer to heal Chiho then it had for him to heal Homura. By the time he had finished the sun had already gone down. His Sekirei must be asleep by now, and he was almost surprised that no one had tried to interrupt him but figured Uzume had likely been keeping them away so he would be able to stay focused.

With a sigh, Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked at the still sleeping Chiho. Outwardly, there were no changes, she still looked like a rail thin girl who would be blown away by a stiff breeze, but that was to be expected. He had only fixed the main problem after all, her closed tenketsu, the rest could only be healed with time.

The process behind Chiho's healing had been relatively simple, because Naruto didn't know the jutsu required to purge excess chakra from the human body he had been forced to create his own method for dealing with the chakra, that method being to forcefully open the tenketsu points so the chakra could be released naturally. Normally such a process would have never even been considered, it was not dangerous but suicidical. For a persons tenketsu points to be forcefully opened was akin to having every single one of their capillaries burst open at the same time, which didn't create a very pretty picture.

However, due to the way Naruto's chakra worked, so long as it was released in very small amounts it could be used to heal any damage done to the persons chakra coils while he opened the tenketsu points. And therein lay the reason it had taken him so long to heal Chiho, not only did the process require him to open each tenketsu individually, it also required him to use a technique he had devised to imitate perfect chakra control.

Naruto would never have perfect chakra control, that was a simple fact that had become known to him during his three year training trip with Jiraiya. Before he had even graduated the academy, his reserves of chakra had been on par with Sarutobi Hiruzen, the legendary Professor and Sandaime Hokage, after his three year training trip his reserves had increased by a fourth making the only person that had been stronger than him at the time Uchiha Madara. Now, however, Naruto had no equal, his chakra was on a level of it's own. Comparing his chakra to Uchiha Madara in this day and age was like comparing the chakra of a newly minted genin with above average reserves to a Kage. There was simply no contest.

Of course, all that meant was that Naruto had next to no control over his chakra. He could use a few techniques, some basic nature manipulation, but many of his higher tear jutsu that require more control and less chakra were beyond his grasp. It was just another reason for him to get back in shape, though doing chakra control exercises would have to wait until he had a place he could practice in private.

Surprisingly enough, medical ninjutsu was one of the few things he was capable of. This was because of the technique he had created to imitate perfect chakra control. Essentially, what he did was simultaneously concentrate on the jutsu he was using and expelling a constant stream of chakra through the other tenketsu within his body when he started using too much. In other words, when Naruto used medical ninjutsu, he wasn't just expelling medical chakra through his hands but also through several of the three hundred and sixty one tenketsu points located around his body. Generally he used the tenketsu located in his back, it was easy and unlike expelling chakra through his feet wouldn't cause him to get launched two hundred feet into the air, and unlike expelling it through his back had no chance of accidentally pumping more chakra into his patient than was safe. The technique itself was not one he used often due to how draining it was, and Naruto knew he would be suffering from mental fatigue later on for doing this.

It was a technique he had created for the specific purpose of using medical ninjutsu, and could not be used for anything else due to the sheer amount of focus it took to concentrate on it. Splitting his attention between his medical jutsu and his chakra expulsion technique was easy when compared to splitting his attention between predicting the moves on his enemies, reacting to said enemies via his own body, deciding what jutsu he wanted to use at any given time, the handseals needed for the jutsu, constant observation of the environment so he could use his surroundings to his advantage, the thousands of other variables in combat, and finally the the constant expulsion of chakra needed to use his jutsu. Right now, the only abilities he could use his chakra for while in combat were the kage bunshin, the permanent henge, large scale wind manipulation techniques, and reinforcing his own body; and that last one he could use solely because his body was fairly well accustomed to his own chakra, even though using too much would rip it apart.

A tired sigh escaped him once again as he realized how much chakra he had been forced to expend in order to heal Chiho. The air was so thick with it that he could almost see a misty blue haze of chakra converging around him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, an almost electric jolt passing through him as the inhuman chakra hung in the air.

He hadn't needed to worry about using this technique on Homura, as a Sekirei the fire users body had been naturally predisposed towards accepting his chakra. All he had to worry about back than was turning his own chakra into medical chakra, it was a surprisingly easy feat to do since his chakra had natural healing properties, and then directing that chakra towards the wounds. It was hard, but not difficult.

What he had just done to Chiho was on a whole other level, the act of turning normal chakra into medical chakra, directing that chakra towards each individual tenketsu point, and then expelling enough chakra from the tenketsu located near his back to the point where his chakra control was perfect took more concentration and willpower than anything else he had ever done. By the time he had finished his body had picked up a slight sheen of sweat, and his breathing was a bit heavy. Still, the results were well worth the effort. Chiho was healed.

Naruto made to stand up, and almost stumbled when he discovered that his legs had fallen asleep from sitting in seiza for so long. He winced a bit as he forced his legs to move until feeling began to return, then stood back up once more.

The blond took a moment to just stand there, stretching his arms out above his head and listening as his bones popped and cracked deliciously. After satisfying his bodies desire for a good stretch, Naruto made his way out of the room.

Uzume was there, as he suspected she would be, and in the time it had taken him to step out of the room to the moment he closed the door Uzume had managed to get up and move directly into his personal space.

"How is Chiho?" she asked, her voice both irritated and worried. There were a few black marks under her eyes, and worry lines on her face to show that she had likely been running herself ragged by thinking of all the things that could go wrong. She had probably not eaten anything either, and considering how she rigidly she had been standing had been too worried to get any rest.

"Chiho will be fine," Naruto said, and with those few words Uzume's entire body seemed to almost collapse. "She's still weak though, her body will need a lot of nourishment to regain all the wait she's lost and after a while she'll need to be put under a training regime to regain full functionality of her legs, but her life is no longer in danger from her illness."

"So... so she's ok?" Uzume's eyes were searching, her voice weak, it seemed she had gone for so long thinking her Ashikabi would never be healed that to hear someone telling her that Chiho was no longer in danger of dying was almost too good to be true.

"As I said," Naruto repeated. "Chiho will be fine."

That seemed to be all the tomboyish Sekirei could take. Her legs buckled and she fell forward, collapsing against Naruto. In his startlement, the blond fell backwards and his back hit the door with a dull thud. A pair of hands began clutching his shirt, which had only taken a few seconds before becoming soaked by tears as Uzume buried her face in his chest and cried out her relief.

For his part Naruto was unsure of what to do about this. He had never really been one for comforting others, even during the Shinobi Era. Back then it had been because he was a clueless youth who wouldn't know how to comfort someone if he was slapped in the face and told exactly what he should do. Now it was because he simply hadn't comforted anybody for a long, long, LONG time. Why would he need to? Naruto had not gotten close to anyone in several thousand years.

Not since that day.

Still, his minds hesitation only lasted for a second before he decided to simply let the busty woman cry herself out. His hands moved, hesitating when they reached her back only for a second, before he placed them on Uzume's upper back and began to rub them in small circles. He wasn't exactly sure if he was doing this right or not, and it became especially bad when Uzume seemed to press herself deeper against him and began crying that much harder.

"H-Hey, Uzume," Naruto stuttered slightly. He was beginning to feel unnerved by this whole scenario. He had been expecting many things when he came out and informed Uzume that her Ashikabi was no longer in danger of dying from a normally terminal illness; her prostrating herself on the floor and thanking him over and over again, her giving him a large smile and making some crack about how she and Chiho would be glad to join his harem if he asked, her bodily shoving him out of the way so she could see her Ashikabi. In all those thoughts and ideas he had never imagined that the girl would break down so completely and begin crying into his chest.

He probably should have, Naruto realized with a sigh. Girls had always been weird and emotional like that.

"Thank you..." Uzume sniffed, her voice muffled as it was still buried in his chest. "Thank you so much." There was a shift of movement and a rustling of fabric as she unburied herself from his pectorals and looked up at him, her chin now resting against his chest. "I was so worried," she murmured softly. "I always tried to put on a brave face for her, but whenever I left all I wanted to do was cry." She shifted again, pressing left side of her head against his chest as her hands unclenched themselves and slid around his torso. If Naruto had been a normal human the hug she gave him probably would have crushed his rib cage. "I was about to give up hope."

"It... It's fine," Naruto muttered, turning his head to the side in an effort to find something interesting to occupy his time. He wasn't embarrassed as several thousand year old immortals didn't get embarrassed. It was just that he was so unused to something like this happening that he didn't know how to take it.

Yeah right.

His cheeks turned a dark red when a pair of warm, soft, and moist lips were pressed upon his left cheek. He jerked away from the contact as if burned, and looked at Uzume with wide eyes.

"Wh-What was that for?" he asked, his voice so shocked it was nothing more than a whisper.

Uzume's eyes danced mischievously as she looked at him, it created a startling contrast when compared to her puff red eyes and the tear stains that went down her cheeks. "That was a thank you," she told him, her grin widening as she saw the undeniable flush of his cheeks. "You're not embarrassed by something as simple as a small kiss on the cheek, are you?"

"Of course not!" Naruto snapped irritably, grimacing when he saw her begin snickering at him. He wasn't embarrassed dammit! He was just surprised! That was all! He was so going to get her back for this; she wouldn't know when, she wouldn't know how, but when Uzume least expected it, he would get his revenge.

"Anyways, you should probably see to your Ashikabi," he started, changing the subject and instantly making the girl sober up. "She won't wake up until tomorrow, but I figured you'd want to be with her regardless."

"Yeah," Uzume's voice went soft again along with her eyes. It was a look he had only seen recently whenever her mind strayed to the thin girl currently sleeping in the room behind them. She looked back up at Naruto, even as she released him from her hug and stepped back. "I meant what I said earlier, thank you, Naruto."

"It's fine," Naruto said with a smile as he finally managed to get his embarrassment down to a manageable level. He was also pleased to note that her heartfelt thanks hadn't embarr – bothered him like the last time. Granted, she had been crying into his chest then so...

Shaking his head Naruto banished those thoughts and looked back at the tomboy. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you and your Ashikabi in your time of need?" he asked rhetorically. "Not a very good one I can tell you that." With an internal sigh, Naruto realized that he may very well be growing soft. He hadn't even thought about how he could turn Uzume's feeling of being indebted to him to his advantage, something he surely would have done before becoming an Ashikabi. He wasn't even sure if he could blame this new situation on the bond anymore as he didn't seem to be as affected by it as he used to. Or was this perhaps a new development that came from actually allowing himself to be immersed within the bond? Such a theory definitely bore further investigation in the future...

Ugh, he was thinking way too much.

"Then I guess I should be very glad we're friends," Uzume replied, amused and curious when she saw the blond pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.

"Damn right you should," Naruto replied as he tried to shake of his coming headache that was coming from his mind thinking to much while it was so fatigued. There was still a lot that needed to be done and he couldn't do it if he was suffering from a migraine. "If we weren't I may have very well decided to give you the Higa treatment." That being to use Uzume as a means to help him get rid of some of the competition without her knowing it before tossing her aside like so much used trash. Naruto absently had to wonder what Higa's reaction would be when he discovered that Naruto planned on using him for that very same reason.

If nothing else, it would be funny to see the man rage when he realized what Naruto was doing.

Uzume shivered. "Not funny, bro. Seriously not funny."

Naruto just gave her a grin.

**XoX**

The first thing Naruto did after leaving Uzume, who had rushed in her room to be with her Ashikabi, was to get something to eat. He had spent a lot of chakra due to the requirements of using his perfect chakra control technique, and when added to the fact that he hadn't used it in well over two thousand years the blond knew he had wasted a lot more chakra than he should have. Because of that he was quite hungry. The more chakra he expended the more he needed to eat in order to replenish, it was like that with all ninja, especially those who had larger reserves.

There was a reason the Akamichi ate so much.

And so Naruto spent around an hour making three dozen sandwiches using various meats, cheeses, and vegetables, and another fifteen minutes eating them all. Had anyone else been there to see it, they probably would have been impressed that a human could eat just as much as Musubi. That, or they may have just gotten sick watching him stuff food into his face so quickly his hands were merely a blur. When he had finally managed to satiate himself, Naruto knew it was finally time to face the music and do something that he had been dreading since his mission to rescue Chiho had come to a close.

Apologizing to Miya.

As he knocked on the door to Miya's room and than began the waiting game, a sense of nervousness welled up inside of him. How angry was she? Would an apology even be enough? And if not, what could he do to make things right? Naruto knew he had screwed up badly, a difficult thing for a man who had lived for several thousand years. There were people in their sixties who refused to admit to being wrong, stubborn old people that they were. They should try putting themselves in Naruto's shoes for a day before bitching and moaning.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the soft pitter patter of feet making their way across tatami mat flooring, followed by a click of the door before it opened.

Miya stood there, blinking several times as she stared at him. She looked like she had just woken up, her hair was in a bit of disarray, her eyes were a bit droopy. Naruto stood there nervously, wondering if perhaps he should have waited until tomorrow to beg for forgiveness.

Yet even as he wondered that, the lavenderette seemed to wake up, her eyes gained focus, became sharp and calculating. "Uzumaki-san," she spoke in a cold tone that sent shivers down his spine. Oh yeah, she was definitely not happy with him. "Is there something you need?"

Naruto swallowed, both physically as well as his pride. Slowly, he got down on his knees, placed both hands on the floor, bent at the waist, and pressed his forehead against the wood tiling, prostrating himself before the woman who had done the same thing to him just this morning.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, his voice clear and steady. Naruto could not see her face, seeing as even if he had his eyes open they would only be able to see the wooden tiles of the hallway floor, so he did not know what expression she had on. Was she shocked? Angry? Apprehensive? Was she feeling the same sense of wrongness he had felt when she had done this to him? He supposed it didn't matter. All that mattered was continuing before he lost his nerve. "I didn't mean to run out on you this morning when you had apologized. I... to be honest I just..."

A hand on his shoulder stopped him from speaking, or trying to speak. Trying to find the right words to express his feelings was harder than he thought, even before he locked up his emotions Naruto had always preferred using his fists to telling people how he felt. Sure, there were occasions where he would make some grand speech... ok, so there were a lot of times he had made speeches, but all those times had been about his ninja way, or how he never went back on his word, they had nothing to do with his feelings. Even back during the Shinobi Era, he had often hid behind a mask.

Looking up, Naruto found himself staring into the purple eyes of Miya. She still wasn't smiling, her eyes were still cold, but there was a slight glimmer of emotion beneath them that had not been there before he prostrated himself before her.

"Stand up, Naruto-san," she murmured, and Naruto took the fact that she was using his first name as a good sign. When he did as asked she opened the door too her room and gestured to him. "Come inside." Once more, Naruto decided it would be in his best interest not to ignore a direct command from her right now and did as asked.

The room remained unchanged from the last time he had been inside. As the door clicked shut behind him, Miya walked passed him without a word, sat down on the floor in seiza, and then gestured for him to do the same.

Naruto wisely chose to follow her orders once again and sat down exactly five feet away from her. For a moment all was silent, Naruto sat before the landlady of Maison Izumo, trying his best not to fidget like a child. It was a very unfamiliar and distinctly unpleasant feeling, wanting to make things right but not knowing how to do that. Things had been so much easier when he couldn't have given two shits about what other people thought. Meanwhile, Miya was staring at him with an impassive gaze, her eyes searching him, piercing him in a way that left the blond feeling naked. It was as if his entire soul was being laid bare before the woman in front of him. It was not a feeling he was used to, and something he hoped to avoid whenever he could in the future.

"What brought this about, I wonder?" Miya said, and Naruto was unsure whether she was asking a question or merely making a rhetorical comment. Despite that, he decided to answer her anyways.

"After..." Naruto paused, hesitation clear on his features. He frowned for a moment, then shook his head and continued. "After I... ran out on you, I couldn't get what happened out of my mind. I kept asking myself why, why would you do something like that? Why would someone so powerful bow before another and ask for their forgiveness." It hadn't made sense to him at the time, and to be honest, it still didn't. "It was unexpected, and a part of it bothered me. I think... I think it's because I know that if our situations were reversed, I would have never been able to do that." It was an admittance of one of his many faults, and one of the oldest problems he had. Naruto had always disliked being wrong, even when he was younger and wrong almost every time he opened his mouth he hated admitting it. Dragging an admittance of him being wrong was worse than pulling teeth, it took far more effort than it was worth, and that hatred of being wrong had only grown in time.

"And yet you did the same as I did just now, did you not," stated Miya, referring to his earlier display outside her hall just a minute ago. She tilted her head to the side curiously. "Was that not the same thing?" she asked, and Naruto snorted.

"It's much easier to apologize to someone who had already extended an olive branch," Naruto replied with a touch of cynicism. "Had our situations been reversed, if you had not made the first move, I don't doubt that we would have never made an attempt at reconciliation."

"You say that like we've already forgiven each other," Miya returned coolly. "Like I've already forgiven you." Naruto winced at the small accusation, but did not say anything against it. She had a right to be angry at him.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," Naruto said slowly. "Not after running out on you like a coward after you tried to apologize." The blond paused and once again bowed down before Miya in Dogeza. "But if you could find it within yourself to forgive me I would be forever grateful, and if... if there was anything I could do to earn that forgiveness you need only ask." Had an event like this happened less than two weeks ago Naruto would have never even considered saying such a thing. Hell, he would have never even considered the thought of prostrating himself before another and asking for forgiveness.

Had Naruto been his old self, the one that had lived for thousands of years and cared little for those around him, this entire situation would have never happened.

He wouldn't have cared.

"And what if I told you that the only way I would forgive you was if you told me about yourself?" asked Miya, her voice still cold. "The truth about yourself?" Naruto stiffened for a moment, his head snapped up to meet Miya's eyes, and an internal battle began to wage within his mind. His secret, or secrets as it were, the past he had kept hidden from everyone for thousands of years, his immortality, the aeons of accumulated experience that had made him into the person he was today.

Could he tell her about it? Could he truly reveal the secrets about himself that he had kept for so long? That he killed to keep from being found out? Was he actually willing to tell her just to earn her forgiveness? Had he really changed that much already? Had he grown so fond of her presence, her playful banter, and those feelings of being in the presence of an equal become so strong that he was willing to toss away thousands of years of secrecy and reveal the secrets others had killed and died for?

Looking into her eyes, Naruto made his decision.

"Is... is that what you want?" he asked, looking away from her piercing gaze. If it would earn her forgiveness, then he would do it, he would tell her his secrets. Who knows, maybe it would even prove beneficial. Naruto had kept everything to himself for so long, and though he would never admit it to anyone even himself, there was a part of him that had always longed for someone he could talk to, a confidant who could keep his secrets.

It was a small part of him, almost unnoticeable, but it was there.

A hand came to rest against his left hand. Looking back, Naruto had to blink and wonder at how fast Miya was to have moved from where she was sitting, in seize he might add, to sitting in the exact same position right in front of him with just a few inches between them.

The cold look in her eyes were gone, surprising Naruto who could only wonder why. "I thank you, Uzumaki Naruto, for being willing to tell me you're secrets," she said, her lips finally moving up into a smile and her eyes crinkling. "But it won't be necessary. I forgive you, and I hope that you can also forgive me for my transgressions against you."

A small part of Naruto was confused. Had she really forgiven him just like that? Was all it took for him to earn her forgiveness a simple willingness to reveal his secrets? Granted, Miya had no clue as to the true depths of his secrets, how could she when he had not told her. But that didn't change the fact that earning her forgiveness had been too easy. It was only after a few seconds of sitting there, staring at Miya like she had grown several heads, that he realized just what had happened.

He had been played. She hadn't asked him to reveal his past, she had simply been testing his integrity to see how far he was willing to go to earn her forgiveness. A part of him felt that he should be angry, but strangely enough he wasn't. Had he not done similar things in the past? Being angry at Miya for doing something he had done more times than he could count would be hypocritical on his part, and he'd had enough of being a hypocrite to last a lifetime.

"Ah, yes," Naruto said, turning his head slightly again. For some reason he found it very hard to maintain eye contact with the lavender haired landlady right now. "I uh... ahem," he coughed into his hand, then continued, the index finger of the hand he coughed on (which was the one that Miya had not placed her hand over) scratching his right cheek. "I hope you can forgive me for that too." He looked over at Miya again, and saw her confused expression. "For taking my anger out on you after I found out you and Matsu had been watching me when I healed Kagura. I was angry, but I was more angry at myself for not being so careful than I was at you."

Miya shook her head, smile still in place. "There is nothing to forgive. I was the one at fault there. When you kicked me out of Homura-san's room I became... angry," she admitted, sounding a bit flustered at actually admitting she got angry. Strange, considering how often she used her hanya mask on others. "I wasn't thinking clearly and had Matsu spy on you. I should have realized you had a reason for not wanting me to be there."

"But, if I had been better at explaining the situation, then perhaps none of this would have happened," Naruto began. "If I had just explained that what I was about to do was something I didn't wish for others to see, I'm sure you would have respected my wish."

"I think," Miya began carefully, a self depreciating smile on her face. "There would have been no difference even if you had explained the situation." Her words caused Naruto to pause and think. It had probably taken quite a bit of effort for her to admit that nothing would have changed even if he had given her a viable explanation to not spy on him, considering how he had blown up on her for doing so in the first place. It was a gutsy thing to admit to, and the blond felt his respect for Miya rise a bit.

"I guess it would be easier if we just admit that we were both wrong and leave it at that," Naruto finally decided. It would spread the blame between them equally and ensure that neither of them came out of this smelling like roses. Sometimes compromises are the best way to end situations like this without any hard feelings.

"Agreed," Miya said with a soft giggle, her free hand coming up to hide her mouth behind the sleeve of her kimono.

"So... are we friends again?" asked Naruto tentatively. He was sure they were, but didn't want to assume anything.

"We never stopped being friends," Miya told him with her pleasant smile still in place. "Just because we had an argument does not mean we stopped being friends, it happens between all friends at some point or another. All this means is that we have now had our first argument, and because we got over it, our friendship will become that much stronger."

Naruto shook his head and smiled at her words. While he had lived for a long time, it was clear that Miya had more wisdom than him when it came to relationships. Perhaps because she had been in one not too long ago.

The last time Naruto had been in a relationship had been a LONG time ago, and when it had ended he had not been left with a good impression of what it meant to be in a relationship.

"Well," Naruto started. "I guess I'd better leave you to get some sleep now that what I came here to do has been accomplished." He smiled at Miya. "So I'll see you in the morning, yes?"

"Of course," Miya returned his smile.

"Ok. Oh, and Miya?"

"Yes."

"Your hand."

"My hand?" Miya blinked, then looked down at her hand, specifically the one that was still placed over Naruto's own appendage. "Ah!" She jerked her hand off his as if burned. "I'm terribly sorry," she said, a very soft shade of pink suffusing her cheeks. "In the midst of all this conversation and emotion I guess I forgot about, well..."

"It's alright," Naruto murmured, his own cheeks a little stained as well. Why was his heart pumping so fast? Shaking his head, the blond stood up and sketched Miya a quick bow. "Good night, Miya-chan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah, um," startled, Miya's cheeks lit up just a little bit more. She quickly reigned in her blush, and made to smile at the blond...

Only to find him gone, the door clicking shut behind him gently.

"Good night," she said to the empty air. Despite the fact that Naruto had once again left in a hurry, this time when he left there was a slight smile on the woman's face.

* * *

><p><strong>Before I end this and leave you all to continue on with your lives, I believe I should clear up a few things.<strong>

**In one of the reviews, someone was telling me that I am hyper focusing on Naruto at the expense of moving the plot forward. In most cases this person would be right, however, this is not most cases. I want it known before we go any further that the Sekirei Plan is NOT the main plot of this story, Naruto gathering a harem of hot, large chested alien fighters destined to battle against other hot, large chested alien fighters is NOT the main plot of this story. The main plot of this story is about Naruto's journey to regain his humanity, it is a story that focuses on the character development of Naruto and the bonds he forms with his Sekirei and those few who are not his Sekirei like Uzume and Chiho. That is the reason I am focusing so much on Naruto, because his growth as a character IS the plot. The Sekirei Plan, winging various Sekirei, the epic large scale battles, etc. etc. is merely the medium with which I am using to deliver my story.**

**If you want, you can compare this story to a Seinen manga, which focuses more on character development and the storyline, whereas most of my other stories would be a Shōnen manga, which focuses more on action and humorous plots.**

**Also, for those of you who have been waiting for our favorite Tsundere, not to worry, she's going to make her first appearance in the next chapter.**

**Pokemaster12 out.**


	18. Strange Dreams in a Sea of Peace

**Chapter 17: Strange Dreams in a Sea of Peace**

**XoX**

_He was standing on top of a building, judging by how high up he was in comparison with the other buildings around him it must have been some kind of skyscraper. Surrounding him on all sides were large metal boxes of various shapes and sizes that he recognized as power boxes used to bring power and electricity to the many functions of the building he was standing on. They thrummed and buzzed with a life of their own, the noise presenting an ambient music to the scene that played out before him._

_Off in the distance he could see the large clocktower that made up MBI's headquarters, and around the tallest building were smaller skyscrapers around the same height as the one he now stood upon. _

_Below that were more buildings, smaller buildings that made up the majority of the metropolis known as Shinto Teito. And below even that were the many roadways that carved a path through the city, angular and sharp lines of black the cut the population center of cement and steel into multiple segmented city blocks that seemed to stretch on as far as the eye can see._

_None of this held his attention however, that belonged to her. She was a young woman whose frame was being partially eclipsed by the sun. His enhanced eyesight was more than capable of making out a few of her features and dress, long blond hair swaying in a breeze, followed by a black dress with wide sleeves followed by a white underdress. The outfit was finished off with long brown boots that rode up to just a little below her ankles, black stockings that reached the halfway point of her thighs, and a black choke with white frills around her neck. Her bearing was proud, even with her back turned to him the blond woman stood tall, feet spaced closely together in the shape of an L, and her arms crossed under an impressive bust._

_It was in that moment that he knew he was dreaming, and that this woman was a Sekirei who was reacting to him. The dream was too real, too lifelike. He could feel the wind as it rustled against his clothes, and the stench of pollution and metal hung in the air, invading his senses. It was exactly how his other dreams panned out with the two other Sekirei who had reacted to him._

_His presence didn't go unnoticed by the woman, Sekirei, before him. The woman turned around, revealing blue eyes that were bespotted with rage._

"_I finally found you, you bastard!" she said, turning more fully so she could point a quivering finger at him, a snarl on her face. "I'll kill you!"_

"Naruto-sama."

Naruto muffled a groan at the sound of the voice above him. It was vaguely familiar, though with his frazzled and foggy mind he couldn't quite place it. Not that he cared about the voice at the moment. Right now all he wanted to do was snuggle back into the incredible warmth he felt encasing him on all but one side and sleep.

"Time to get up, Naruto-sama."

Unfortunately no matter how much he tried sleep seemed to elude him. A combination of the voice that was still trying to rouse him, the dream he had just had about the Sekirei that apparently wanted to kill him, and the hands that were now shaking his shoulders kept him from returning to peaceful slumber.

Wait. Hands?

"Come on, Naruto-sama!" The voice whined piteously, and it was in that moment that his brain kick started and finally recognized the voice as belonging to Musubi. "You promised me that I would finally get to spar with you today!"

Ugh, yep, definitely Musubi, she was the only one who he had promised a spar to, and the only one who actually wanted to spar with him. Not that he could blame them, as far as the others were concerned he was just a human, albiet, Homura might know something, but he wasn't the type to spar with his Ashikabi, he was more like the kind of Sekirei who would try to shelter their Ashikabi from everything he could.

Phe, as if he needed sheltering.

"Naru-tan," Matsu grumbled in complaint as she tried to burrow her way into his chest, as if doing so would somehow block out the loud sound of Musubi's voice. "Make her stop, Matsu wants to sleep some more." Well, the most perverted of his Sekirei didn't need any help with that, seeing as she went back to sleep almost immediately after speaking, her very light breathing only confirming this. Naruto wasn't even sure if she had ever been awake to begin with.

Maybe she was a sleep talker?

"Ah," Akitsu decided to add in her two scents as well. "Please be quiet." Were it not for the fact that Naruto had grown so used to the ice user's nature, he probably would have been surprised to realize she was awake. However, the small shift in her breathing had let him know the moment she had woken up.

Kusano somehow managed to sleep through Musubi's loud voice and shaking from where she lay across his legs like some kind of house pet. Go figure.

"Ugh, fine, I'm up, I'm up," Naruto spoke with a tired sigh. Opening his eyes the first thing the blond realized was that it was still dark outside, the sun hadn't even risen yet. Outside of his window the dark shade of blue that transitioned into black in a gradation so flawlessly it could have only been created by nature. The darkness of the night sky was only contrasted by the brilliant twinkling of a thousand small dots of light, luminous spheres of plasma held together by gravity.

Naruto knew quite a bit about the stars that shone overhead. With his long life the blond had managed to map out the entire night scape, memorizing each and every star in the sky along with the constellations. It had been back during a time where he had still been trying to achieve his sensei's dream of true peace even after his epic failure during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. During that time he had grown sick of watching people kill each other despite his preaching, and had decided to go on a hermitage. In that time he had not only managed to map out and memorize every single star he could see, the blond had also gotten so good at memorizing the seasonal patterns of the star filled sky that he had found a way to predict all of the small changes the constellations and stars would go through for the next one thousand years. Of course, he had completely forgotten he had done that around five hundred years after his study, but that was besides the point.

With a shake of his head, and Musubi's whining still in the background urging him to get up, the blond glanced over at the clock on the nightstand next to their bed. He groaned again. Naruto looked over at Musubi, the most naïve of his adult Sekirei. His eyes were still a bit bleary from having just woken up, and with her positioning near the window her form was silhouetted against the starry sky. Yet even as he continued looking at the girl his enhanced eyes began moving into focus, the image in front of him sharpening until he could make out her features, small nose, soft pink lips, and the warmest brown eyes anyone would probably ever see.

For some reason, seeing his Sekirei look so happy and energetic while all he wanted to do was sleep irritated him a bit. Quite possibly because of how damn early it was, though it could also be due to how she was continuing to shake him.

"Musubi," he tried to keep a patient voice, but considering how tired he was such a task was clearly impossible. As thingso stood it was only the girl's sheer obliviousness that allowed her not to hear the slightly irritated tone in his voice. "It's three o'clock in the morning. There is no way I'm getting up that early for a spar." Even though he was still groggy, he was not tired enough that he could not determine where Musubi had been sleeping. Matsu was on top, along with Kusano who was laying curled up on his legs in a position reminiscent of a cat, and he could feel the busty not wearing any underwear figure of Akitsu in her usual place on his left. There was an empty spot on his right, obviously Musubi's, which he patted with his free arm. "Come back to bed."

"B-But Naruto-sama," Musubi started, her expression drooping to one of shock and slight disappointment, it made her look like a kicked puppy, and was adorable to the point that it could easily have been classified as a lethal weapon in it's own right. If he weren't so tired right now, the eternal shinobi may have actually capitulated to that look, but as things were he was far too exhausted to even think about combat right now. "You said you would spar with me today."

"And I will," Naruto reassured her in the hopes she would settle down. "But it's way to early for us to spar right now. It's still dark out." He indicated the window where the night sky could be seen, then patted the empty space beside him again. "Now come back to bed, get some more sleep, and when the sun actually comes out we'll have our spar."

"Aww, I was hoping we could spar right now," Musubi moaned out in abjection. Despite her words, Naruto felt the bed shift and saw the fist fighters outlined form as she settled down next to him.

Warmth encompassed his right side once more as Musubi snuggled herself against him, her head going to his shoulder and her arms working their way over and under him respectively so she could hold him close. He could feel her the fabric of the shirt covering her chest, she wasn't wearing a bra and her nipples were rubbing against the side of his torso. By now Naruto had grown quite familiar with this feeling, and all he did in response to it was to wrap his free arm around the love crazed battle maniacs shoulder, causing the girl to let out a soft sigh as she somehow managed to press even more of her body against him, though he had no idea how such a thing was possible considering how large her chest was. Still, he tried to put such thoughts out of his mind and closed his eyes to get some more rest.

Only to find that sleep wouldn't come. There was something else that was bothering him, the dream he had of the blond Sekirei that had been threatening to kill him. By this point in time he had grown used to strange occurrences like this, having already had two such dreams of Sekirei that were reacting to him. However, this was the first time he'd had a Sekirei actually verbally threaten to kill him, and to make matters worse it was a Sekirei he was reacting to. It was kind of unnerving to be honest.

The question he now had was; just what in the hell should he do about this? The obvious choice was to find this woman and wing her, it would not only prove to be advantageous to have another Sekirei from a strategic stand point, it was also something that he couldn't just ignore. This Sekirei was reacting to him, as Musubi would say they were 'destined to find each other', and while Naruto did not believe in destiny, he knew that to not at least make an attempt at finding and winging this new Sekirei could easily be considered cruel, especially when one accounted for the fact that there were Ashikabi out there who would have no trouble forcibly winging her.

Of course, there was also the fact that this Sekirei wanted to kill him. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that. From what he understood, when a Sekirei reacted to an Ashikabi, it was generally out of love. Well, some form of love. When Musubi had reacted to him it was love, Kusano's had been as well, albeit, love of a different sort. Matsu's he was sure had been partly love, but the strongest feeling he had been getting through the bond during that time had been lust. Only Akitsu and Homura had not responded with feelings of love, or some form of positive emotion, and that was only because of the problems they had with the winging in general, Akitsu being a scrapped number and Homura being what amounted to a transvestite that wouldn't turn into a full fledged woman for... however long it took for that process to actually happen. Did that mean then, that the woman in his dreams had some kind of problem?

A troubled sigh almost escaped him, but he managed to pull it back, it wouldn't do to wake up his girls.

A slight shifting caused the blond shinobi to look over to his right, where Musubi was mumbling something that sounded vaguely like his name and the word 'sparring', before burrowing her face deeper against his shoulder. In that moment, Naruto found himself envying the excitable Sekirei. Even though she had apparently been so restless that she had woken up before the crack of dawn, the moment she cuddled up to him she had fallen asleep.

Another part of him felt vaguely annoyed that this girl could fall asleep so easily, yet he, the one she had woken up was unable to fall back to sleep.

"Ufuhuhu," Matsu giggled in her sleep. "Naruto-tan... give me your... your DNA... it's time for the experimentation..."

And yet another part of him felt highly disturbed. Seriously, he fervently hoped that Matsu's sleep talking was a one time thing, otherwise he might start regretting his decision to let his Sekirei sleep with him.

**XoX**

"Are you ready Naruto-sama?" asked Musubi, looking excited at the prospect of sparring with her Ashikabi, the word 'excited' being a very relative term since the fist fighter was literally bouncing on her feet and looked like she was about to start hyperventilating in happiness, as she stood across from the blond she had posed her question to, who was currently standing exactly two meters from her. Not that it was hard to guess why the girl looked to be deliriously happy. After all, she had been waiting for this day to come for quite a while.

It had been exactly three weeks since the mission to rescue Chiho, and during that time not much had happened, Naruto still got up fairly early in the morning to practice his taijutsu for a few hours before Miya and Musubi took the courtyard from him to train his first Sekirei. After that he would take a quick bath, then head into the kitchen and make breakfast. By the time he was finished everyone was pretty much awake by this point, and they would all have breakfast together. Then Naruto would go about the rest of his day like normal, memorizing Sekirei Profiles, sketching out various plans for dealing with each Sekirei and Ashikabi they may come across and various other 'jobs' that he had taken to help him prepare for every possible variable in the Sekirei Plan. Naruto did all this and more, but above and beyond making preparations for the coming conflict brought about by Hiroto Minaka, the several thousand year old immortal had begun doing one thing in particular more than any other.

Spending time with Sekirei. It was still awkward for him, to spend time with those he had become bonded to. When Naruto had realized that the bonds he had formed with Musubi and Akitsu were making him feel emotions again, he had done all in his power to distance himself from them. Now, however, the blond was making a concerted effort to help those bonds become stronger. It was a strange reversal, and one that he was honestly beginning to enjoy. For some strange reason, he just couldn't find it in himself to regret his new course in life. He knew there would be problems when this bond ran it's course, big problems, but for the moment at least, he had been able to put those problems to the side, to bury them deep within the confines of his mind and ignore them. Much like what he had originally done with his emotions.

It was definitely a dramatic shift to be sure, to go from making a concerted effort in distancing himself and burying his emotions to making that same effort into reinforcing and helping the bonds he had formed grow along with his own emotions, and it was just one of the many changes that had taken place within Maison Izumo. There had been a number of other changes to the household, namely the inclusion of Chiho, but they weren't that big in comparison to some of the situations Naruto had found himself in.

Naruto smiled at the girls enthusiasm and, seeing as she was rearing to go, nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are," he told the girl, keeping his hands lose at his sides, the fabric of his clothes rustling slightly. Unlike Musubi who was wearing her normal Shrine Maiden clothes, Naruto had changed his attire to better suit the circumstances. He was wearing a pair of sturdy orange pants with a pair of black shinobi sandals, and a sleeveless orange gi top with a blue Uzumaki swirl in the center of his chest, and underneath that was a long sleeve black shirt that hid the rippling muscles of his arms from view. "However, I feel I should warn you before we start that I won't go easy on you."

"That's exactly what I want!" Musubi countered with a large smile as she set herself in a standard fighting stance. As the two got ready for their spar, the four Sekirei watching on the sidelines held their own conversation.

"You seem to be paying an awfully close amount of attention to Naruto-tan, Homura-tan," Matsu commented from where she sat sprawled out on the small veranda. She looked at the fire user, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed under his bust as he looked at the two people in the courtyard. Despite the nonchalant and casual stance, there was no mistaking how his gaze stayed on the blond male that was about to fight one of their flock with hawk like eyes. "Is there a reason you're staring at him so intently?"

"Eh?" Homura stopped his intense staring at his Ashikabi in order to turn and look at Matsu. He blinked, twice, as if not quite registering her words in a way that he could interpret. The look didn't last long, whether that was due to his mind actually breaking down her words into something he could make sense of or the lecherous grin on her face was unknown. Whatever the case was, his reaction was rather amusing.

"I-It's not like that!" he exploded, his turning a shade of red that would put the very fire he wielded to shame. "There is absolutely nothing going on between Naruto and I!"

"Ah," sitting in seiza between Matsu and Kusano, Akitsu looked over at Homura as he waved his arms back and forth furiously, as if trying to ward off a swarm of bees. "There's something going on between you and Ashikabi-sama?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Homura's already red face began to light up even more, taking on a nearly neon color, while Matsu laughed at his expense.

"Ufuhuhu," Matsu's old man giggles resounded through the courtyard as she stared at the flustered fire wielding male Sekirei with breasts. "I never mentioned anything about something going on between you and Naruto-tan," the red head told him, her expression smug. Homura's eyes widened. "Ufuhuhuhu, I only asked you why you were staring at him so intently." She watched, her face taking on a look of delighted amusement as her fellow Sekirei's began to look like a red star, the blush traveling from the roots of his hair to his neck. "Is there something you'd like to tell us, Homura-tan?" she asked with a leer.

As Homura began to sputter out unintelligible words that no one could make heads or tails of, but were probably something along the line of 'there's nothing going on between Naruto and I', Kusano began to cheer for two of her favorite people. "Go Onii-chan! Go Mu-chan!"

"Ah," Akitsu's own delayed cheer came in somewhere after Kusano's third shout of 'go Onii-chan! Go Mu-chan!'. "Go." To follow this pronouncement, the ice wielder slowly raised her hand in a strange semblance of a fist pump.

"Ready?" asked Musubi, getting a nod out of Naruto. "Here I come!" And with that, the fist fighter took off.

She was quite fast. Naruto was actually somewhat surprised by her speed, she was a bit slower than Ichiya, but definitely faster than Toyotama had been. He assumed it was likely because Musubi was a fist-type and Toyotama was a weapons type. While he was still working out the dynamics of Sekirei powers, from what he understood about the different types of Sekirei it was that fist-types, or close range fighters that relied on some form of taijutsu as their weapons, were the most physically capable Sekirei, followed closely by weapon-types, then simple or elemental-types, and finally brain-types like Matsu. That didn't necessarily mean fist-types were the most powerful, both Homura and Akitsu were more powerful than Musubi, but as far as physical capabilities went, the excitable Sekirei trumped the two elemental users.

Still, as fast as she was, it was not fast enough to concern Naruto.

Musubi appeared directly in front of the blond, her fist cocked back to deliver a punch. Like her speed at running, the attack thrown was quite fast, a straight jab that likely had the capability of caving in a humans face if it hit. Naruto allowed the fist to flow around him, his left hand coming out and subtly moving the attack out of the way by brushing her wrist with the back of his hand, pushing Musubi's arm wide as it became hyper extended. The fist-types Sekirei, her attack having missed, was unable to do much as her momentum continued to carry her towards the blond.

There were a number of attacks Naruto could have unleashed upon her at this point with pure taijutsu alone. With her momentum pushing her towards him, he could have easily struck her in the throat with a knife edge. Such an attack would kill a human, crushing there windpipe if he hit them right, but he doubted it would do more than make Musubi gag. Or he could have launched a knee somewhere on her torso, using the Sekirei's own momentum against her to increase the power of his assault. If he attacked her solar plexus with such an attack, or took the time to aim for her floating ribs, it would probably leave her quite winded if not suffering from a number of broken bones. He could also attack her limbs, stomping on her knee would shatter that appendage on most humans, attacking the elbow joint of her extended arm would do the same, though it would probably take more strength to break her bones. Off the top of his head, Naruto could think of nearly a hundred different ways to finish this fight here and now.

He did none of these things, however. The shinobi wasn't interested in defeating Musubi, merely seeing how far she had come along since she started sparring with Miya.

Instead of attacking her, Naruto weaved around her attack, ducking low as he spun around to her left. He stuck his right leg out in a sweep as he made a three hundred and sixty degree rotation. The eternal shinobi had to give credit where it was due. While the girl's initial attack had been enthusiastic to the point of reckless, she had some damn fine reflexes. Before his foot could connected with her ankle, Musubi jumped over his sweep. Of course, her jump was over the top and flashy in his opinion, a simple jump would have sufficed, but for some reason Musubi had decided to actually flip over his appendage. Had this been a real fight, Naruto could have ended the battle right there.

The girl landed on her feet and quickly spun around to face him. As Naruto was standing up she charged in again, intent on releasing a barrage of lightning quick punches at him. She came in with a series of quick combos that, while impressive in their speed, were generally unimaginative in their execution. It wasn't hard for the blond to dodge all of her attacks, and the few that came too close for comfort were deflected with the same subtle ease as her first assault.

Over on the sidelines, Matsu had long since stopped her pestering of Homura as she stared at the spar going on between her Ashikabi and her sister Sekirei in shock. "W-Wow," she muttered, her eyes actually widened in surprise. "I hadn't realized Naruto-tan was that good at fighting. To think that he would be able to actually keep pace with a Sekirei, albeit, Musubi's not that strong right now compared to some of the other ones out there, it's still impressive."

Homura said nothing at first, merely nodding his head in agreement as he looked at the ongoing spar with narrowed eyes. He watched as Musubi closed in on Naruto and struck out with a very quick and precise jab to the whiskered shinobi's solar plexus. The attack was diverted by the blond deftly by bending his torso to the left, his right hand coming out in a palm thrust, though perhaps thrust was too powerful a word. What Naruto did was not a thrust, merely a light pushing of the hand to carefully divert the attack so that it would shoot wide. This not only had the effect of knocking the incoming maneuver off course, but also caused Musubi to stumble forward as she lost her balance, the combo she had been attempting to unleash halted by that single move. Despite this, Naruto didn't attack, merely moved back to allow his Sekirei time to recover.

"I didn't want to admit it at first," Homura said, the words were spoken more to himself than they were to Matsu, but judging by the turning of her head she heard him all the same. "But seeing him battling like this, I think I can understand how he managed to defeat Yomi."

"Yomi?" at the sound of the questioning voice behind them, both Homura and Matsu nearly jumped in shock. Turning their heads, or in the case of Homura his full body, the two Sekirei saw Miya standing behind them with her usual placid smile and the katana she used when sparring with Musubi in hand. She looked at the two of them with her normally crinkled eyes. "Is that a friend of yours, Homura-san?"

"No," Homura quickly regained his wit and shook his head. He really should be used to Miya creeping up on him by now. "Yomi was one of the Sekirei under Mikogami's command. Sekirei number forty three, she was defeated by Naruto when we teamed up for the first time in order to rescue number one hundred and eight." The fire user turned to look at the tiniest member of their flock, the little blond girl hadn't been paying attention to a single thing they had said, merely cheering for her 'onii-chan' and 'Mu-chan' in a continuous chant.

"N-Number forty three?" Matsu stuttered, even as Miya looked over Homura's shoulder and finally saw the mock battle going on between Naruto and Musubi. While the lavenderette's attention became centered on the spar, the red head looked up at her fellow Sekirei with wide eyes. "You mean to tell me that Naruto-tan was the one who beat number forty three!?"

"You didn't know that?" asked Homura, raising an eyebrow at the hacker. "Considering how much information you had been gathering on Naruto before getting winged by him, I had assumed you knew everything about him."

Matsu blushed a bit, apparently embarrassed that she had not been able to achieve what Homura had just spoken of. It seemed her pride had taken a hit with that comment. "I don't know everything about Naruto-tan," she muttered, looking childishly put out by this knowledge. "In fact, I still know very little about him, and what little information I have found isn't conducive to giving even a preliminary hypothesis on who he is. He's just such a mystery." The red head looked over at the continuing spar, it seemed Naruto was actually starting to make his own attacks. They weren't serious attacks, a flick on the nose, a tap to the back of the head, back, rear, or stomach, but the fact that every time he attacked was a hit and Musubi had yet to hit him was enough to cause the hacker to pause. "It seems I'll have to add high potential for combat to his profile," she grimaced. "To think that the only level four deactivation achieved so far in the Sekirei Plan was done by an Ashikabi..." she trailed off from there, shaking her head and muttering a bit to herself. Her words however, caused Miya to pause in her study of the spar going on between her student and the blond.

"A level four deactivation, you say?" she asked, her eyes open and calculating as they went from Naruto to Matsu, and then back to Naruto again. "Naruto-kun did it?"

"It was during the time when we rescued Kusano," surprisingly enough, it was Homura who answered her question, causing the lavenderette to turn her attention towards him. "When Naruto and I ran into Seo, Naruto just suddenly ran off faster than I could track him. We followed a trail of destroyed branches for about fifteen minutes, before finding Naruto with Kusano." The fire user looked over at the blond, his eyes narrowed. "We also found the deactivated number forty three there. It looked like a battle had taken place, the entire clearing they were in was completely destroyed."

"I see," Miya's gaze turned contemplative after that as she looked back towards the spar. Naruto, who had been listening on the entire conversation between the group decided he had heard enough.

He wasn't surprised that they were trying to figure him out, nor was he angry like he had been when Matsu and Miya decided to spy on him. In fact, one might even say that this was his way of slowly opening up to the group. By letting them see some of the things he was capable of, Naruto was essentially showing off bits and pieces of himself. It was, at the moment, the only way he could reveal the 'mystery' around himself as Matsu had come to call it.

The reason for this was two fold. For one, Naruto didn't really know what to tell them. It wasn't like he could just sit them all down and say 'by the way you guys, I'm actually a several thousand year old man whose been wandering the world for god only knows how long, was born in a time where people did freaky shit like you Sekirei all the time, and could probably be considered a living god in this era', the fact that almost all of the worlds mythology on god, gods and anything godlike having been based on his various exploits notwithstanding. Aside from the fact that he wasn't sure they would even believe him, on the off chance they did believe him it would probably fry their brains beyond repair.

The other reason was quite simply that Naruto couldn't bring himself to tell them. A part of it had to do with habit. He was thousands of years old, after all, and in those thousands of years he had never told another soul about his immortality, ever. How could he? He knew what would happen if people learned of his immortality, it had happened a few times in the past when people would stumble upon the truth behind his existence by accident or intent, and was not something he wanted to have happen again. The amount of chaos that had been unleashed each time his secret had been uncovered was catastrophic, the death toll almost as high as humanities World War Two. That was the reason he guarded this secret so zealously to the point of killing anyone who even came into contact with the person who managed to catch even an inkling of his secret.

The other part of his inability to tell that secret was because of how it could change things. Naruto had just begun to get comfortable with his Sekirei, the bond he had between them seemed to have finally settled and each day it was getting easier to show his emotions without fear of what might happen in the future, as well as without having to worry that his emotions might not be his own like they had when he first met Musubi. He didn't want that to change, not now, not that he was actually starting to feel some kind of happiness. Nothing good ever came from people knowing his secret, and he would not risk the small bit of happiness he had managed to gain by revealing it now.

"Tch," Naruto blinked in surprise when Musubi almost managed to land a hit on him, her fist grazing passed his right cheek just a few centimeters short of his face, so close he could almost feel the skin of her knuckles grazing his face. He chided himself on not paying attention to the here and now, even as he decided to end this battle.

Displaying a speed he had not shown thus far, Naruto's left arm lashed out and captured the extended wrist. Quick as a whip, he rotated his entire arm, his fingers unclenching from the wrist in his possession just long enough for him to trap the offending limb in between his arm and torso. He moved forward, two steps in towards Musubi, the captured arm trailing under his armpit until he and his first Sekirei were nearly nose to nose, then hooked his left foot behind Musubi's, and with a quick yanked, knocked both of her feet out from under her.

What followed next was the sound of Musubi's back lightly thudding against the earthy ground as Naruto moved before she could react, straddling her waist whilst pinning her arms above her head. The fist fighter blinked several times, as if trying to understand what had happened, confusion more than evident in her eyes. After a few moments, she seemed to realize what had just happened, that she had lost. As her eyes became large saucers of surprise, Naruto grinned.

"I believe this round goes to me," the eternal shinobi told her, his eyes dancing with amusement. Musubi continued to gape at him for several seconds before she squealed, a loud 'SQUEA!' noise that startled Naruto so much he immediately let go of her hands and leaned back to put some distance between them.

That was a mistake. With her hands free and Naruto no longer in her face, Musubi turned the tables completely, and before anyone knew what had happened, Naruto found that it was _he _who was now lying on his back, and Musubi who was on top of him. However, the positioning was also different. Unlike when Naruto had grabbed onto her, with his legs straddling her thighs and his hands holding her own in place above her head so she couldn't try to fight him off, Musubi was quite literally on top of him, her breasts smothering his face as she held him to her like his head was some kind of stuffed animal.

"Naruto-sama, that was so amazing!" Musubi crowed, heedless of the way Naruto's arms flailed while she wiggled happily on top of him. "Naruto-sama is so strong, he's even stronger than Musubi!" It was clear from the way she had switched to speaking in third person that the Sekirei was beyond reasoning, which wasn't good for Naruto's continued health as the girls ginormous bosom was actually beginning to suffocate him. His face was actually starting to turn blue.

Death by breast asphyxiation, not a bad way to go.

"Ufuhuhuhu," Matsu chuckled as she watched the scene now playing out before her. It looked like she had gotten over the shock that had descended upon her since the beginning of the spar, which had only increased at the knowledge she had gained from Homura, and was now able to recover her wits by doing something she was coming to love more than anything else in the world. Watching the shenanigans of Naruto and the other members of Maison Izumo. "It's like a soap opera!"

Homura sighed as he looked at the scene. "I'll never understand your taste in entertainment, Matsu," he said, casting a look over at the blue in the face Naruto. It looked like the blond was still going strong by this point, but it was clear from how his movements were beginning to grow sluggish that he was losing the battle between himself and Musubi's breasts. "I mean, just what about watching my Ashikabi getting smothered to death is entertaining?"

"You just need to look at it the way I do," Matsu giggled perversely, her glasses gleaming ominously in the morning sunlight. She cast a glance over at Homura, a sly grin creeping on her face. "And just what do you mean by _your _Ashikabi, hmm? That's quite possessive of you, Homura-tan. Are you finally getting attached to _our _Ashikabi?"

While Homura's face began taking on a shade of red so vibrant someone would probably need to come up with a new word to describe it, Akitsu and Kusano had decided to join in on the fun going on with Musubi and Naruto. Or at least, Kusano did.

"Onii-chan!" The child Sekirei squealed out as she wrapped herself around Naruto's legs like some kind of human vice, both her arms and legs clenching themselves around him as he struggled and flailed within Musubi's grip. It was quite an unusual sight, the buxom brunette smashing Naruto's face into her cleavage while the tiny blond hung off his legs like a limpet. Neither of them seemed to be willing to let go either, which left only one option to Naruto for salvation.

"Akitsu!" he managed to gasp out, though it was little more than a whisper due to the fact that he hadn't been able to intake much oxygen. "Help."

"Ah," Akitsu, in the slow and methodical way she always did things, tilted her head to the side in inquiry. After a few seconds she nodded. "Ok." And Naruto sighed in relief. It was good to know that out of all the Sekirei he had gathered, at least one of them was dependable...

"A-Akitsu," even in his close to passing out state, he managed to somehow eye the woman kneeling before him nervously as he realized that something was off about her. "W-What are you doing?"

"Helping," Akitsu assured him as she hefted her bosom in both hands and waited for the most opportune moment to add her immeasurable cleavage into the fold.

It wasn't long before she managed to get herself a piece of the Naruto pie, and with the total circumference of cleavage smothering Naruto now wider than Kisame was tall, the blond found what little oxygen flow he had managed to keep snuffed out like a flame. Despite this, he managed to put up an admirable fight, his arms flailing wildly. Yet even as he struggled in vain to get out of the place Jiraiya would probably consider heaven, his arms began to weaken, and he could feel himself growing tired.

By this point Naruto was already beginning to suffer from a distinct lack of oxygen, aside from his entire face beginning to take a strange shade of purple, his ability to think of a way out of this frightening and strangely erotic situation had gone by the wayside. It never even occurred to him that he could simply enhance his body with chakra and pry the two off. Too bad for him.

Thankfully, just as he felt his vision beginning to slip and darkness started encroaching upon the edges of his sight, someone decided to come to his rescue.

"Ara," Miya's soft voice broke through the excited chattering from Musubi. She placed her hand on the excited Sekirei's shoulder, darkness and malice wrapping around her like a veil as she did. "Musubi-san, Akitsu-san" the darkness began to coalesce behind her, the terrible and malevolent feelings taking physical form. "You should know," from behind her frame it began to slide out with a slow, inexorable gait. "That lewd acts such as pressing inappropriate body parts into a persons face," completing it's crawl from behind her shoulder, a large purple hanya mask appeared before them, it's eyes bleeding, and a snake-like tongue wriggling out of it's mouth and moving about in random yet somehow terrifying patterns, all the while the sound of wood clacking together issued forth from it.

Were the situation not so dire for him, Naruto would have loved taking the opportunity to study the mask in greater detail. Most unfortunately, he didn't have that luxury. While Akitsu and Musubi were no longer pressing their voluptuous assets against him, what they were now doing was easily just as painful.

Both of them had managed to crawl on either side of the blond, and had buried themselves under his arms. This wouldn't have been a problem, save for the fact that both of them had their own arms wrapped around his middle, and Naruto was getting first hand experience on just how strong a Sekirei could be when their physical prowess was heightened by fear. He could actually hear the bones of his ribcage creaking like a wire that had been drawn so taught it was about to snap. The fact that Kusano, in her own fright, had sunken her molars into his leg was just the clincher.

"Not helping, Miya," Naruto gasped out in both pain and a need to get some oxygen flowing back into his brain, causing the lavenderette to blink, and just like that, the aura of sheer evil and the malicious hanya mask disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Ara?"

**XoX**

It was less than an hour later that a freshly bathed Naruto found himself preparing breakfast. As he diced up some vegetables, broiled some salmon, made some Miso soup, and cooked enough rice to feed an army (or a group of super aliens with a ridiculously high metabolism), the sound of battle raged on outside once more from the courtyard. After their spar, it seemed Musubi still had more than enough energy to train with Miya, the girl had been quite adamant on doing so in fact, saying something about needing to be 'as strong as Naruto-sama' or something along those lines. Naruto would admit that he hadn't been paying much attention to the girl since she had nearly killed him with her breasts. That was when the blond had decided that was his cue to get cleaned up and get started on breakfast.

The others all went off to do their own thing, Matsu was likely in her room continuing the job he had assigned her of making a profile for every Sekirei. That, or she was hanging in the rafters of the ceiling at this very second spying on him in the hopes of something interesting happening. Homura was in his room, Naruto assumed he was reapplying the bandages that kept his female bits from being too visible. At least, that's what he thought the fire user was doing, they had come loose sometime during the eternal shinobi's spar with Musubi, probably from the fire user clutching at his chest so much while watching the mock battle taking place, so he was pretty sure that was the case, but he could be wrong. Whether that was the case or not, he knew that by the time he got out Homura would be waiting at the table.

As he began putting the carrots that he had just finished cutting up into a blender, a slender, porcelain colored hand set down a freshly washed apple on the cutting board. "Thanks, Akitsu-chan," Naruto said, directing a smile towards the pale skinned snow woman.

"Ah," Akitsu's cheeks lit up with a very soft blush, it would have probably been unnoticeable save for the fact that the ice user was so pale that even the smallest hint of color became quite vivid on her skin. "You're welcome," she finished quietly, then went back to washing some more fruits and vegetables in the way she always did, slow and steady, whilst trying to hide her blush.

Naruto's lip twitched, but he managed to keep the smile off his face. There was just something intensely satisfying at seeing the usually taciturn woman get flustered, even if all she did was gain a small change in facial color.

It was one of the many changes that the blond had gone through on a more personal level. While not much had changed on the outside, such as the daily routine everyone went through at Maison Izumo, there had been a number of large changes in the interactions and personal development amongst the boarding houses tenants. Among those changes was that Naruto had been a lot more open and, many would say carefree since the incident where Naruto had confronted Higa, and his Sekirei rescued Chiho from said Ashikabi's clutches.

If asked, Naruto himself would be unable to truly explain why he felt the way he did, or when or how the change had come about, though he assumed it had started during his conversation with Miya about letting his Sekirei into his heart. All he knew was that within the last three weeks, he had never felt this happy since before the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

It was almost incredible how much could change in such a short amount of time, he reflected. Sometimes it felt like a whole lifetime had passed since coming to Shinto Teito, when in truth he had only been within the city for a little over five weeks.

It was a very strange phenomenon when he considered just how fast time had passed before coming to this city. Back then time had been irrelevant. An entire century could pass and he would barely notice it. Naruto knew that a part of the reason was likely because of how long he had lived. When one has seen thousands of years pass them by, a single year holds about the same amount of significance as a second to most people. A year, two years, a decade, even a century just wasn't long enough to register on his radar anymore. Everything simply passed by him in a blur.

And yet, these passed five weeks felt more like an aeon to him. It was most strange, this seemingly elongation of a few weeks, it was almost as if time had slowed for him, as if the cogs that had once turned to wheel of time were now moving at a crawl in order to let him truly experience more out of life. Whatever the case was, Naruto actually found himself enjoying this small respite he had received from his normal lot in life. It was in all honesty the closest thing to a blessing he had received in a long time.

"How is the Miso soup turning out, Ku-chan?" he asked, ridding himself of the thoughts as he turned to look at the tiniest of his Sekirei. Kusano was the one he had decided to leave in charge of the soup, namely because it was relatively safe and he would be able to watch her and make sure she didn't accidentally set the house on fire or something. That, and he had no desire to be on the receiving end of her molars if he didn't let her help.

The little girl looked up from her stirring in order to grace him with a beaming smile. "Good!" was the only word she spoke before turning back to stirring the Miso soup. The older blond leaned over to look in at the pot bearing the soup. Miso soup could be a very tricky dish to make, as there were many ways to make it. Most recipes usually called for most vegetables and meats to be cooked in the simmering _dashi_, particularly mushrooms, daikon, carrots, potatoes, tofu, and fish. The miso would then be suspended separately in some dashi stock removed from the simmering mix, to keep the miso paste from cooking, which would alter the flavor, kill the beneficial bacteria, and reduced the health benefits of biologically active miso paste. When the vegetables finished cooking, the stock would then removed from heat, the miso suspension would be added and mixed into the soup, any uncooked ingredients were also added, and the dish was served.

Naruto wasn't very fond of that particular method, as it reduced many of the benefits that came with Miso soup. Granted, it tasted good, but it was also half the reason he had been so short in his youth.

The other half was that he had simply been a late bloomer.

In any event, in order to create the perfect Miso Soup with all of the benefits, Naruto had spent a little over a century focusing on perfecting the art of making Miso soup so that it was both healthy and incredibly delicious. The results of which could be seen simmering in the pot before them. With steam lightly wafting from it, the thick soup emitted a robust, mouth watering flavor that nearly had Naruto salivating. Only the fact that he had eaten this dish many times before kept him from doing so.

"Well, keep up the good work," Naruto told the girl, ruffling her hair and getting an affirmative 'mmhmm!' from her in response. With only the sounds of battle accompanying them, the light and quick thudding noises as Naruto chopped up fruits and vegetables to put in the blender, the running of the tap as Akitsu washed vegetables, and finally, the sound of the blender as it became active and ground the many fruits, vegetables, vitamins, protein powder, and frozen Greek yogurt into a fine shake, the trio managed to finish making breakfast. When they had finally finished making breakfast, as had become the standard, Akitsu and Kusano were the ones to take the food into the dining room, while Naruto went to inform everyone not already at the table that the food was ready.

The first people he informed were Miya and Musubi, the two were still outside sparring when he came out. Naruto really had to hand it to the excitable Sekirei, she was definitely a bundle of energy, rarely ever had he seen so much vitality in a single person. In fact, seeing it was almost nolstagic somehow, familiar. For some reason Musubi reminded him of someone, and it was beginning to bother him that he still couldn't remember who.

"Musubi-chan, Miya-chan," Naruto called out, not wanting to stand around looking like an idiot as he tried to discern who his first Sekirei reminded him of. It probably didn't matter anyways. As the two femme's turned, he spoke up again. "Breakfast is on the table."

"Yay! Food!" Musubi, enthusiast that she was, threw her hands in the air and quickly made to run inside. She rushed past him in a mad scramble to get to the dining room, even though she likely knew she wouldn't be able to eat until everyone was seated. Then again, that was Musubi for you.

Miya on the other hand, walked towards the entrance to the boarding house at a much more sedate pace. As she walked past him, Naruto ended up falling in step with the lavenderette, the soft thud of their sock clad feet against the wood tiling was the only noise accompanying them before the landlady decided to speak up. "I take it Uzume-chan and her Ashikabi still aren't up yet?" she asked, and Naruto was sure she already knew the answer to that question, but decided to answer her anyways.

"Doubtful," the blond walking beside her quipped. "I'm actually heading on up there right now to wake them."

"Very well," Miya nodded her head and smiled at him. "In that case I'll just head over to the dining room and make sure your Sekirei don't start eating until everyone is at the table." Both of them had found out early on that if neither of them were at the table to keep them in line, Kusano or Musubi, or even both, would often times start eating before everyone was seated, and, despite the number of lectures Miya had given them (unfortunately she had not unveiled her hanya mask for that due to not wanting to expose Kusano to that particular horror to much at her young age ((that, and Naruto was sure she didn't want him stealing her technique)) on how it was proper to wait until everyone was seated to eat, the indomitable duo never seemed to learn. They had learned fairly quickly that in order to keep the pair from eating, one of them needed to be present at all times.

"You'd better hurry then," Naruto commented lightly. "Knowing Musubi she's already fist deep in food."

"I certainly hope not," Miya said, holding both hands to her cheeks, her eyes crinkling just a little more as a small aura of darkness enveloped her. "Otherwise I may have to give her another lecture... in private this time." Naruto immediately repressed a shiver, a reflex action of pity for his first Sekirei if the normally kind landlady actually did decide to give her a lecture in private. Nothing good could come from that. Not for Musubi anyways. "Well, be sure to hurry and get Uzume-chan and Chiho-chan downstairs so they can eat," the lavenderette continued, renewing her walk to the dining room, even as the feeling of death dispersed into the air.

"Also," she added, even as she gained more distance from the blond who had stopped by the staircase leading to the second floor. "I'm counting on you to make sure those two aren't doing anything... indecent while they are within this house, Naruto-kun."

"Ah ha, hahaha... ha..." Naruto's strained laugh trailed off as Miya rounded the corner. With a small drop of sweat forming on his forehead, the blond began his march upstairs. "Indecent... right..." he muttered under his breath. It wasn't long before he reached the door to Uzume's and now Chiho's room. He raised a hand, about to knock, when the sound of voices from inside reached his ear.

"How about a morning kiss?" a sultry voice asked. It was definitely Uzume, he would recognize that teasing voice anywhere. It was beginning to look like Miya had been correct in asking him to make sure the two weren't doing anything that went against her rule of house decency. He had to hand it to the cloth using Sekirei, she certainly enjoyed getting an early start when it came to initiating sexual escapades with her Ashikabi.

"U-Uzume-chan," came the slightly stuttering voice of Chiho. She sounded embarrassed. How cute. "I-I don't think that would be such a good idea right now."

"Mou, why not?"

"Because Miya-sama might find out, then we'd be in trouble."

"Come on, she won't find out. Just one little kiss." Naruto couldn't quite tell from where he stood, but judging from the way her voice had changed, he got the feeling the tomboyish Sekirei was puckering her lips. Of course, the fact that he could hear 'smooching' noises normally associate with someone puckering their lips for a kiss also helped.

"You said that last time," Chiho mumbled, and Naruto got a very vivid mental image of the young Ashikabi cartooned out anime style with a large sweat drop on the back of her head. It was an oddly amusing image, and the blond had to withhold a chortle, lest the pair hear him.

"Miya can't be here all the time," Uzume declared dismissively. "Besides, she's probably still sparring with Musubi. We should use the time she has given us wisely by partaking in whatever... enjoyable activities we can while Miya is distracted."

"I-I don't know."

"Please?"

There was a second of silence that soon stretched into two. Figuring that whatever it was Uzume was doing to make her Ashikabi's will waver, Naruto decided it would be the perfect time to step in and get some pay back for thinking she could embarrass him back when they had first rescued Chiho from Higa, and for actually assuming he was embarrassed. Uzumaki Naruto never got embarrassed, never!

With post haste Naruto opened the door and slammed it wide, startling the two occupants enough for them both to shriek in fright as he strolled in with a wide grin. "Good morning you two!" he shouted exuberantly, his grin widening so much that his eyes became nothing more than slits and his whisker marks stretched across his face, giving him a decidingly vulpine appearance. "I hope you both slept well." He looked at the pair, noting how Uzume was practically on top of Chiho and holding the girl rather close due to her fright, while Chiho herself looked frazzled. The look only lasted for a moment, at least for Uzume, who managed to recover enough to narrow her eyes at him.

"Dammit bro!" Uzume swore, her face a mask of childish looking anger. In other words, she was puffing her cheeks like Kusano did when she was angry, but not quite angry enough to use her molars on him. "I was this close, this close!" she told him, holding her left hand up and making a measuring gesture with her index finger and thumb.

"And you are very lucky that it was me who interrupted you when you were that close," Naruto replied brightly. His answer didn't please Uzume, who narrowed her eyes. At least, until the blond continued and said, "because if I hadn't come up here, Miya-chan would have," which made the anger on the tomboys face evaporate and replace itself with a look of pale, wide eyed horror. With a smug grin, the only male in the room finished with, "so you should consider yourself lucky as far as I'm concerned."

"See, Uzume-chan," Chiho spoke up suddenly, giving her Sekirei a slightly chastising look. "Naruto-sama could have just as easily been Miya-sama, and then we would have been in even more trouble for breaking her 'no indecent acts' policy."

"Mou," Uzume sighed as the wind was taken out of her sails. Her shoulders drooped and her face adopted a 'kicked puppy' look that made Naruto almost regret barging in on them. Almost. "Fine, fine, I get it, no kissing, no groping and definitely no passionate love making while living in Maison Izumo." She grinned, ignoring Chiho's stuttering cry of 'U-Uzume-chan!' as she leaned in close to her Ashikabi's face, so close their noses were almost touching. "Ne, ne, wanna go to a love hotel with me so we can have some fun there?" The question made the younger girls already beat red face turn a shade of such red that Naruto was surprised the girl hadn't passed out yet. She looked almost like a boiled lobster!

Chiho opened and closed her mouth several times, though no words came out. It looked like she was trying to do her best impression of a fish. Her eyes had gotten wide and her pupils had dilated. Naruto didn't know what was going on inside of the young teenagers mind, but he could almost swear he saw steam pouring out of her ears, though that could just be his imagination. Deciding it would probably be best to intervene before poor Chiho reached critical mass and ended up passing out from overloading her brain with naughty images, Naruto coughed into his hand.

"Not that I want to interrupt your personal time together or anything," he started lightly, ignoring the glare Uzume sent his way, because she probably knew he had come in when she had been trying to steal a kiss from her Ashikabi on purpose. Not that she had any proof. "But breakfast is ready, and well, I don't think you two want to come downstairs looking like that." At his words, both Chiho and Uzume looked down at themselves. Chiho was waring a set of light beige pijamas, they were cute, but nothing special. Uzume on the other hand...

Well, aside from a pair of white panties that covered her tight, firm derriere, she was wearing nothing, leaving her large chest completely exposed to the cool morning air and Naruto's eyes. Something she seemed to have forgotten with everything that had been going on around her.

"Eek!" Strangely enough, it was Chiho who squeaked in horror as she realized her Sekirei was half naked, more like three fourths naked but she wasn't one for semantics like that. The point was, her Uzume's breasts were exposed to the blond, and that was embarrassing. "U-Uzume-chan! Cover up quickly!"

"Eh?" Uzume blinked, her eyes going from glaring at Naruto to looking at her Ashikabi in confusion. "Eh!?" her voice became startled with Chiho grabbed onto the blanket they had been using on the futon and tossed it over her head. "EH!" This cry of startlement increased in volume when she was bodily tackled by her Ashikabi, who was doing her best to cover the large chested Sekirei up with her blanket. It was a tad late to be worrying about modesty now, but Naruto had to give the girl points for trying.

"C-Chiho! Get this thing off me! I can't see!"

"I'm sorry Uzume-chan!" Chiho cried, still holding onto her Sekirei and keeping the blanket over her head. "I'm just trying to protect your modesty!" Naruto couldn't help but snort at those words.

"What modesty?" he asked, amused.

"Shut up you!" Uzume growled from under the blankets. "Chiho, baby, even if you want to protect my modesty – and don't you even start Naruto! – I can't get dressed with this thing and you covering me like this." Chiho blinked, then blinked again, then blinked once more for good measure before she finally seemed to realize that, yes, it would definitely be difficult, if not impossible, for her Sekirei to get dressed whilst a large sheet was covering her.

"Ah, sorry!" Chiho was quick to release her hold on the tomboyish Sekirei, jerking back as if scalded. As Uzume removed the covers from herself, once more revealing her body in all it's large chested glory, Chiho turned to look at Naruto with pleading eyes. "Naruto-sama, could you please leave while Uzume-chan and I get dressed?" she asked, causing the blond in question to withhold a sigh.

Truth be told he kind of wanted to tease the girl some more, or at least, he wanted to tease Uzume some more. Still, he had decided that this would be enough for now. The cloth using combatant had definitely suffered enough humiliation for the moment to know that Uzumaki Naruto was not one to be messed with. Plus he didn't want to alienate the poor girl he was trying to help recover from a nearly debilitating illness.

"Sure," he said, turning around so he could walk back out of the door. "I'll just wait outside while you two get ready." He slowly shut the door behind him, then leaned against wall and crossed his arms while he waited, softly chuckling all the while.

Yes, he decided to himself as the sound of rustling clothing came from the room he had just vacated, if he could play pranks like this then he definitely would not regret getting involved in the Sekirei Plan anymore.

**XoX**

Blue eyes snapped open when the door to Uzume's and Chiho's room began to open. That was fast, he noted as he pushed off the wall and watched as Uzume walked out in her usual jean and purple star shirt combination, while pushing along Chiho in the wheel chair they had gotten.

The waifish Ashikabi was wearing a pair of pink sweat pants several shades darker than the pijamas she had on, and a normal white shirt. It was hard for him to tell, seeing as how he had seen the girl every day, but Naruto was positive that Chiho was looking a lot better than she used to, physically anyways. The girl was definitely filling out, where before her arms were rail thin and some of the skin had actually been beginning to suffer from cellulite due to her not having anything in the way of muscles. Now the girl was looking much healthier, he could see small muscles that had not been there before thanks to the diet he had put her on and the therapeutic sessions where he had used his chakra to repair as much of the damage done to her as possible. Likewise her chest, while not much bigger had increased enough that the blond had noticed it. This wasn't the act of a pervert, but simply an observation that let him know that his diet for her was working.

"You know, I think I'm beginning to hate you," Uzume commented as soon as the door closed behind her, the glare she cast at Naruto letting him know who she was talking about. Apparently she was still sore from his small prank. Personally, Naruto felt she should consider herself lucky, he had done far worse to other people in his youth.

"No you don't," Naruto said with a bright smile as he fell into step with Uzume as she pushed her Ashikabi's wheelchair along. "You love me and you know it." Uzume turned her head to the side, letting loose a 'humph' that got the immortal shinobi chuckling some more. Below them, sitting in her wheelchair, Chiho giggled lightly into her hand. Her actions got the attention of the two walking her down to the dining room.

"What's so funny, Chiho-baby?" asked Uzume.

"You two are," Chiho giggled again. When she removed her hand it allowed both of them to see her gentle smile. "It's always nice seeing how happy Uzume-chan is when she's joking around with Naruto-sama. She always seems... happier, even though she complains all the time."

"Ah..." that was the only sound the now blushing Uzume could make. From where he stood Naruto grinned when he saw that the Sekirei's own Ashikabi had struck her speechless.

"That's cuz Uzume-chan loves me of course!" He declared, unable to restrain himself from getting another jibe in at the cloth user. Uzume's right eye began to twitch, though her blush had yet to recede.

"Quiet you!" Both Chiho and Naruto began to laugh at the embarrassed Sekirei. Well, Naruto began to laugh, Chihoo giggled just a bit while giving her Sekirei a loving glance. Uzume's expression went from a combination of slightly embarrassed and angry, to thoroughly flustered in less than a second. The star shirted Sekirei quickly clammed up after that, seeming to realize that anything she said would most likely be turned against her by the blond male.

They soon reached the staircase and, seeing as how Uzume was still refusing to speak, Naruto decided to. "Alright, here we are," he said, looking over at the brunette Sekirei in the star shirt. "If you help Chiho-san, I'll carry her wheelchair."

"Ok, thank you," Uzume finally spoke, offering the male a grateful smile despite having been 'angry' with him a few seconds ago. What happened next was the star shirt clad Sekirei lifting her Ashikabi into her arms, while Naruto grabbed the wheelchair, and both of them headed downstairs.

"Ha..." Chiho sighed a bit as she let her arms wrap around Uzume's shoulders. She looked down at the stairs she was being carried down and frowned. "I wish I could walk down the stairs on my own two feet."

"Aw, are you saying you don't like it when I carry you like this, Chiho-baby?" asked Uzume, her voice a faux pout and her face taking on an mock sad expression. She sniffed. "And here I was thinking you enjoyed being in my arms."

"Ah!" Chiho gasped as she realized how her words could be taken. "Th-That's not what I meant, Uzume-chan!" she told her Sekirei fervently. Apparently, she had no clue that the alien cloth user she had bonded to was just pulling her leg. Behind them, Naruto watched with an amused look on his face as the young teenager tried to placate the Sekirei who really did not need to be placated. "I love being held by Uzume-chan! It's just that I–"

"He-heh," Uzume's customary chuckle made it's appearance once more as a grin crawled onto her face. "I'm just kidding, Chiho-baby." She chuckled again when her Ashikabi gave her a pout. Pressing a kiss to Chiho's forehead, Uzume went on to say, "I know exactly how you feel, I want you to be able to walk on your own two feet as well. That way when the Sekirei Plan is over we can go and visit all of those places I promised to take you to."

"Like the beach?" asked Chiho with a smile on her face.

"Yes," Uzume nodded, "like the beach."

Naruto looked at the pair, sensing that their words held some kind of special meaning that only the two of them knew. Deciding it was once more time for him to get in his kicks, spoke up. "If you two want to go to the beach, might I suggest going to France? I hear they have some of the most amazing nude beaches in the world." His words caused Chiho's face to burn with embarrassment while Uzume stared at him wide eyed for a moment, before grinning.

"Wow, bro," she looked at him with a strange glint in her eyes that told him the young woman was going to get back at him with her next words. "I didn't know you were such a hent – EEK!" Whatever Uzume had been about to say, and Naruto had a very good idea what her words would have been, was cut off when the star shirted Sekirei let out a loud shriek that had Chiho covering her ears as she literally leapt down the last two steps in shock.

She whirled on Naruto, her face combining both anger and mortification beautifully as the whisker faced immortal walked down the last few steps very slowly, and placed the wheelchair back on the ground, all the while under Uzume's watchful glare. "You pinched my butt," she accused with a fierce glare and an even fiercer blush.

Naruto, well, he just offered her a smile that was every bit as beatificial as Miya's. Clearly, he had been practicing. Yes, Naruto had been practicing his 'Miya techniques' in the hopes that it would help him learn how to make her hanya mask. He really, REALLY wanted that technique.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, and his words got Uzume's right eye to begin twitching violently.

"You... You..." she tried to speak, however, unable to find the words she wanted to say, Uzume ended up sighing. "Of course you don't," she grumbled as she set Chiho down on the wheelchair, then moved one of her now free hands towards her backside and rubbed it. Uzume sent the whisker marked blond one more glare before gripping the handles of the wheelchair and beginning to push her Ashikabi towards the dining room. Naruto followed behind her, taking a second to savor the moment of having successfully bothered the cloth user so thoroughly.

**XoX**

The dining room was already filled by everyone else by the time Naruto entered; Miya sat in seize at the head of the table like always, and as was normal for her, the lavender haired beauty had a smile on her face that crinkled her eyes. Sitting beside her was Matsu, the perverted Sekirei was simply watching the proceedings with a grin on her face. No doubt she expected something interesting to happen some time during breakfast. Not that he could blame her, just about every moment within Maison Izumo was one that could be considered 'interesting' to her.

Naruto would have used the word 'unusual' or perhaps 'abnormal' himself, but that was just him.

Homura was sitting where he usually sat, right next to Uzume who was currently helping her Ashikabi get situated. The fire user was sitting cross legged, hands on his knees as he watched the star shirt wearing Sekirei setting Chiho on the ground and fluffing the girls pillows.

Over on the other side of the table were Naruto's other Sekirei. Kusano was sitting down, her hands already had a firm grasp on the fork and spoon she had been provided with until she had the dexterity in her fingers to properly use chopsticks. They were clenched into fists, which she had pressed down against the table, all the while she was looking hungrily at the food she and Akitsu had set out.

Oddly enough, she was the only one of his first three Sekirei that had taken a seat, both Musubi and Akitsu were standing side by side, watching him like a hawk as he moved across the room. No doubt they were going to make an attempt at racing to his side the moment they sat down. That was how things usually played out between them.

And of course, much like how things had played out so often, the moment Naruto sat down, Akitsu was sitting there beside him. Her speed really was quite incredible, even he had trouble keeping up with it whenever the seat next to him at the dining room table was on the line. Just how the woman was so damn fast was beyond the blond.

It probably had something to do with the bond, he told himself. Of course, that was what he always told himself when something highly unusual happened with his Sekirei that involved him in some way.

Breakfast was noisy as usual, the moment everyone was allowed to start eating both Kusano and Musubi dove into their food like men... women... Sekirei possessed. As they began to chow down like Naruto used to when he was a kid eating at Ichiraku ramen, or an Akamichi at an all you can eat buffet, Akitsu ate beside him at her slow yet indomitable pace. On the other side of the table, Homura was trying to keep his 'cool' appearance, but was having trouble hiding the amusement on his face as he watched Uzume trying to feed Chiho.

"Come on, open up and say 'aw'," the cloth user was saying as she held some salmon in her chopsticks in front of Chiho. Her Ashikabi had a large blush on her face at the brunette's attempt at feeding her, she looked quite self conscious. To Naruto it looked like Uzume was trying to feed her baby, who really wasn't a baby anymore but a teenage woman on the cusp of adulthood. It was like watching one of those anime's where the mother refused to admit their child had grown up, it was quite funny.

"U-Uzume-chan," Chiho muttered, her eyes flicking over to the others in the room as they watched on. Only Musubi and Kusano, who were to busy eating to pay attention, and Akitsu, who was to busy eating and staring at Naruto to pay attention, were not focused on the act in front of them. The young girl shrunk further into herself from where she sat. "There are people watching."

"Eh?" Uzume glanced around and, almost as if she had just now realized they were not alone, noticed the several sets of eyes staring at her. Naruto noticed that was something that happened quite often with the Sekirei in question, whenever she was with her Ashikabi, Uzume just seemed to forget about the rest of the world, like Chiho was the only one that matters. It was clear to all that they shared a strong bond.

"Ufufufufu," Miya giggled lightly behind the sleeve of her kimono, the fabric hiding the curvature of her smiling lips. "It's so sweet to see you treating your Ashikabi so lovingly, Uzume-chan." The lavenderette placed her free hand over her heart. "I'm very touched to see how beautiful the bond you two share is."

"You call it sweet," the red haired pervert of the group started in a soft mumble, a very familiar grin on her face. "Matsu calls it something else, Ufuhuhuhu." She finished with her perverted Jiraiya-esque giggles. Really, Naruto thought, there must be something wrong with that girl to have a laugh like that.

"Ah..." Uzume's face turned red at the light ribbing she was receiving from the two single digits. It was really quite endearing, seeing this other facet of the busty cloth user they had come to know and live with. Before they had rescued her Ashikabi from the clutches of the man with delusions of grandeur Higa, Uzume had only ever revealed her playful side. This new part of her personality was rather cute.

"Don't forget to make sure Chiho-baby drinks all of that nutrients shake I made for her," Naruto added in his own form of ribbing from where he sat on the other side of the table, eating at a much calmer pace than Musubi or Kusano. Chiho flushed lightly at his use of Uzume's pet name for her, while the Sekirei she had bonded began to choke on the air she had inhaled incorrectly, before she sent a glare at the blond that was completely ineffectual due to the large amount of red covering her face. "It's important that she drink all of shake before eating anything else, not only will they fill her up more, but due to what's in them they'll help make her bones and muscles grow stronger."

"Yeah, I know," Uzume huffed as she tried to regain control of her facial color. She couldn't quite seem to manage it, and her face seemed to retain a bit of redness no matter how hard she tried to calm herself. "You've only told me that a thousand times."

"And I'll tell you a thousand more if that's what it takes to make it sink in," Naruto shot back. He had spent a lot of effort in healing the waifish girl from her disease, and he most certainly was not going to let all of his efforts go to waste by taking chances with her increasing health. "If you want Chiho to be capable of walking again, then she needs the nutrients in those shakes. All of them are very important in helping her regenerate the muscles she lost due to being bed ridden for so long."

"Speaking of," Uzume started as watched Chiho begin drinking down the nutrient shake. Thankfully the drink Naruto had created tasted extremely good, otherwise there was no way the young Ashikabi would be capable of forcing all of the large drink down. "How long will it take before my Chiho will be able to walk again."

"Next week we should be able to start her rehabilitation," Naruto answered almost immediately. This was not the first time Uzume had asked that question, and each time Naruto gave her an answer that was only slightly different due to the amount of time that had elapsed from each time she asked him. "I've already got her exercises planned out, and as soon as her muscle mass gets to a certain point we'll be able get her started on walking around your room. Of course," the blond added quickly at seeing the hopeful look on the pair's faces, "she won't be able to walk on her own yet. She's going to need you to help her keep her balance at first, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Uzume nodded her head emphatically as she listened to Naruto's words. When he finished she turned to grace her Ashikabi with a heartfelt smile. "You hear that? It looks like we only have another week before you get to start walking again. You'll be up and at 'em in no time!"

After giving her Sekirei a smile of her own, Chiho turned to look at Naruto. "Thank you very much for all the help you have given me and Uzume-chan, Naruto-sama. We really appreciate everything you have done for us."

"Ah," Naruto shifted a bit uncomfortably at the thanks he was receiving. He still wasn't used to having people appreciate him, even after three weeks of both Uzume and Chiho telling him how grateful they were. "You're welcome."

In an effort to mask his feelings from the pair, Naruto finished eating the rest of his food quickly, so quickly in fact that those few Sekirei who were paying attention to him blinked when they realized all the food on his plate was now gone, then took out his cell phone from his pocket. His finger tapped the screen several times as he began accessing the file that held all of the Sekirei profiles that he had Matsu working on creating. He needed to find out who the Sekirei that had said she wanted to kill him in his dream was anyways and now was the best time to get started.

"Naruto-kun," Miya started as she saw what the blond was attempting to do. When he looked up from his work it was to see the woman giving him a mild look of reproach. "You know that I do not like it when you use electronics at the dinner table."

"Sorry," Naruto apologized but did not stop scrolling through the profiles, causing Miya to huff in exasperation. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't use her hanya mask. Not only did it not work on him, but he would no doubt use the opportunity to try and steal her technique. "I was just hoping to... eh?" he stopped talking and took a closer look at his screen when he scrolled past the profile of Sekirei number forty three, Yomi. The statistics on the screen showed what they always did, number, name, ability, Ashikabi, and a personality profile, but this one had another piece of info that caused him to pause. "Level 4 deactivation?" The others in the room, minus Musubi and Kusano, froze as he looked up and towards Matsu. "What's that mean?"

"Ah," Matsu adjusted her glasses for a moment, an act clearly meant to buy her time. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he wondered what that meant. Why did she seem so nervous now? He found out a second later when the red head began her explanation. "A level 4 deactivation is one of the five levels used to describe the amount of damage a Sekirei takes when they are deactivated. Level 1 is what happens when a Sekirei places their hand on another Sekirei's crest and recites their incantation. Level 2 is when a Sekirei takes enough damage to knock them unconscious, but not enough to truly harm them. That's the most common way Sekirei are deactivated. Level 3 means they were in critical condition when they were deactivated, and level 4 means they were so damaged they were nearly dead when they found by MBI."

"I see," Naruto didn't need Matsu to tell him what a level five deactivation meant. If level four meant they were knocking on death's door than it was quite clear what a level five was. As Naruto got back to his typing he asked, "how many level four deactivation have there been so far?"

"Just the one so far."

Naruto paused in his typing, just long enough to say, "I see," before he began again. It was with a bit of dark humor that he realized the only level four deactivation to have happened in the Sekirei Plan so far was caused by an Ashikabi. Granted, he was no normal human, but the fact that it was someone who could at least be genetically considered human that had nearly killed a Sekirei held a slight tinge of irony to it. It also just went on to reinforce his belief that the Sekirei, for all their super powers and abilities, were not warriors. They were not fighting in the Sekirei Plan because they wanted to, but because Minaka was forcing them to. All they wanted was to find their Ashikabi, the one they were destined to be with.

Well, except for Ichiya and Toyotama, from what he had seen of those two they practically lived for battle and bloodshed. Musubi did too, but hers was more of an innocent love for combat than the arousal of two battle hardened warriors that the other two he had fought had. Higa's two bloodhounds had practically been getting off when they fought him!

As Naruto continued to focus on scrolling through his profiles the blond realized there was a slight problem in that he couldn't find the one he was searching for. "Matsu-chan," he called once more, bringing the red head's attention to him. "How far along are you on the Sekirei Profiles?"

"Hmm..." Matsu frowned as she closed her eyes, the small orbs now covered by her eyelids flickering with an intense speed. Naruto already knew that she was remotely accessing all of the information she had been gathering for him, because a few seconds later he had his answer. "I have finished compiling a list on all of the Winged Sekirei," she told him, her voice serious in order to better reflect the moment. She had even stopped speaking of herself in third person. "Both those that have been deactivated and those that are still active. I've also started to compile a list of the unwinged Sekirei that have yet to be deactivated." She tilted her head a bit and looked at him curiously. "Is there someone specific you are looking for?"

A nod was her answer at first, before Naruto responded to her verbally. "I'm looking for a woman with long blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing a black dress with a white underdress," he listed off what he had observed of the woman's appearance from his dream.

"Ack!" At the listing of the woman's physical appearance, Homura began choking on his food. Naruto looked over at the fire user the same time Matsu stopped remotely searching the MBI database and sent a querying gaze towards her fellow Sekirei. Like those two, all of the others sitting around the table followed soon, the expressions on their faces ranging greatly. Miya was casting her tenant a look of mild alarm and concern, Chiho's expression was similar enough but seemed to be more alarmed than concerned. Uzume on the other hand looked slightly amused by the fire using Sekirei's reaction, while Musubi and Kusano looked at Homura in idle curiosity, their mouth's bulging with food and making them look like a pair of chipmunks.

Akitsu only spared him a second, before going back to her Naruto watching. She was just weird like that.

"Are you alright, Homura?" asked Naruto, his voice laced with mild concern. While his fire hurling Sekirei tended to act calm and collected, he was always the one who got riled up or freaked out the easiest, which often resulted in situations similar to this one. The eternal shinobi knew why of course, his body was still undergoing changes due to his winging. God only knows how high his estrogen level was, and that was on top of having all the raging hormones that a man possessed.

Two such powerful chemicals should never be combined into one body, that was just a disaster waiting to happen, as Homura seemed to prove quite well.

"Y-Yes!" Homura rasped out as he pounded on his chest some more. It was a very odd sight since the bandages he was using to wrap cover the fact that he was no longer entirely male didn't quite hide the swell of breasts there. "Could you –" the fire user coughed again, once more pounding on his chest to get rid of whatever had gotten stuck in it, before continuing. "Could you describe the Sekirei you want to know about for me again?"

Naruto frowned, but did as told, dutifully describing everything he could remember about the blond woman he had encountered within his dream.

"I know who that is," Homura said with a shake of his head. Naruto blinked, nonplussed by this knew information, but he didn't say anything, allowing the Sekirei he had winged last to continue speaking. "Tsukuimi, Sekirei number nine."

"Are you telling me that you know her, Homura?" asked Naruto, looking over at the fire user in interest.

"Know her?" though the words were posed as a question, the way Homura pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was trying to stem the tide of a coming headache, made it clear that his statement was made more in exasperation and resignation than anything else. "Yes, I suppose you could say I know her quite well."

Well, it wasn't coming from Matsu, his information gatherer, but the fact that Homura seemed to have personal experience with this particular Sekirei just made that fact more interesting. Just how did he know this Sekirei, Tsukuimi? What was his past with her? And why did he sound so irritated at hearing her name? They were questions Naruto had every intention of finding the answers to.

"So what can you tell me about her?" the whiskered male asked as he placed his elbows on the table and used them to support himself as he leaned forward. He fixed Homura with a look of such intense interest that the fire user's face actually began heating up. It almost looked like his head was about to get set on fire. Still, he answered his Ashikabi's question quite thoroughly.

"Tsukiumi, Sekiei number zero-nine," Homura recited. "Her powers are absolute control over water, she can control and manipulate it with ease, and is even capable of generating it directly from her person."

"Can she gather the natural moisture in the air in order to create her attacks?" asked Naruto, becoming even more interested in this Sekirei by the second. It sounded to him like this woman's power was almost exactly like those of the Nidaime Hokage, a man who was said to have such mastery over his water manipulation that he could pull the surrounding moisture directly from the air in order to use his jutsu. If Tsukuimi was even half as skilled as that man, she would be an incredible asset for his team.

That is, if he decided to wing her.

Homura looked at Naruto oddly, his head tilting ever so slightly as he stared at the blond with furrowed brows. Clearly he wasn't quite sure what to make of his Ashikabi's sudden interest in the Sekirei he knew personally, though that did not stop him from answering Naruto's question. "I believe she can," he started, frowning a bit. "As I said she has complete control over water, so long as there is water around her in some form, she can manipulate it."

Naruto placed a hand under his chin, his expression turning thoughtful. "I see," he murmured more to himself than to anyone else. He shouldn't be surprised by this, after all, he had seen what Sekirei were capable of. Their powers, abilities and skill sets were all very impressive. In many ways their abilities were more powerful than those of the Shinobi from Naruto's era. Granted, Sekirei had a very limited set of skills, if you were a lightning type then you could only use lightning attacks, the same thing if you were a fire type or any other Sekirei capable of manipulating an element. And there were some, like Musubi, who had no abilities other than being ridiculously strong. Again, that strength was incredible, the fist fighter of his group had the potential match Tsunade when it came to pure physical strength, but it was still a very limited ability.

Back during the era of the Elemental Nations, a shinobi could gain just about any skill so long as they worked hard enough. Sure, if you had an elemental affinity then using jutsu and mastering that element were much easier, but even a wind user was capable of mastering the fire or lightning element if enough time and effort was put into learning it. That was the difference between these Sekirei and Shinobi. One skill set that was so completely mastered to the point where very few shinobi would be able to compete with them vs. a plethora of abilities and skills that were so varied a Sekirei would be unable to keep track of all the powers a shinobi could possess.

"Naruto?" Homura's questioning voice got his attention. The last Shinobi in the world looked over at the silver haired Sekirei to see said member of his flock looking at him strangely. "Just why do you want to know about Tsukuimi anyways?"

"Ah," everyone looked over at Akitsu, who spoke up for the first time this morning. The snow woman tilted her head and looked at Naruto questioningly. "She's been reacting to you?"

"Um... yes," Naruto was surprised at how well Akitsu had read him. Had he really been that transparent? Gathering himself, he cast his own glance at the ice user. "How did you know?"

"Ah," here the beginnings of a blush spread across Akitsu's cheeks. "Last night before Musubi woke you up, you were mumbling in your sleep." She finally looked away from Naruto, her head tilting downwards demurely as she stared at the floor between them. It was actually a very endearing sight. "You did the same thing when Kusano and Homura were reacting to you."

"Akitsu-chan," Naruto started slowly as his mind worked through her statement. "Do you... watch me in my sleep?"

"Ah," Akitsu's blush deepened, the red around her cheeks spreading to encompass the rest of her face from the roots of her hair to her neck. "Sometimes," she admitted quietly, her fingers playing with the fabric of her dress.

"I... see..." well that explained that. He was not very surprised that the woman watched him while he slept, she watched him pretty much every waking moment as well. Judging from the position she was often in when he woke up, it was clear that her face was often hovering just a few inches from his before she went to sleep. That did not, however, mean that it wasn't slightly unnerving. It was definitely a bit disturbing to know that he was being watched while he slept, though that could just be the paranoia talking.

And once again, he couldn't help but think that Akitsu's behavior reminded him of someone, much like Musubi's did, though for the life of him he couldn't remember who.

"Naruto?" There was a tremor in Musubi's voice as she spoke up, surprisingly not with her mouth stuffed full of food. She was looking at her Ashikabi with wide eyes, and her lips were trembling slightly. Naruto had no clue what was going on, but the look was startling in that he had never seen it from Musubi.

"Erm... yes?"

"Is another Sekirei really reacting to you?" That kind of question could have a number of different meanings depending on who asked them. It was very much akin to that 'are you telling me you slept with another woman' sort of question, the kind where if you answered in the affirmative it would mean a very painful ending for the male in question as every bone in his body was broken to the point where he needed to spend time in critical care at the hospital. It was a very ominous question, filled with numerous violent and painful possibilities. For a moment, looking at Musubi as she sat there, staring at him with wide eyes, Naruto had to wonder just what her reaction would be.

He nodded, not knowing what to expect.

Honestly, he should have known better.

"That's great!" Naruto did not know how, but somehow Musubi managed to dive over Kusano's head as the little girl continued to eat with out a care in the world from her still sitting position. The brunette had to have some serious leg muscles and dexterity to do something like that. She soared over the Green Girl and Naruto once more found his face being smashed into the bountiful fullness that was Musubi's chest. "I can't believe Naruto-sama has another Sekirei reacting to him!" the excitable fist fighter crowed. "And a single digit too!"

Really, Naruto knew he should not be surprised by this, he knew that. Musubi had proven time and time again that she was unlike anybody he had ever met, different even from her fellow Sekirei. She above everyone else would be more than ecstatic to hear that Naruto had another Sekirei reacting to him. And yet, somehow, he was surprised at just how... exuberant she was acting from this knowledge.

"So wait," Homura started, staring at Naruto as he was being smothered by the incredible circumference of Musubi's bust. "Are you saying that Tsukiumi, _the _Tsukiumi is reacting to you?"

"Um... mpph!" Naruto tried to answer but was unable to due to him getting a mouthful of the shrine maiden clothes that Musubi wore shoved into his mouth. He leaned his head back and managed to spit the fabric back out, then set to work on calming down his first Sekirei. "Musubi-chan, I can't speak with you, erm, smothering my face like that. Calm down."

"Eh?" Musubi stopped her wiggling against Naruto to look down at him. She blinked, once, then the blond's words seemed to penetrate her brain and she settled down. "Whoops! Sorry Naruto-sama," she knuckled her head and stuck out her tongue. "Musubi was just so excited that she couldn't help herself." While she didn't move away from him, the busty fist fighter did move to his left and slightly behind him so he wouldn't have her large breasts smothering his face (instead she squished them against his back), thus allowing him to speak.

"Ha..." he sighed, "It's fine, Musubi-chan. Just try to tone down your... eh, enthusiasm in the future, ok?"

"Ok!" Musubi replied cheerfully, just as she did to everything else. A moment later she looked confused however, and stuck her index finger to her lower lip in thought. "So should I use more common sense? Or more discretion? I'm not quite sure which one I need more of..."

It seemed that no breaks were forthcoming for Naruto, who had to resist the urge to palm his face in exasperation. "Both, Musubi," Naruto stated tiredly. "You should learn to be both discrete and use common sense."

Musubi nodded her head emphatically, even though it was quite clear she did not understand a word he told her. "Right!"

Sighing again, Naruto looked back over at Homura and answered his question. "It would seem so," he started, frowning a bit. "Both when you and Kusano reacted to me, I had a dream about the Sekirei in question. And since I've never met this woman before, it would only be logical that she is reacting to me." As well as he to her, but that was something he didn't quite want to acknowledge yet. When it came to Ashikabi, he seemed to be a special case in that no other Ashikabi had actually reacted to their Sekirei in a similar manner that a Sekirei would react to their Ashikabi. At least, he didn't think any of the other Ashikabi were reacting like he did. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that, and didn't want anyone to know about it until he could figure out whether or not he was different, and if so, why.

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled as she put her hands on the floor behind her back and used them to support herself as she leaned backwards. She cast an amused leer at Naruto and said, "another one eh, bro?" She shook her head. "Just when I thought your harem couldn't get any bigger than it already was you proved me wrong."

Naruto's eye twitched. "I really wish you wouldn't be so crass, Uzume-chan."

"He-heh," Uzume gave him a mocking smile and winked. "Well you can just keep wishing then."

Homura did not look very pleased by Naruto's answer, or by have his conversation with his Ashikabi interrupted by Musubi and Uzume. His shoulders seemed to slump and he looked quite tired. "I can't believe it. Of all the Sekirei that could have reacted to you it just had to be Tsukuimi..."

"So, so, Naruto-sama," Musubi started once again, completely ignoring Homura whose right eye gained a violent twitch. "When are we going to go out and look for our new friend?"

"I-I'm not sure," Naruto replied honestly. It wasn't that he _wasn't _going to go out and at least make a concerted effort in finding this Tsukiumi character, he knew his Sekirei well enough to know that they would not take to him doing nothing about another Sekirei reacting to him well. If anything, they would all probably be very upset if he _didn't _go out and wing Tsukiumi. To them, a Sekirei reacting to an Ashikabi was a near sacred thing, and to just do nothing was essentially like stomping a mudhole on their beliefs.

Aside from that, he had promised to be a better Ashikabi, and a good Ashikabi wouldn't let a Sekirei who was reacting to them go without at least making an attempt. He wouldn't forcefully wing the woman if she didn't want him to, but he would at least talk to her and see if he couldn't convince her to join him, regardless of the fact that she seemed to want his death more than she wanted him.

There was also Musubi to consider, the excitable fist fighter who believed that love triumphed everything. Naruto still did not believe that through love all hardships could be overcome, he was too cynical to believe that, but he didn't want to hurt his first Sekirei like he did the last time there had been an altercation on the subject of love. He couldn't do that to her again.

"I mean, we would need to know where she is before we can talk to her," the blond continued voicing his thoughts out loud. "Shinto Teito is a big place." Understatement of the year if there ever was one. During one of his many planning sessions with Matsu, he had gone over several maps of the city and memorized it's entire layout. Shinto Teito was estimated to be over eight hundred and forty four square miles in size, and with a population of just below nine million. That was a very large city, which meant there were a lot of places she could be. That was also a lot of people, which would just make finding one person amongst all those people very difficult.

There were only two things going for him that might help in locating the blond Sekirei, the loosely formed bond they shared via their reactions to each other, and his ability to sense and locate chakra signatures via sage mode.

"Even if you did find her, you would still have to convince her to join you," Homura stated, breaking Naruto from his revery and turning the attention of everyone in the room to him. The fire user continued talking before anyone could interrupt him. "And believe me, that's going to be nearly impossible."

Naruto grimaced. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out from my dream..." he muttered lowly enough that it was only picked up on by Akitsu, who tilted her head sideways while maintaining her silent vigil over him.

"Why is that, Homura?" asked Musubi, looking on at her fellow Sekirei curiously.

"Because she hates Ashikabi's," surprisingly, the answer did not come from Homura, who had opened his mouth to speak, but from Matsu. Once more attention was diverted to another member of Maison Izumo. As everyone looked at the red head, Matsu spoke, eyelids held shut and her eyeballs roving around constantly behind them as she accessed the MBI database remotely. "Sekirei number zero nine: Tsukiumi. Her Sekirei powers are control over water. She suffers from both agraphobia and androphobia. Known dream is to be the strongest Sekirei in the world without an Ashikabi to aid her."

Agraphobia, an abnormal fear of sexual abuse.

Androphobia, an abnormal and persistent fear of men.

As Naruto listened to Matsu speak he was barely able to contain his grimace. He had known that Tsukiumi likely had some unresolved issues to deal with, the death threats had certainly told him that much, but he had not realized how bad the apparent issues were. How was he supposed to get through to someone when they had an irrational hatred of men?...

Or was it really irrational? It was well known to him by now that there were Ashikabi who would forcibly wing a Sekirei that was not reacting to them. Was it then, equally possible that perhaps some of the scientists who did the adjusting may have taken... extra liberties with the Sekirei undergoing adjustments in their care? It was possible, plausible even, Naruto knew well the evils that men and women could commit upon each other. Yet somehow, despite what he knew about MBI, the blond shinobi was not sure if that was the case.

Minaka, despite his crazy ramblings about 'the Age of the Gods' didn't seem the type who would allow the people under him to take such liberties in relieving their sexual tension via using the Sekirei they were working on. Not when it could very well cause the man's plans to unravel before they began.

Perhaps she had heard stories about how vile men could be from other Sekirei, or even maybe the female scientists working for MBI. Again, it was a plausible scenario, and something he wished he could look into before going out to search for Tsukiumi.

Of course, in the end all it and the other possible causes that could have attributed to the Sekirei in question having two phobia's that seemed to be anathema to her species were just that, plausible scenarios that may or may not be true.

Naruto managed to sum his words up rather nicely, "well that sucks."

It looked like keeping his promise to be a good Ashikabi just got much harder.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, so chapter 17 is done. I'm honestly not sure how much I like this chapter. I tried to show Naruto as he began changing from the cynical old immortal that hid away from the world, to a more open and friendly person realistically, but I'm not sure how well I did this. At the same time, I think we've all had enough of the brooding emo Naruto. Still, I am unsure how well the transition is. Was Naruto's change too fast? Too slow? Just right? Be sure to let me know your thoughts on this.<strong>

**On a side note, this chapter is a lot longer than I had originally anticipated, and I got nowhere near as far as I wanted. I had actually been hoping to at least introduce Tsukuimi in a more physical sense than just the dream, but I kept on writing and writing and before I knew it, I was 18,000 words in and needed to find some way to end the chapter before it got too long.**

**Anyways, it's running late and I've got things to do and people to see, so I'll be seeing you guys later.**

**Pokemaster12 out.**


	19. Tsun Tsun Rescue

**A/N: This chapter was beta'd by Senjuto, who has been helping me with several other stories and has now agreed to help me here.**

**Chapter 18: Tsun Tsun Rescue**

**XoX**

Tsukiumi cursed as she swiftly moved across the skyline of the metropolis that was Shinto Teito, her body nothing more than a blur to the people below, jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper in an attempt at losing her pursuers. Despite her speed, she could still feel the cretins that were chasing her in hot pursuit, and she just knew it was going to take a lot more than simply taking them on a merry chase to lose this particular group. Were it not for the fact that she was so busy trying not to get captured, she probably would have been swearing up a storm, something she couldn't afford to do as she didn't need to run out of breath.

This really wasn't her day, from the moment she had woken up to now things had been going downhill for her.

First she had woken up to that annoyingly pleasant tingle in her bosom; it felt as if butterflies were fluttering inside of her. It was nice, and warm, and she absolutely hated it. Knowing what this feeling was, what it meant for her ensured that she would get no pleasure in this feeling. Instead of enjoying the feeling and the knowledge it brought, it angered Tsukiumi. The knowledge that she was reacting to some monkey out there was a galling prospect, and not one she enjoyed. She would kill the fool that dared make her respond to them, if only so she could rid herself of this distracting heat.

From there things had gotten progressively worst. She had run into those lightning strumpets, the fools had believed they could defeat her. Ha! As if. Even in her hot and bothered state, Tsukiumi was more than a match for them, a fact they had realized when they decided to run.

Cowards, the both of them. Not one to stand for such cowardly conduct, she had chased after the pair to teach them a lesson, and that was where she had made her first mistake. Not only had the lightning twins gotten away, but Tsukiumi had found herself in the southern part of Shinto Teito, not a good place for any unwinged Sekirei to be, as she soon discovered.

They had come for her out of nowhere, several Sekirei claiming they wanted to take her to see their master. It was very clear that their intentions were to kidnap her for their Ashikabi so that the vile ape who had winged them could sink his claws into her too. Well, Tsukiumi most certainly was not going to stand for that. She didn't need an Ashikabi; she would never allow those vile monkeys to lay their grubby and disgusting paws on her, especially not someone who was willing to forcefully wing her into submission.

Which of course had led to her starting a fight with those Sekirei foolish enough to follow their Ashikabi's orders. The water Sekirei had every intention of showing those pretentious little girls just why coming after her was a bad idea. She would show them the error of their ways by beating them in honorable combat, and once more Tsukiumi would prove to everyone that she was the strongest.

The battle itself had gone well enough, despite being outnumbered three to one Tsukiumi had given as good as she got. Better even. She had nearly managed to defeat one of them and the other two had also been on the receiving end of her water celebration enough times that they looked completely bedraggled. It would not have taken her much longer to defeat them she was sure. However, it had been during that moment, at the height of her victory where she had stood above her nearly defeated foes that things had gone south.

_He _had shown up; the Sekirei with the sword. He had appeared on the cusp of her victory and taken it away from her. His skills with the blade were more than a match for her talent at manipulating water. Everything she threw at him, he cut through with his sword. Nothing she did had been able to even touch him, and when he had finally began fighting back, Tsukiumi began to realize why.

That man was better than her, stronger than her; he wasn't just a single digit, but one of the original five.

Number zero five, Mutsu, to be exact.

Even though it galled Tsukiumi to do so, she had beaten a hasty retreat. Pride aside, even she knew that she wasn't strong enough to defeat someone of that caliber just yet. And so, covering her escape with a high density wall of water that had blocked everyone's view of her, she had run. As galling as it was, her life was more important than her pride. She didn't know where she was running to, but that almost didn't matter so long as she got away from that man.

Of course, escaping from so many Sekirei and one of the original five was a difficult task in and of itself, perhaps even downright impossible. Within moments the group of Sekirei were once more upon her, and she had been fighting a running battle ever since. Now her clothing was frayed and tattered, her skin had several nicks from having one too may close encounters with that man's sword, and she was beginning to tire. However, she couldn't stop, not with the threat of impending winging was upon her. Tsukiumi did not want an Ashikabi, much less one that she was not reacting to. She just had to hope that her luck would hold out and allow her to escape these fiends before she found herself in a situation she couldn't escape from.

She ignored the small burning she felt coming from the base of her neck, as well as the light flutter in her chest.

**XoX**

"You know, when you first called me up and said you had a job for me, I was thinking it would be more along the lines of the first job you had me do, not this crap."

Naruto shifted in his seat so that he could turn from looking out of the window to looking at Seo while he drove the large semi-truck down the crowded streets of Shinto Teito. It wasn't like there was much for him to see outside anyways, just the large structures of steel and concrete, the sidewalks with people walking to and fro, the small venders with their stalls sitting off to the side as they sold their goods, and of course, the ridiculous amount of cars that blocked up the roadways.

God he hated being stuck in a car during traffic.

At least Seo was giving him something else to focus on besides his hatred of traffic and all things related to it, which may have just been his intention in the first place. One never knew with him. The man in question was leaning casually against his seat, right hand lightly gripping the steering wheel, and the elbow of his left hand using the lip of the door that contained the window as an armrest. Seo looked as he always did, like he had just gotten out of bed and thrown on whatever was clean at the time, a sleeveless white shirt and green camo styled pants, his lazy yet strangely sharp eyes looking at him with a small glint of amusement and annoyance.

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man, more than willing to share in idle banter if it helped pass the time. "I didn't think you would want to get in another fight with one of the big three so soon." The eternal shinobi cupped his right hand to his chin, using his left to hold the elbow of said hand up as he adopted a 'thinking' pose. "I suppose if you wanted we could go after one of the other two. I don't know where Sanada is, but I hear Mikogami has a very large mansion somewhere in the South." He looked over at the man and raised his eyebrows. "You wanna go and try taking on one of the most powerful Ashikabis within the Sekirei Plan?"

"Anything would be better than this," Seo grumbled in complaint, and Naruto rolled his eyes at the man.

"I'm surprised you're so willing to bitch about this job," Naruto started, giving the man an indulgent smile. "What was it your Sekirei called it? Easy money?" It was such an understatement that Naruto had to snort. Seo was getting quite the sum for helping him out with this job. To be honest, the blond could have probably done it by himself, but Seo knew more about the city in general than he did, and it had been easier for the man to procure the equipment and make the orders he wanted than it would be if he tried to get everything himself. Who knows how long it would have taken him to get all the equipment and supplies he wanted without having MBI or even Izumi Higa finding out.

Probably months. With Seo's help, what would have most likely taken two or three months had been reduced to a mere two weeks. While the man may be a lay about with no talent when it came to keeping a job, he was surprisingly competent when given the right motivation.

Nearly twenty thousand yen a job could be quite the motivator. Each job Naruto commissioned the man for probably paid nearly twice as much as any of the other jobs Seo had managed to get before they fired him. Naruto not only hired Seo consistently, but with the amount the scruffy looking Ashikabi made with each business transaction, the blond was now his highest paying customer.

One might wonder why Naruto was willing to pay that much for what seemed to be a simple transportation and heavy lifting job. The answer was quite simple. Despite his apparent lack of interest in the Sekirei Plan, Seo was still a force to be reckoned with. He knew things that other Ashikabi didn't thanks to his relationship with the former head of the science department and Miya's husband, Asama Takehito. He was also sharp, the man wasn't intelligent, but he was incredibly observant and capable of coming to the right conclusion from just a few facts. To top it off, the man wasn't interested in the Sekirei Plan, which meant Naruto would not need to worry about the man turning on him in the future.

Then there was also his Sekirei, Hikari and Hibiki, the lightning twins. While they were not as powerful as some, they were still more powerful than others. One also had to consider that Seo actually had two Sekirei to begin with. Very few Ashikabi had more than one Sekirei, in fact, the number of Ashikabi who had more than one could be counted on two hands; himself, Seo, Sanada, Higa, Mikogami, and a few others who were worth taking note of but not a real threat in the grand scheme of things. Naruto wanted the man on his side, thus the reason for giving Seo a stable income by hiring him for various jobs.

"Well I can't argue with that," Seo grunted as the lane of cars they were stuck behind began to move again. He eased up on the breaks, allowing the large sixteen wheeler to move forward, only to stop seconds later when traffic once more ground to a halt. With an annoyed look on his face, the much younger male continued. "Money talks, and Hikari and Hibiki would have had my ass if I didn't accept your job."

Naruto snorted at that. "Don't they already own your ass?" It was a rhetorical question as well as a slight against the man. Seo, despite not being a bad person or even a terrible Ashikabi, certainly wasn't what one would call motivated. In order to get the man to do anything, the two he had bonded with often resorted to blasting him with several volts of lightning daily to keep him in line. It worked well enough, for the most part, and by now it seemed like the act of shocking the scruffy looking male was almost second nature to them.

"Oi! There's no need to be insulting about it," Seo gave Naruto an annoyed glare. It didn't do much, but it probably wasn't designed to do much. The blond knew that the Ashikabi to the lightning twins was well aware of his fighting prowess. Seo wouldn't do anything that would put him – or his new high paying job – in jeopardy.

"In any case," Naruto continued, dutifully ignoring the other man's words, as well as the new grumbles that were being released under Seo's breath. "This job is not only easy and well paying, but it gets you out of having to do those other freelance jobs that barely keep your income above the red. As I understand it you guys no longer have a shortage of food, and Miya no longer complains about you being a no good scumbag as much as she used to." Both statements had more truth to them than simple words could express. With a steady, well-paying job, Seo and his Sekirei could afford to pay for food and rent easily now. They still had to be careful as the 'mooch' tended to waste all the money on booze, but with a little lightning reinforcement, Hikari and Hibiki managed to save enough money that they no longer had to steal food from Miya.

That didn't mean they never came over to Maison Izumo anymore, on the contrary they were seen much more often than they used to be. Working closely with one of the tenants would do that. But they no longer came over to steal food from Miya, who had been gracious enough to compliment Seo on no longer being a 'good for nothing piece of trash' anymore. Granted, the compliment was backhanded and much more insulting than that, but it was something.

"You mean she doesn't do it when you're around," Seo corrected, looking a bit put off by how easily Naruto dismissed his complaints. Traffic started moving again and with it the large automobile Seo was driving crawled forward once more. "She's still just as much of a shrew as she ever was, she's just careful not to insult me too much when you're around." A grin sprang across the man's face as he spoke, as if thinking of an inside joke. "I think she's hoping that by being nicer she can catch the eye of a certain someone..." he trailed off, and Naruto had to roll his eyes at the man's insinuation. He knew what the man was talking about, but honestly couldn't see how Seo had come to that conclusion.

Well, whatever, it's not like it really mattered, even if that was the case.

"You're delusional," Naruto muttered before falling silent. Seo just chuckled that 'I know you know and find it amusing that you are trying to deny what you know' chuckle that he used on occasions like this. Naruto was used to it by now and thus ignored him as he let his mind wander.

His thoughts took him to where they usually went when he was out on a job, his Sekirei. He could already picture what most of them would be doing around this time of day, Musubi would be practicing, Homura was likely doing his 'Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei' job, and Kusano was being looked after by Akitsu.

That last one was something new, before whenever Naruto went out Akitsu had been a near constant presence, unless ordered not to the ice user would follow him wherever he went, even into the bathhouse if he let her. That last one had only happened once. After that Naruto had been very explicit in telling the woman in no uncertain terms that she was not to follow him into the bathhouse; it wasn't because Naruto didn't want to see her or his other Sekirei naked, but because he didn't want anything to happen between them until he was sure of his own feelings.

The last time something had happened between him and his Sekirei, it had been caused by the outside stimuli created by the empathic emotions created by the bond. Naruto didn't want that to happen again, he didn't want any intimacy with his Sekirei to be due to external influence, but by his own thoughts and emotions. These girls weren't some one night stand he could just fuck into submission and then forget about the next day. They were his Sekirei, bound to him in the most literal sense, and until such a time as he was sure of his own desires, thoughts, and feelings towards his Sekirei, he would not make a move on them.

Matsu had not been pleased when she realized Naruto had no intention of taking advantage of her, but that was neither here nor there.

Bringing his thoughts back to Akitsu and the fact that she was not with him; Naruto couldn't help but think of the cause for that. Chiho. Before the young Ashikabi's rescue, it had been Uzume that watched after Kusano whenever Naruto went out. Now that her Ashikabi was living with them however, the busty cloth user spent almost every waking – and sleeping – moment with the waifish girl, thus making it so that Naruto needed to find someone else to keep an eye on the Green Girl while he went out. Naruto didn't want to subject the tiny blond to the many sexual advances Uzume made on her Ashikabi after all. Who knew what kind of ideas they might give the young girl. Just thinking of a corrupted Kusano sent a shudder down Naruto's spine.

He would have asked Miya under other circumstances, but the landlady of Maison Izumo was often busy doing her own thing, usually shopping for groceries or fixing things up around the house. She didn't have time to watch over an excitable little girl twenty four seven. There were others he could ask of course, but there were even more reasons why they couldn't, and shouldn't, help. Musubi was out of the question, the fist fighter could hardly be counted on to look out for herself, much less a little girl, and while Homura was probably capable of taking care of Kusano, he had his own things to do and was often out of the house. Likewise Uzume was out, while she would have been more than capable of watching over Kusano, the star shirted female was spending every waking, and sleeping, moment with her Ashikabi. The girl was definitely making up for lost time and didn't seem prepared to stop any time soon.

That left Akitsu as the only one capable of watching over his precocious little Sekirei.

It still felt weird, not having Akitsu with him, and despite himself Naruto was actually feeling a little lonely.

Ugh, he really was getting soft.

"And here we are."

Seo's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. Looking up the whisker marked ninja was graced with the sight of their destination. They were currently in a very out of the way part of Shinto Teito very close to the borders that marked the end of the city limits. Unlike the inner sanctum that made up the vast, sprawling city that had once been called Tokyo, there were no skyscrapers here. Instead the entire city block was made up of large, half cylinder shaped warehouses and several square buildings that most likely acted as garages.

"So we are," Naruto agreed as Seo drove the car up to one warehouse in particular. There was nothing special about this building compared to the others, physically at least. It looked exactly like every other warehouse in the vicinity. It was large, about one hundred and fifty meters in length and fifty meters in width Naruto estimated. The roofing was unpainted, the dulled silver metal not quite gleaming in the afternoon sun. Red paint covered the walls, chipped with age in some places and stained in rust in others. Really, the only thing special about this building was what it contained inside.

As Seo stopped the semi-truck in front of the warehouse gates, Naruto unstrapped the seat belt keeping him in place, opened the door, and deftly hopped out.

He moved over to a small pad nestled into the wall on his side of the truck. It was nothing fancy, just a basic padlock with numbers ranging from one through nine with a pound symbol, a number symbol, and a zero on the bottom. The numbers and symbols were arranged in four rows of three that moved horizontally across the pad.

Naruto's hand came up, and with sure movements he typed in several buttons before pressing the pound key. There was a brief 'beeping' noise as the keypad verified his access code, and then a 'clicking' sound as the gate was unlocked. All of this was soon followed by a slow rumble and a slight screech as the gate keeping the interior of the warehouse away from prying eyes slowly moved open.

Naruto didn't even bother to get back in the truck as he moved inside of the gate before it opened completely. He did step out of the way as the truck followed him inside however, allowing Seo to steer the large vehicle down the small road that had been created from the many obstacles inside of the warehouse.

Said obstacles were the rows upon rows of large metal shelves. There had to be hundreds of them, each lined up in several dozen isles that made the whole thing look like some kind of library, or a grocery store. The only difference this place held between a library and grocery store was the same difference the two places held from each other. The content. Sitting within the shelves were crates, thousands of crates of various makes. As they drove down one of the isles, Naruto could see the labels on the crates denoting what they contained. Grass, gravel, dirt, seeds, fertilizer, and most people would probably assume he was going to do some major landscaping if they saw what he had in here.

As they moved towards the back, the isles opened up into an expanse of flooring that was empty save along the back walls. Pressed against the wall were more boxes, these ones about twice as tall as him and four times as wide. There were also a couple dozen cylinders beside them, water tanks that contained thousands of gallons of water. It was near one of those tanks that Seo parked the semi-truck.

"So where should we put all this crap?" asked Seo as he came around from behind the truck after turning off the engine. Naruto looked over at the scruffy looking Ashikabi as said male walked up to him, stopping just as before reaching his side. "There's not much room in here anymore."

Naruto just gave Seo a mysterious smile. "Oh, I'm sure we can find some place to put everything."

**XoX**

It took a good number of hours before they had managed to unload all of the supplies Naruto had ordered. Granted, it was only him and Seo working there and there was quite a bit that needed to be unloaded, so it was to be expected that the job would take up quite a bit of time. This seemed to bother Seo, who took every opportunity he had to gripe about how Naruto was a slave driver for forcing them to work without help, but Naruto wasn't really bothered by how long it took. Honestly, he was sure that Seo just loved to complain, since he did so every time they had to unload an order.

"Looks like that's the last of them," Seo breathed a sigh of relief as he and Naruto set the last of the large boxes down on top of the moveable lifter that was often used to place heavy objects up higher than a human could reach. While Naruto operated the lifting equipment in question, Seo clapped his hands several times as if clapping imaginary dust off them. "I am so glad that's over with, and I still don't see why you just can't hire more people."

Naruto debated on whether or not it would be prudent to tell Seo why he was the only person the blond would hire. It wasn't like doing so would really harm him or his Sekirei in any way, at the same time it was still sometimes hard to be up front with people, even for answering seemingly harmless questions like this. At the same time old habits died hard, and Naruto still felt wary of giving away any information regardless of whether or not it was harmless.

Of course, there was the small fact that the answer to Seo's question really wasn't that harmful, so maybe it would be a good idea to let the man know his reasons for not hiring anymore help.

"Because Miya-chan trusts you."

Well, it was true enough even if it wasn't the full truth. Despite their many arguments and the constant insults the pair tossed each other's way, Naruto knew that the lavender haired woman of Maison Izumo trusted Seo with her life. If Miya didn't trust Seo, Naruto never would have even thought about hiring the man.

However, while his words rang true there was another reason Naruto was hiring Seo. The man was sharp. He wasn't intelligent, not like one would expect from a man like, say, Takehito, but while Seo did not have the vast mental capacity of the deceased former Sekirei adjustor, he had very keen observational skills and the ability to keep his ears to the ground. It was a useful skill, and since Naruto couldn't afford to use his shadow clones to gather information due to their fragility and the possibility of MBI's satellites spotting them, he needed someone like Seo as his ally. By offering him a constant, well-paying job, the blond was in essence ingratiating himself to the man.

He would admit that what he was doing was a bit underhanded, but it wasn't like Seo could complain, as far as he was concerned the situation was win-win for the both of them. Seo got a steady paying job, and Naruto got someone who knew Shinto Teito better than he did and could keep an ear to the ground for him.

"Ha!" The scruffy looking Ashikabi barked out a laugh. "Somehow I should have known it would come down to her word. You and she really are a match made in hell, you know that?" Naruto rolled his eyes at Seo's play on words while the man in question scratched the underside of his chin in thought. "I suppose I should be thankful to the shrew for helping me land this job, even if it does suck."

"I would be careful about calling Miya-chan a shrew," Naruto said calmly. "She always seems to know when people are talking about her." Or when they were about to commit inappropriate acts within her home, as Uzume could attest to quite often recently. "And you know as well as I do that she doesn't take insults very well." Seo didn't seem to take Naruto's warning very seriously, merely shrugging the thought of what Miya would do if she found out off. It probably had to do with the fact that the scruffy looking male had called her that many times before to her face.

"Whatever," Seo responded dismissively, his hand gesturing above his head as if warding away a bug. "It's not like she'll actually kill me or anything." With his thoughts on the matter spoken, he turned and began making his way back towards the trunk. "Now that this job is finished, let's get out of here so I can get my pay."

Naruto shook his head, but was quick to catch up.

"Right, right."

Getting into the chair on the passenger's side, Naruto didn't bother buckling in as Seo started up the truck. The thrum of the engines sounded as the vehicle came online, the air conditioning sprang to life, the radio came on, and the rumbling of the engine caused the entire sixteen wheeler to vibrate.

Seo grabbed onto the stick shift and deftly moved the gears from parked to reverse. Due to the fact that there wasn't a window behind them, but instead a large container, Seo had to rely on sticking his head out of the window and looking behind him as he steered the large truck out. The moment they were out, Naruto went back outside and locked up the warehouse, secretly channeling chakra into the seals he had made when he first bought the place to ensure that no one could enter without his permission, then went back inside of the truck and buckled in as Seo drove away.

**XoX**

Her breathing was beginning to get ragged now. Cuts littered her body. Small trickles of blood seeped from the wounds. They were shallow, almost inconsequential. However, while the cuts themselves would normally mean very little to her, the sheer number of open wounds she'd had inflicted from Mutsu's sword were beginning to take their toll. Despite the damage that had been inflicted upon her person, Tsukiumi refused to stop. She couldn't, not when doing so meant being unwillingly winged by some disgusting ape that was league's beneath her.

It was too bad the people chasing her had no intention of letting this chase go on any longer. In a burst of inhuman speed, Mutsu appeared before her, his sword already raised high to slash her open from left shoulder to right hip. Tsukiumi swore even as she swerved to avoid the blow. She managed to dodge most of the attack, but still ended up receiving a light wound on her left shoulder as a result. Blood trickled down the new cut, a small line that had broken several layers of skin, but she ignored that for the moment, there were more important things to worry over. Of a much more immediate concern than one of the many wounds she had received, was the fact that Mutsu had forced her to slow down in order to dodge his attack, and she was now surrounded.

**XoX**

It was while they were driving that it happened. Naruto had been staring out of the window like always when they finished the day's work, however he didn't see any of the scenery as it flashed past. His mind, as always, was on the plans he had made for all the equipment he had been ordering via Seo as his middle man.

Today had been the last load, and that meant he could start his project soon. He wasn't sure how long it would take, but estimated it to be around maybe a month or two to complete. Of course, that depended on the number of Kage Bunshin he decided to use, as well as how much he himself would be able to work. The beginning part of his project wasn't that ambitious, technically he could probably finish that in a day, but like his nature in all things Naruto was simply too paranoid to accomplish his task when other people might see him. That meant he would have to do all the work at night, as well as under cover of silencing seals and maybe even a genjutsu seal.

Which reminded him, would Sekirei even be affected by genjutsu? He had yet to find a viable way to test that theory. He couldn't use it in battle, aside from the fact that Naruto sucked at genjutsu he also couldn't afford to give anything away. Things would get much more complicated if MBI discovered his abilities. He also couldn't use his Sekirei. What few genjutsu he could do without seals were all high level, high chakra cost illusions that were on the same level as the Mangekyō Sharingan's Tsukiyomi.

Ok, so maybe they weren't quite that powerful, but they were definitely very unpleasant and had driven many people to the brink of insanity. Naruto wasn't willing to place his Sekirei in an illusion where they were forced to watch them kill everything they ever loved over and over again with their own bare hands. Even during the centuries where he was at his worst he hadn't been _that _heartless, not even to his enemies.

Still, a genjutsu seal could only do so much. The silencing seal was a definite, but he wasn't sure a genjutsu seal would really work out to well, especially when one considered where his project was taking place. That meant he would have to do all his work at night, which of course had problems all its own, those particular issues being his Sekirei. It was very difficult getting out of their hold, especially Akitsu's. If he tried to escape their grip he could be assured that at least she would wake up, and if that happened he wouldn't be able to do work on his project.

Then again, maybe it would be alright if Akitsu saw some of what he was capable of. Out of all his Sekirei she was the one that Naruto was sure could keep a secret. That line of thinking may have been due to how quiet the taciturn woman was, but whatever the reason for her usually self-imposed silence was didn't really matter. What did was that she would probably be able to keep his secret, and perhaps even stand guard and watch for the others in case they woke up.

He could also use a Kage Bunshin, he realized. If he made one in advance and gave it over half his chakra he was sure it would be able to accomplish the first phase of his project within a single night, _and _he wouldn't have to run the risk of waking his Sekirei, which was almost guaranteed to happen if he left the bed while they were sleeping.

Curse his abnormally high temperature. Who the hell had one hundred and fifteen degrees as a normal temperature anyways?

It was during this time, where Naruto was trying to think of a way to complete the first phase of his project without alerting anyone that he felt himself overcome with emotions that were not his own. By now the former Konoha ninja had more than enough experience with reacting Sekirei to immediately identify what was happening.

It seemed Tsukiumi was nearby and experiencing some powerful emotions.

"Stop the truck."

"Hmm?" Seo turned his head to glance at Naruto, a curious expression on his face. The blond in question didn't even spare the man a passing glance as he looked out at the cityscape, his eyes searching for something only he could see. After several seconds of this, Seo blinked several times before seeming to finally register his 'boss's' words. When he did, the scruffy male gave Naruto an incredulous look. "What do you mean 'stop the truck'? We aren't even out of the South district yet."

"I am well aware of that," Naruto brought his gaze away from the cityscape and turned his head towards Seo, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Now stop the truck."

"I can't just stop the truck in the middle of the road," Seo argued, even he wasn't stupid enough to stop a moving vehicle when there were quite a few cars behind them. "The last thing I need is for someone to get themselves killed because they couldn't stop in time and ran into this big ass semi. Besides, if that shrew ever found out that I left you in the middle of Mikogami's territory I would never hear the end of it."

Naruto eyes narrowed at the man's adamant refusal to do as told. For a moment, he was tempted to simply jump out of the truck, but only for a moment. The idea was quickly tossed aside as impractical. It wasn't that it was dangerous, for him at least. In fact, Naruto knew for a fact that he would be fine, but therein lay the problem. It simply wasn't normal for people to jump out of moving vehicles that were going around fifty five miles per hour. If people saw him commit such a feat, they would talk. Eventually it would reach the likes of Minaka, if he didn't already see it thanks to his video satellites, and that was never a good thing. Either way, he didn't need rumors of his powers, even one as simple as incredible speed and durability to spread, which meant his only option was for Seo to stop the car.

"Seo," Naruto said pleasantly, his eyes closing shut as he gave the man a most chilling smile. Seo froze, his eyes widening in shock as the blond let loose a mild dose of killing intent, mild being a relative term. Black energy seemed leak out from behind the blond as a creature of unknown origins coalesced into existence. Seo found himself frozen in fear as the... thing, stared him down like he was its next meal. "You will stop this right now, or kami help I will rip of each and every one of your toenails and pour salt on them."

The threat didn't really sound that threatening. In fact, compared to most of the threats Naruto could have probably gone with this particular one didn't sound threatening at all. However, Seo knew better, and Naruto knew he knew that. While it didn't _sound _all that painful compared, say, getting your balls cut off with a rusty kunai, the act of getting toenails pried off then having salt rubbed onto the wound was, in fact, an extremely painful process. That, combined with the creature that towered behind Naruto's form, made for a very persuasive argument.

"Ok, ok!" Seo quickly found the wisdom in doing as Naruto said and began jerking the steering wheel in order to move the semi-truck over to the sidewalk. The screeching of tires and honking of several horns sounded behind them as Seo cut several cars off. Neither of them really paid any attention to that fact as the one driving the large semi-truck until it was almost directly on the sidewalk before stopping, grumbling all the while. "I swear, you're just as bad as that shrew."

"Did you say something?" asked the blond as he looked over at Seo just as he began climbing out of the truck.

"Nope, I didn't say a thing."

"Good, I'll see you later."

"Ha... right," Seo spoke with a sigh, watching as Naruto got out, slammed the door closed, and then took off down the street. "I'm going to catch so much flack for this if Miya finds out, I just know it."

Deciding it would be best if he dropped the truck off at the mover company he rented it from, Seo began driving once more. With luck Miya would never find out he left Naruto in what could easily be classified as 'enemy territory'. He didn't have much hope; she always seemed to know these things. Personally, Seo blamed that on Matsu.

As the large semi he was driving moved down the road, his thoughts went back towards the whiskered blond, and he couldn't help but wonder.

"What the hell was that thing behind him?"

**XoX**

The first thing Naruto did after leaving the truck was find an alley way to hide his presence in, some place that not only had high walls but a lot of overhanging machinery and cables, a place that would obscure him from anyone looking down with a bird's eye view. He didn't know if Minaka was actually keeping tabs on him, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He found a place that would suit his purposes well enough and quickly hid himself under an emergency staircase that was situated right next to a trash can. It was here that he began to get changed.

Ever since he started ordering all those supplies, Naruto had taken to bringing a scroll with clothing that was reminiscent of the ANBU during his time. Black pants that were tucked into a pair of black ninja sandals that were longer than the standard blue sandals he used to wear, stopping just below the knees instead of the ankles. Black sleeveless turtle neck shirt with gray chest armor over it. His hands were covered in black gloves that wound their way up to his biceps, which were also covered by gray forearm guards. The outfit also had three ninja pouches on its back-waist, which carried various supplies Naruto decided he would need from now on.

It felt strange, being in these kinds of clothing. Naruto had never been a member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, or ANBU for short. Thinking back on it, Naruto had rarely ever worn anything other than his orange and black tracksuit back then. Only when he was going on a mission where stealth was required had he ever worn anything that didn't consist of orange, orange, and more orange. He had to admit, while this outfit wasn't as comfortable as his tracksuit had been, it was infinitely more comfortable than the all black get up he had worn during the Green Girl incident.

That of course was the entire reason he had them made. That and a part of him would admit he always wanted to know what it was like to wear the outfit behind Konoha's most dangerous assassination force. His only regret was that he didn't have the mask.

Ah well, such was life.

Reaching down to his neck, Naruto grabbed at the fabric and began pulling it up. The cloth stretched as it moved along the underside of his jaw, up his chin, and finally, over his lips and nose to cover the lower half of his face. It wasn't much, but he had noticed just how ignorant people were in this city, how ignorant they tried to stay. It had been quite startling to realize that in all the time Homura had been acting as the 'Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei' no one had been able to figure out who he was. Indeed, it seemed to Naruto that he was the only one who had been able to make the connection between Homura, the fire shooting Sekirei and Sekirei Guardian, and Kagari, the popular playboy working at a host club. Miya, Uzume, and Matsu knew of this of course, but Naruto was sure that had more to do with the fact that they all had a hand in helping Kagari get settled into Maison Izumo then because they actually figured it out. Whatever the case was, it only proved his theory on how blind people in this city were. He would have no trouble with anyone finding out his identity so long as he wore the face mask.

With his outfit nearly complete, Naruto held his hands together and summoned Kubikiribōcho. The large head cleaving blade appeared within a burst of smoke. He looked at the weapon for a few seconds, before putting it on his back, positioning at an angle for easy access. It was a bit cumbersome, part of the reason Naruto usually kept it inside of a storage seal was because of how large it was, which made it difficult to carry. Another reason was because normal people simply did not walk around with a large blade as tall as they were. It was unfortunate, but Tsukiumi really was in trouble, then keeping it out of the seal would be better. Not because it was easier for him to access, but because he didn't want people knowing of his abilities, even if they had no hope of figuring out how he pulled a large blade from thin air.

Looking at his surroundings, Naruto saw that he was still alone. That was good. While he was doubtful anyone would recognize him, he did not want those uninvolved in the Sekirei Plan to see his power. It would complicate things unnecessarily.

Bending his knees, Naruto opened up the floodgates in his chakra coils and directed that power to his legs in order to reinforce them. With a strong push, he propelled himself up, reaching the grating for the stairwell with ease. He latched on with his left hand, and in a show of incredible strength, threw himself over the railing. His feet did not hit the steel grating however, and instead he turned his body, twisting it so that his feet touched the wall. He stuck there, defying gravity, and soon began running up the wall, past the multitude of stairs, until he finally reached the roof.

It was past midday now, the sun was still high, but had reached the halfway point and would begin its slow descent beyond the horizon soon. Naruto didn't pay much attention to the time as he pushed himself forward, rushing towards the edge of the roof and, with a burst of chakra, leapt the incredible distance between the building he was on and the next one, and then the next one, and the one after that as he followed the feelings emanating from the fledgling bond.

He could feel her, the one known as Tsukiumi. Opening himself up further, Naruto sought all the knowledge he could on the Water Sekirei's state. She was angry, tired, and most of all, frightened. Frightened at the knowledge that these Sekirei were after her, and if they caught her, she would be brought to their master so he could wing her against her will. She didn't want to be winged, not by this man, and especially not against her will. However she was tired, oh so tired. The chase had taken its toll on her; her clothing ripped, her skin cut, she bled from numerous wounds and was now being forced to fight a battle that was not only three on one, but also involved someone who was far stronger than her. She knew that unless a miracle occurred, she would soon become the slave to some monkey who saw her as nothing more than toy.

Naruto released a shuddering breath as he backed away from the emotions he felt coming from Tsukiumi, not only because of how intense they were, but because of what they were making him feel. Anger. White hot anger. Anger at the Sekirei attacking her, and anger at the man ordering them to do so. The man who would forcibly imprint himself on her when he was not her Ashikabi. He couldn't afford to feel those emotions, not right now anyways. Naruto knew that he would need a clear head to plan a proper course of action, and he would need enough self-control not to act until he had gained enough knowledge on the situation to come up with that plan. This would not be another disaster like the one in the arboretum.

It wasn't that hard to track Tsukiumi down, all he had to do was follow the emotions from the still forming but not quite complete bond. He eventually found the woman in a back alley being surrounded by several Sekirei. Landing atop the nearest building in a crouch, Naruto's eyes took in the group surrounding Tsukiumi. He recognized two of them right off the bat, Sekireis number thirty eight Mitsuha, and number thirty nine Mitsuki. Both of them had been at the arboretum when he had rescued Kusano. They were currently standing on opposite ends of each other, forming what looked to be a pincer movement with Tsukiumi stuck in between them. The other Sekirei Naruto saw was male, and though he had never seen the man before it only took a second to place him.

Sekirei number zero five, Mutsu.

Mutsu was quite tall, much taller than many of the other Sekirei that Naruto had seen. He had messy silver colored hair, steel gray eyes, and was wearing a rather bored expression, like what they were doing was beneath him and he just wanted to finish up and go home. His outfit consisted of black pants and a long sleeved shirt of the same color. The shirt was open in the front, stopping just a few inches below his solar plexus, with crisscrossing bands of leather forming an 'X'. The sleeves near his shoulders had a single band around them of the same leather material. Sitting almost lazily on his waist was a belt that looked more like an accessory than an actually functioning belt. It sat slightly askew, the left side riding lower on his hip than the right, and the ends were tied together by a leather string. The only other distinguishing features about his clothing was the black fingerless gloves he was wearing, and the orange scarf he had wrapped around his neck and shoulders.

A frown made its way to Naruto's face as his mind began gathering what information he had acquired on the Sekirei below him via Matsu.

Mutsu was one of the original five Sekirei that had defended Kamikura Island from invasion, and left shortly after the last invasion happened. He was talented with a blade, as befitting one of the incarnations of the first Disciplinary squad, but his real skills lay in his earth based powers. Naruto had never seen these powers up close, but from what he understood from Matsu's explanations, Mutsu was able to create earthquakes simply by tapping the ground. Unfortunately he only knew the basics of Mutsu's abilities. Could he change the intensity of the earthquakes based on how much power he fed into this ability? Could he use the loosened rocks, cement, or whatever else broke apart under his assault as a weapon? If his powers were earth based, then did he just have the ability to create earthquakes? Or was he capable of actually manipulating the earth around him into something more dangerous like impaling spikes?

Naruto shook his head, there was no way he could know unless he met the Sekirei in combat and forced those abilities out of him, if they existed, and if luck was with him, then he there would be no need for him to fight at all. Deciding that he needed to get close, the blond haired Uzumaki dropped down to the ground, landing behind a large bin of trash with nary a sound. He leaned his back against the metal trash can and made his way towards the edge. Peeking out from around the corner he got his first close up view of Tsukiumi.

The woman looked like she had seen better days, her clothing was ripped and torn, and there were numerous cuts running along her skin. The fresh blood still pouring from them let Naruto know that all these wounds were relatively new; she had most likely received them periodically as she was chased by the group standing around her. On top of that her breathing was coming in great, heaving gasps, and her posture was hunched over. She seemed to be fairly tired. No. Scratch that. She looked exhausted. Looking her over some more, he was able to determine that the Sekirei was on her last leg.

That was not good. He would need to act soon if he wanted to save her.

"Are you finally ready to give up?"

Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the first words that had been spoken since he got there. He took his attention away from Tsukiumi and looked over at Mitsuki. Her weapon dangled at her sides, the many dozens of strings swaying slightly in time with her breathing. She looked so casual, confident of their victory.

Naruto couldn't blame her. It was clear from where he stood that Tsukiumi had already lost. She was in terrible shape, and aside from a view scratches and some ripped clothing on their part, Mitsuha and Mitsuki were still in perfect fighting shape. If that weren't enough, Mutsu wasn't even injured; even his clothing looked completely unruffled. It would take a miracle for the water type Sekirei to pull out a win in this situation.

Fortunately for her, she wouldn't need to.

"Never!" Tsukiumi growled, and Naruto's ears perked up. It was the first time he had heard her voice outside of his dreams. Dream Tsukiumi and this one sounded exactly the same, proud, willful, and unbending. There was only one difference. Where dream Tsukiumi had spoken with nothing but contempt, this one's tone was fearful. No doubt she was already dreading what would come if they managed to capture her. Yet, in spite of this, she did not back down. "I will never allow you to take me just so I can have some vile monkey violate me like he has done to you harpies!"

"Don't you dare insult our master like that!" Mitsuha shouted, her eyes glaring dangerously at the still defiant blond. She seemed to be angrier at the fact that Tsukiumi had insulted her master than being called a harpy. "Our master is an amazing master! You should consider yourself lucky he's even considered adding you to his collection!"

Naruto wasn't sure which desire was more prevalent, the one that wanted to roll his eyes at the girls words, or the one that wanted to rush in and beat the girl for her words.

"Collection!?" It seemed Tsukiumi had no trouble expressing herself. The anger on her face was as clear as day. "I am not some... some thing that can be bought like a cheap painting, wench! I will not allow myself to be debased before the hairless ape you call a master!"

Both Mitsuha and Mitsuki looked rather furious at this. Mutsu on the other hand, was not giving away what he felt at all. The man had been standing there since this whole argument had started, his right hand holding his sheathed sword, his left hand lying at his side. He looked completely unruffled by this whole situation.

"Enough," he said, catching the attention of his two fuming compatriots before they could renew their argument with the blond. "We have a job to do, remember? We're to capture her for Mikogami. We don't have time to stick around here any longer."

"Right," Mitsuha said, preparing her whip for combat.

"Don't worry, we'll make this quick," Mitsuki spoke up as the dozens of tendril-like strings that comprised her weapon came to life. They moved and writhed, and soon were launched at Tsukiumi with incredible speed. The water-type made to dodge, she managed to sidestep the first string, and she managed to bend her torso out of the way of the second string, but that led her right into the path of the fifth, sixth, and seventh strings, which tied themselves tightly around her torso. Tsukiumi gasped as the strings tightened themselves around her. Her face flinched, and Naruto could only figure they were aggravating the wounds along her torso.

With all the enemy Sekirei's focus on Tsukiumi, Naruto knew it was his time to act. He reached into one of his back pouches and withdrew three, small black balls. They were very unassuming, but Naruto knew better. While smoke bombs were not dangerous in and of themselves, they were dead useful, as he was about to prove.

He tossed the balls down onto the floor directly in front of Tsukiumi.

"What the –"

The smoke bombs exploded, expelling large layers of thick, black, smog that swept over the area. It covered every corner of the alley.

"What the hell is with this smoke!?"

With their vision hampered, Naruto knew it was time to act. He stood up and quickly darted out from behind trash bin and dove into the smokescreen. The black smoke enclosed on him from all sides, cloying and thick. Were it not for the fact that he was using chakra to filter his lungs of the acrid smoke, he would have no doubt started hacking up a lung. As thing were, he could hear the others who had been caught within the smoke coughing as well. One, two, three...

Three?

Naruto frowned. There were only three people coughing, two of them could be heard off to his left. They were close together, Mitsuha and Mitsuki, he was sure. The other one was directly in front of him, and judging from the feminine tone it could only be Tsukiumi. That meant the one who was missing was Mutsu. His frown deepened. Mutsu was the most dangerous of the Sekirei after Tsukiumi. He couldn't afford to have the number zero five after him as he made his escape, not with the limited amount of power he could bring out without alerting MBI to his own unique status.

That meant he had to trap the man another way.

It was time to use one of his more passive abilities.

Carefully as he could, Naruto let a small crack open up within his chakra coils. Before the chakra could become a maelstrom, he began expelling it out of every tenketsu on his body in mass quantities. It was similar to how he had expelled chakra from his back while healing Chiho, only this time his chakra was not only being expelled from every tenketsu he had, he was also changing the very nature of the chakra into an element.

Wind. It was the very first element Naruto had ever gained mastery, true mastery, not that shitty excuse for mastery that most ninja considered mastering an element. Naruto had trained quite extensively with his wind chakra during the course of the Fourth Great War. He had, in time, become so in tune with his own element that at the height of his power he had been able to create elemental attacks without the need for jutsu. One might be able to say he was capable of using ninjutsu without handseals, but that phrase didn't really do what he was capable of justice. Naruto did not need to use ninjutsu. With the wind at his every beck and call, all he had been required to do was use his chakra and reach out to it.

Now he was no longer at the height of mastery anymore. Disuse had led to his abilities degrading greatly over time. But he still had the ability to use some of his less intensive abilities, one of them being the passive sensory abilities he had created near the beginning of the war. It was relatively simple to use, by expelling wind chakra from every tenketsu in his body and expanding the wind outwards into a hemisphere shaped dome, Naruto could gain an image of everything within that dome no matter how small. Even the most minute of movements did not escape his notice while the jutsu was active, the twitch of a finger, the scuffle of a boot, the flick of a wrist or tilt of a head; he could 'see' all of it.

Of course the passive wind sonar had its limitations. He could only extend it a certain distance. When he was at the peak of his powers, Naruto was capable of extending the ability up to a radius of five kilometers. Since he was so out of practice, that ability had been reduced to a little less than five hundred meters. It was just another reminder that the once great power he had was now gone, due in no small part to his own machinations. Still, it was enough for what he needed to do here. Mutsu couldn't have gone far.

And he was right. Naruto found him quite easily standing atop a building above the smokescreen. He was close. Just fifty meters away. But how to keep the man from chasing after him and Tsukiumi. He needed something that would either hold him off long enough to escape, or distract him long enough that he didn't even notice them escaping. Reaching into one of his pouches, Naruto rummaged around, before eventually finding something that he felt would work.

Shuriken and ninja wire, a ninja's two best friends. With a quickness that should not be possible, and a surety of movement that anyone capable of watching would find enviable, Naruto attached a long strand of ninja wire to each shuriken. Then with a flick of his wrist, he launched them at Mutsu with speeds that were far faster than anything a Sekirei was capable of.

With his passive wind sonar still active, Naruto could watch as the six shuriken burst out of the smoke screen. They traveled through the air, creating a whistling sound as they cut through the wind. Mutsu saw them coming, Naruto could see his head snap up from staring into the smoke screen to look at the weapons. As predicted, the Sekirei tried to evade the projectiles at first, jumping to the left in order to dodge them. With a minor application of chakra and a few gentle tugs, the shuriken shifted direction and were once more soaring towards the male Sekirei. He could see Mutsu grimace, no doubt coming to the conclusion that he would have to deflect the projectiles instead of dodge them.

Good. Everything was going exactly like Naruto had hoped.

Mutsu slid the sword at his side from its sheath, the movement smooth and nary making a sound. As the six pointed ninja stars closed in on the Sekirei's position, his sword lashed out to deflect them.

That was when Naruto made his next move. Channeling more chakra up the ninja wire, Naruto changed its nature to wind and allowed it to surround the shuriken. However, this was not a cutting wind like most elemental jutsu are, no, instead Naruto was simply using the wind to create air currents, which he then used to guide the shuriken on the path he wanted them to take.

The look on Mutsu's face was almost priceless when all six shuriken suddenly veered off course. Two them of split to the left and right respectively, while the other three went over his head at various angles. The three that went over head then arced back around and tried to impale themselves into the back of Mutsu's head. It didn't work; the male Sekirei had spun on a dime, his sword flashing out with expert precision to knock the shuriken from the sky.

But that was alright, those three were just a distraction. The last shuriken Naruto had thrown had gone low, and this was the first shuriken that reached Mutsu. It wove between the number zero fives legs, spinning and arcing in an intricate figure eight pattern several times over. Because it was so low to the ground, Mutsu didn't even notice until he could feel the cold steel tightening around his legs. When he finally did notice, it was already too late. Naruto yanked on the wire that particular shuriken was attached to, tightening it to the point that Mutsu's legs snapped into place. Like a tree that no longer had its roots supporting it, Mutsu began to topple over, but not before the two shuriken that had moved around his left and right swooped in and wrapped around him several times, pinning his arms to his torso.

The entire process only took five seconds. By the time Mutsu was tied up in ninja wire, Naruto had covered the distance between him and Tsukiumi. Without hesitation he grabbed her hand and began running out of the smokescreen.

"What the –!?"

"Come on!" Naruto cut off the woman's surprised yell. He didn't even need his passive sonar to picture the surprised expression on the female's face. Speaking of which, he should probably stop using his wind sonar now that it had outlived its usefulness.

As the image of his surroundings faded from his mind's eye, Naruto charged out of the smokescreen with Tsukiumi stumbling behind him. Without waiting for her to reply or even regain her bearings, he wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and jumped onto the roof adjacent from the one Mutsu was tied up on. He didn't look back as he began jumping from rooftop to rooftop; he needed to get to safety before Mutsu could break free from his wires. Naruto estimated he had about four or five seconds before the Sekirei broke free, so he needed to be gone in that time.

Unfortunately he didn't take into account how Tsukiumi would react. During the first few seconds when he had enacted his smokescreen the water user had been understandably confused. What was going on? Was this another attack? A third party perhaps? Some kind of trick? Thoughts like that raged through her mind as she tried to come to terms with what was happening. When the smoke itself had engulfed the alley she, like the other two females, had been disoriented and focused more on trying to keep the smog out of her lungs than anything else. When Naruto had grabbed her by the hand she had been startled, which had only increased when he began bodily dragging her out of the smokescreen.

Then he had picked her up under his arm like a sack of potatoes and started hopping across the rooftops. Tsukiumi had let it happen at the time because she was so surprised that someone dared to do something like this to her that she had not been able to respond. Now, however, Tsukiumi was aware of what was going on, that some male was carrying her across the roofs, and worse still he had a mask on like that blasted Homura. Needless to say, she was quite upset.

Scratch that, she was pissed.

"Water Celebration!"

"Gah!"

Naruto really should have known better. Without warning Naruto was smacked in the side of the head by a ball of compressed water. His grip on Tsukiumi loosened, allowing said water user to break free, while he stumbled sideways for several steps.

"You bastard!" Tsukiumi shouted, pointing at him in aggravation, "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Naruto shook his head in an attempt to not only rid his ears of the water that had been blasted into them, but also to get rid of the ringing in his head. After a moment or two, his healing factor kicked in and the blond couldn't help but sigh in relief.

As his chakra healed the damage done to him by the woman he had rescued, Naruto looked over at the angry Sekirei. She was looking quite pissed, red face, narrowed eyes, and her hair seemed to be swaying in an unseen breeze. Some kind of water manipulation maybe? In either case she didn't seem to be very happy with him, and Naruto couldn't help but groan as he realized that he had once again jumped the gun without thinking everything through. Of course Tsukiumi would attack him after he had rescued her; the woman was not only headstrong and proud, but also hated men.

He really couldn't get a break, could he? This must be some kind of Karma. Or maybe that bastard Murphy was fucking with him again. If that was the case then he'd better watch out, because if Naruto ever caught his sorry ass than he would be better off dead.

"Well!? Are you going to answer me or not, bastard!?"

Naruto looked at Tsukiumi, his eyes twitching as he found himself surprisingly annoyed. Maybe her feelings were bleeding over to him? Ripping the mask off his face so he could speak without the cloth hampering his voice or getting stuck in his mouth, the blond Uzumaki sent the woman an annoyed glared.

"I think I'm the one who just saved your life! So why don't you... e-eh?"

Naruto found himself trailing off as he watched Tsukiumi's entire demeanor change. From the moment he had pulled down his mask, the water user's face had turned a deathly shade of pale, all except her cheeks, which were glowing a bright red. They looked even brighter against her now ghost white skin due to all the blood draining from her face with the exception of those areas. She almost looked sick. Her breathing had also picked up. Naruto could hear her taking ragged gasps of air, like a pump that was being clogged. He could even see her, quite literally, trying to breath. Her shoulders and chest were heaving up and down with each heaving breath she took. It was quite distracting, as her bosom jiggled enticingly with each movement she made.

"U-Ugh..."

"H-Hey!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he rushed over to the water user, who had just stumbled backwards for several steps before falling onto her backside. She had been forced to place her hands behind her and plant them firmly on the ground, locking her elbow joints together in order to use them to support her weight. Even then, her arms looked like they might give out at any second, that was how much they were shaking.

"S-Stay back!" Tsukiumi shouted at him, her voice sounding ragged. He also detected that she was both fearful and angry through the bond. "Don't come any closer!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, not really sure what he should do in this instance. Should he help her? Would she even accept his help? He was a man, and an Ashikabi. More importantly, he was her Ashikabi. It was obvious she was reacting to him, pretty violently as well. It wasn't as bad as Homura, but her reaction was worse than Musubi. The woman looked physically ill, and he could smell her arousal very clearly, a scent that was not unlike that of a fresh ocean breeze. Yet it was that very reason that he stayed his hand, she was well known for her hatred of Ashikabi and her irrational fear of men. With that in mind, it was probably best if he not make any sudden movements.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his body twitching as it fought against his new wellspring of instincts and emotions. "Do you need any help?"

"Shut up!" Tsukiumi shouted, her face turning another shade of red. If she kept this up they would need to find a new name for the color of her face. "I don't need your help! This... this is all your fault!"

"My fault?" Naruto blinked. Well, he couldn't really blame her for that, could he? This was kind of his fault. At least the violent reaction was. At the same time, he had saved her from those Sekirei. Shouldn't she be a little more grateful. "How is this my fault? You would have been caught if I hadn't saved you."

"You..."

Tsukiumi tried for a growl, but it came out as more of a gasp.

"You...!"

Naruto was most surprised when she managed to push herself off the ground. She stood on shaky legs, her knees buckling every few seconds. It looked like she might collapse at any moment.

"You!"

He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. Tsukiumi's head was turned down, tilted towards the ground so that the upper half of her face was covered in shadows. Combine that with her bared teeth and the way her hair was swaying wildly about her body like a cluster of snakes and you had a pretty terrifying scene.

She raised a hand, and finally, her head snapped up, eyes narrowed in an expression of inexplicable anger.

"Die! Water Celebration!"

Naruto's eyes widened as a continuous stream of water shot towards him at incredible speeds. A thousand thoughts went through his mind within a split second, possible choices he could make and their outcomes. He couldn't Kawarimi, even if he had the time to make the hand-seals he didn't know who was watching. The last thing he wanted was for someone to see what he was capable of. Dodging was also not an option. He only had less than a second before the water was upon him, and the only way he would be able to react in time was if he used Hiraishin, or one of his other speed techniques, which he didn't have enough time to use. There was also the same problem using one of those techniques that he had with using the replacement. That left one option...

Block.

Fast as quicksilver, Naruto reached behind his back with his left hand. He felt his fingers touching the leather wrappings around the hilt of Kubikiribōcho. He gripped the weapon tightly, and then whipped it forward in front of him. Placing his free hand on the flat of the blade and reinforcing his muscles with as much chakra as he dared, Naruto prepared for the incoming stream of water.

He thought he was ready. He was wrong. In his haste to defend himself from the incoming blast of torrential water, Naruto had forgotten to stick himself to the roof of the building with chakra. When the blast smacked into his blade a loud groan came from the metal as it was struck, and then the immortal shinobi found himself being lifted off the ground and thrown into one of the power boxes located on this roof at inhuman speeds.

The metal of the box dented. There was a burst of electricity as the water seeped into a crack, and Naruto suddenly found himself being lit up like a Christmas tree as several thousand volts of electricity coursed through his body. It was a most painful experience, nearly as bad as getting stabbed above the heart with a lightning covered hand, or getting burned by a potent Gōkakyū no Jutsu, though it was nowhere near as painful as having someone attempt to rip a Bijū out of his stomach. Still, it hurt, and it was frying his nerves, which totally sucked.

Despite the pain, he held on. He cracked his eyes open to look over at Tsukiumi, and was surprised when he saw the woman staring at him in shocked horror. Trying to work through his pain frazzled mind he wondered, had she not meant for this to happen? Perhaps she had simply been trying to scare him off, or maybe she had simply reacted out of fear, instinct. He already knew that most Sekirei were not warriors by nature, so the theory was sound. Or at least, as sound as his currently pain filled mind could think up.

Eventually the light show ended, and Naruto was allowed to fall to the cement roofing. His face smacked against the cement, not that he could feel it as he was quite numb, and smoke began pouring off his body. He tried to move, but found that with his nerves fried he was not even capable of lifting a finger. The infrequent and unconscious spasms of his body were the only movements he was capable of at the moment. It would take a while for him to heal, a minute or two at least. He could only hope nothing happened in that time.

As if to mock his thoughts, Mutsu and the two other Sekirei of Mikogami's, Mitsuha and Mitsuki, alighted upon the roof. The sword wielder took in the scene before him, his eyes straying from Tsukiumi to the still smoking Naruto. He seemed to come to his own conclusions, and discarded the Uzumaki out of hand due to the injuries he had suffered. Beside him, Mitsuha launched her strings at Tsukiumi. They wrapped around the water user, whose reactions were slowed by the shock she was undoubtedly still feeling. It was only a second after the strings had been tightly wound around her frame that she began to struggle.

"How dare you, you fiend!" she snarled at the pony-tailed Sekirei. Her arms were bound so she could not lift them, but she did manage to lift her left hand and point it at Mitsuha. "Water Cele – GYAH!" Her words were cut off, her attack halted, as the whip in Mitsuki's hand lashed out and caught Tsukiumi across her right cheek. The attack was surprisingly strong, strong enough to not only throw the blond Sekirei off her feet and onto the ground, but also open up a gash across her cheek, which began to flow freely with blood.

"Now, now," Mitsuki chided with an almost manacle grin. "We can't have you attacking us anymore. You've already given us enough trouble as it is. Just be a good little Sekirei and let us take you to our master."

"Bastards!" Tsukiumi cursed them.

Naruto's hand began to twitch as feeling returned to his nerves. He flexed his fingers, testing them. As he did, feeling in the rest of his body began coming back as well as his inhuman chakra flowed through his body, flowing over him with a soothing coolness like that of a fresh spring.

Mutsu sighed.

"We've wasted enough time here."

Naruto wondered what he should do. He needed a plan if he wanted to get out of this without revealing too much of his power.

"Keep her bound so she can't get away. It's bothersome, but we don't want her trying to escape again."

Unfortunately he couldn't think of anything. So long as Tsukiumi remained bound and Mutsu remained near, the amount of limiters Naruto was able to place on himself diminished. When he had been fighting Toyotama and Ichiya, Naruto had been able to fight with just some minor chakra reinforcement. Those two had been skilled, and strong, and they worked well as a team, but their abilities simply hadn't been able to match Naruto's experience. Even handicapped as he had been, the blond Uzumaki had managed to hold his own well enough.

Mutsu was on a whole different level. As one of the first five Sekirei awakened, his power was comparable to that of a winged Sekireis while they were using their Norito. Stronger even, if Naruto listened to Matsu. He wouldn't be able to escape from this without using more power.

How troublesome.

"You whore!" Tsukiumi shouted as she continued to struggle on the ground. She writhed and jerked and flopped as she tried to use what strength she had left to free herself. It was rather pointless, the fight and flight had taken away most of her strength, and her reaction to Naruto had zapped what little was left, but that didn't stop her from trying. "I demand you unhand me this instant!"

"Whore!?" Mitsuha's left eyebrow gained a violent twitch. "Who are you calling a whore, you stupid bitch! I'll teach you!"

With his nerves healed Naruto should be capable of movement, yet still he waited. He needed to make sure that they had no chance to react to him when he attacked. Mutsu especially, he wanted that Sekirei as occupied as possible before he made his move. His moment came a second later when Mutsu turned to look at Mitsuha, who was on the opposite side of him, making the sword user turn his back on Naruto fully.

"Enough!" Mutsu commanded in a demanding voice. It was a testament to just how powerful one of the first five Sekirei were that both Mitsuha _and _Tsukiumi stopped what they were doing. "Mitsuha, don't let you her get to you."

Naruto's fingers clenched around the hilt of his blade, which had miraculously remained in his grasp while he was experiencing shock therapy at its finest.

"She might be trying to rile you up so she can free herself."

The muscles in his arms flexed as he pushed himself into a crouch, legs bunched under him, fingers splayed. He looked like some kind of jungle predator preparing to pounce. It was a surprisingly accurate analogy.

"Besides, Mikogami wants us to bring her to him in one piece." The Sekirei he was scolding looked down at the floor contritely. Mutsu nodded, satisfied. Neither he nor the others saw Naruto as the blond immortal prepared to attack.

Chakra once more flowed through his body like a tidal wave. Naruto grabbed the energy and forced it into submission. He took hold of it, directed it, the energy flowed down his legs and to the bottom of his feet, where he directed untold amounts of the mystical energy to in what would be a move that was equal parts brilliant as it was stupid.

One of the most basic chakra control techniques that ninja are taught when they first became genin is the tree climbing exercise. It's called tree climbing, but in truth it would be more accurate to say that it was tree walking. By adding chakra to the bottom of the feet, one could stick themselves to any vertical surface and walk up it as if they were walking on the ground, thereby defying gravity. The trick was getting the right amount of chakra to the bottom of the feet, which was the hardest place to direct ones chakra to. Too little chakra and you risked falling off. Too much chakra and you risk blasting yourself off the surface, which is exactly what happened to Naruto.

With the utterly ridiculous amount of chakra Naruto was channeling to the bottom of his feet, which was far more chakra than most ninja ever gained in their lifetimes, what happened next was only natural. Newton's third law of motion insured that. With the amount of kinetic energy the chakra was creating under his foot, Naruto was blasted forward with enough speed that his body was a complete blur, the ground where he had blasted off cracked under the pressure from the amount of force he put on it.

Mutsu heard the sound, so did the others, but he was the only one quick enough to react. Even then the only thing he could do was turn his head as Naruto's blurred form past him and continued on unimpeded.

Mutsu wasn't the target.

Grabbing the sword with both hands, Naruto lifted the blade above his head, and swiftly brought it down on the strings that were holding Tsukiumi in place. There was a loud screech, almost like that of metal on metal. For a moment Naruto wondered if the strings were made of some kind of metal, but discarded that notion. They were too flexible to be made out of metal that thick. Some kind of synthetic material then? MBI had the technology. Well, whatever, he could ponder over the Sekirei's weapons later. Maybe he could even take a sample home with him and study it.

Despite the strength of the strings, they snapped under Naruto's attack. Mitsuha, who had been holding onto the strings tightly and had even placed her body weight into keeping Tsukiumi bound, stumbled backwards with a surprised look on her face. Naruto wondered if it was because the steaming 'corpse' from earlier had suddenly risen up and broke her weapon, or simply because he had broken her weapon; perhaps a little of both.

"What the hell!?" She shouted in shock. "I thought he was dead!"

Her surprised shouting went largely ignored. Mitsuki and Tsukiumi were both in the same boat as she was, but they seemed to have lost their voices, though Naruto was sure if they had them they would have agreed with the Sekireis assessment. The only one who wasn't affected to the point of not being able to move was Mutsu, who had launched himself at Naruto the moment he sliced through the strings that had bound Tsukiumi.

The soft _'hiss'_ of his blade sliding out of its sheath was accompanied by the whistling sound as it cut through the air. Naruto spun on a dime, the Kubikiribōcho coming up to block the attack. He channeled chakra into his arms, legs, and the bottom of his feet before his blade clashed with that of Mutsu's.

There was a loud _'clang!' _as steel cashed against steel. Naruto let out a slight grunt of exertion as the combined strength and momentum hit him, but other than that he gave no indication of having felt the attack. Indeed, he remained planted firmly on the ground, neither stumbling nor sliding backwards as the smaller katana was bashed against his head cleaving blade.

And then it was his turn. Channeling a bit more chakra to his arms, Naruto shoved his sword against Mutsu's using both his own chakra enhanced strength, and the inertia that had been created when he blocked Mutsu's attack. The male Sekirei was sent stumbling backwards, his eyes widening in surprise. He hesitated.

Naruto could have used that moment to attack, but there was no guarantee that Mutsu would fall with his next move. Would he be able to attack quickly enough to land a decisive blow? How fast was Mutsu's reaction time? Without knowing those answers, attacking someone of number zero five's caliber was foolish given the situation he was in. Naruto couldn't afford to be drawn into a large scale battle when there were two other Sekirei waiting to pounce on the one he was trying to protect. Speaking off...

"You..." Out of the corner of his eyes Naruto saw Tsukiumi staring at him in shock. The initial issues with her reacting seemed to have simmered some, though now that he was next to the water user her blush had returned. "How are you still alive? I thought I had..." she trailed off, her head turning away. Through the bond, Naruto felt her shame. It was clear that even if she hated men, she had no desire to kill them.

Thank kami for small miracles.

"I don't think that's important right now," Naruto said as he eyed the three enemy Sekirei as they regrouped. They were probably going to try and come up with a plan of attack. He would need to go on the offensive before they could do so. "Can you stand?"

Tsukiumi blinked, as if she had not quite heard or registered his words. After a minute or two she placed her hands under her body, and lifted herself off the ground. In spite of the numerous wounds, her slight wobbling, and her body reacting to him, the blond Sekirei somehow managed to give him a haughty look. "Of course I can. Who do you think you're talking to?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on her words. "Good, then listen closely. I'm going to attack those three. When I do, I want you to get as far away from here as possible. I'll try to keep them occupied as long as possible, but you'll have to be quick, as I don't know how long I can hold them off."

It was distasteful to admit, but at the moment there wasn't much Naruto could do against these three. He was severely limited in what he could do, due to his need to keep his powers a secret. It was times like these that made Naruto wonder if keeping his abilities and powers a secret was even worth it. Then he would remember what would happen if people did learn of them, the chaos it would unleash as governments from all over the world made a mad scramble to capture him for experimentation. And kami only knew what Minaka would do if he found out. With MBI's technology there would be nowhere for him to run, Naruto would be chased to the ends of the earth, forever hounded by MBI and the Sekirei under the company's command.

He could probably destroy the company and flee in the ensuing chaos if he needed to, but that wouldn't solve the problem. If anything, it would exacerbate the problem even more. The panic it would cause would have the Japanese government swooping in to take the reins, and most likely they would discover the Sekirei that MBI had been keeping from them.

One hundred years ago, hell, even as far back as last year, Naruto wouldn't have cared about the fate of one hundred and eight Sekirei and their Ashikabi's. But in the past month he had begun to feel... empathy? Yes, empathy for the Sekirei whose only desire was to find love. He wasn't sure what had caused it, though a part of him wanted to blame Musubi and her belief that love was the most powerful force in the world. Yet Naruto was no longer sure he could, he was no longer sure if it was her feelings and beliefs that had caused his change, a combination of all his Sekirei, or if he was just becoming more human. And a part of him felt it didn't even matter anymore. The change was there, and each day he felt less... mechanical than he had before he had gotten involved in the Sekirei plan. Whatever was behind his change in beliefs no longer mattered. All that mattered to him right now was protecting Tsukiumi from these three.

"Get away?" Tsukiumi blinked. "You expect me to flee!?" Her surprise turned into anger as she glared at him. "I will not run from honorable combat! Only a coward would run away when faced with battle!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Then what were you doing before I bumped into you?"

"T-That was different!" Tsukiumi's face turned red as she defended herself. "That was not honorable combat! Those bastards ambushed me in a cowardly attack and worked together to gang up on me! If I had faced them one on one the loss would have been theirs!"

He probably would have argued that point with her since Mutsu was with them, but noticed that the three looked like they had come up with a plan on action and were preparing to execute it. The time for talk was over. If she couldn't be swayed, he would have to see if she would work with him.

"Do you think you can still fight then?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the enemy trio as they moved in to attack. Mitsuha and Mitsuki were moving around him on either side, no doubt in the hopes of bypassing him so they could attack Tsukiumi directly. Meanwhile, Mutsu was coming straight at him in a frontal assault. Naruto could see their plan easily, and had to admit it was sound. Without knowing his strength, they couldn't afford to attack him with anything less than full strength. At the same time, it would be unwise to leave Tsukiumi to her own devices. By attacking him with their strongest Sekirei, Naruto would be to preoccupied to defend the weakened Tsukiumi, who would be taken down by the still relatively fresh Mitsuha and Mitsuki.

It looked like he was going to have to show them how badly they had underestimated him.

"O-Of course I can still fight!" Tsukiumi looked away from him, her face stained with another blush. "I am the strongest after all."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but didn't bother to contradict her. Now wasn't the time. "Then prove it. Here they come."

Tsukiumi looked like she was going to say something, but in that moment Naruto burst forward to cross blades with Mutsu as Mitsuha and Mitsuki attacked her with their whip and strings respectively. She managed to jump back, dodging the whip and several of Mitsuki's strings, but a few managed to catch her unawares and managed to make small nicks in her flesh. She hissed, but despite how tired she must be from everything that had happened, managed to pull enough strength from somewhere to raise her hand and point it at them.

"Water Celebration!"

It was only out of the corner of his eyes that Naruto saw the water attack nearly connecting with Mitsuki. Even than he couldn't pay what was happening with Tsukiumi more than a passing glance as he focused most of his attention on Mutsu. He and male Sekirei clashed blades again and again. Steel rang on steel as the two moved in an intricate dance that belied its deadly disposition. In spite of his blade not only being much larger and heavier than the Sekirei's, Naruto swung it around him with the same speed that Mutsu was capable of.

There was not much movement involved in this battle. They kept their fight confined to a small area on the roof, away from the area where Tsukiumi was fighting Mutsu's allies. The Sekirei in question seemed to be playing a defensive battle. He wasn't attacking very much, just the occasional light probe. He was searching for a weakness in Naruto's defense. The blond wasn't a swordsman by nature, relying more on fancy footwork and flowing strikes to get the job done. There were quite a few holes in his defense if one was fast enough to take advantage of them. Fortunately for Naruto, Mutsu didn't seem to have the speed capable of doing so.

He took a step forward, his head cleaver rising up in an underhand swing that clashed against Mutsu's overhand swing. Mutsu had gravity on his side, and thus Naruto's blade was forced back down. However, rather than move against the blow and attempt to bring his blade back up, he moved with the blow, thereby increasing the momentum of his attack. The blond Uzumaki spun on the balls of his feet, completely a full three hundred and sixty degree rotation. The move was so quick his body seemed to blur in place. His blade came up over his head, his muscles tensing as he heaved it down on Mutsu with as much strength as he could muster.

His opponent must have sensed the power behind his attack. Rather than block the strike like he had the previous ones, Mutsu jumped backwards, allowing the blade to crash into the ground. It was good thing for him that he did, for when the giant butcher knife struck the cement, the durable roofing cracked under the pressure. Large chunks of gray concrete sprung out of the ground, and cracks spread along its surface as the Kubikiribōcho sunk into deep into the building.

It seemed this was the moment Mutsu was waiting for. The gray-haired sword user launched himself forward, and was on Naruto in less than a second. He came at the immortal with a horizontal swipe of his blade. In most circumstances, the battle probably would have ended there. With how deeply the Kubikiribōcho had sunk into the concrete roof, not even Naruto would be able to yank it out in time to block.

Fortunately for Naruto and unfortunately for Mutsu, the shinobi in question was not a swordsman by nature. The whisker marked shinobi let go of the large blade, and ducked. The sword swipe from Mutsu whistled over his head, cutting off several strands of hair that blew away from the force of the swing. Naruto planted both hands on the ground behind him, and kicked his feet into the air, before proceeding to smash them both against Mutsu's chest. The move was so quick that the Sekirei in question didn't have time to mount of proper defense, and with his body still moving with the swing he couldn't bring his sword back to block in time.

The double attack connected with the sound of thunder. Mutsu was launched backwards, into the air, flipping end over end. For a moment, Naruto wondered if his enemy would fall off the building. It was a hope that was dashed when the member of the first disciplinary squad sunk his blade into the roof and used it to slow his momentum, and use the remaining force to swing his body around so that his feet planted themselves firmly on the ground. He knelt down, both hands on his blade, which remained impaled into the hard concrete of the roof. Then he stood up, looking only a little worse for wear as he rubbed the two spots Naruto had kicked.

"You, what are you?" asked Mutsu, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the blond. "You're far too strong to be human, yet I can sense that you're not a Sekirei."

"Who knows," Naruto said with a projected air of indifference. "Sometimes I wonder about that myself." Despite the seemingly nonchalant attitude he was trying to pull off, he was getting worried. He had split attention between keeping an eye on Mutsu, and checking in on Tsukiumi. The water user was not doing very well. She had several more cuts marring her skin, and her movements were getting more sluggish by the minute. Were she fighting at full strength, she might have been able to defeat the two, but as things stood she wouldn't last much longer. He needed to get to Tsukiumi before she lost.

Mutsu's brow furrowed, then his eyes widened. "An Ashikabi? Impossible!"

The surprise that had registered on number zero five's face was all Naruto needed to make his move. Taking his right hand off Kubikiribōcho's hilt, he reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled several of the pointed ninja stars, which he let fly towards his opponent. Mutsu was quick to react. He made several blurring swipes with his katana, batting each shuriken away with ease. Naruto had expected that, and truthfully didn't care if his projectiles hit the Sekirei or not. It would have been nice, but not necessary.

In the time it took Mutsu to deflect the launched ninja stars, Naruto had already moved. Not towards the sword wielding Sekirei, but towards the nearest female Sekirei attacking Tsukiumi. Mitsuha. Moving so fast that it almost appeared as if he had simply phased into existence in front of her, the blond could see the whip user's eyes widening as he swung his giant head cleaver at her. She tried to jump back and avoid the swing, but was too slow. The blade sliced into her flesh. Blood spurted out of the large gash that had opened up from Mitsuha's left hip to her right shoulder. Number thirty eight's eyes widened in horror, her mouth opened to scream out in pain, but all that managed to come out was a gurgling sound. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and her body fell backwards, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

A profound silence rang throughout the rooftop as the three remaining Sekirei stared wide eyed at the blond who had just defeated and possibly killed a member of their race. Mitsuki's face turned green as she stared at the blond like he was some kind of demon. With his face covered in his victim's blood, and his hair matted down with the same red substance as he stared down at the now terminated Sekirei without a hint of emotion in his eyes, it wasn't hard to see why. He really did look like some kind of demon.

Mutsu was the first of the group to recover. He looked over at Mitsuki, who looked like she might vomit at any moment. "Mitsuki!" he shouted, forcing her to look away from the gruesome scene before her. "This battle's lost, we're leaving." The user of the strange string-like weapons didn't need to be told twice. Shuddering from head to toe at what could have been her fate had she been closest to the blond; she jumped off the building and onto an adjacent one.

Naruto watched them go. He could have gone after them, but really, all he wanted to do now was get home. The day had gone on far longer than he had expected due to this detour, and while he wasn't very tired, the idea of getting back to Maison Izumo where a warm meal and his Sekirei waited for him was a very pleasant thought.

Then he looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw Tsukiumi staring at him with a strange expression, a mixture of abject horror and arousal that would have looked out of place on anyone. He turned to face her, noticing how she flinched. Sighing, he wiped the blood off his face with the sleeves of shirt, discreetly using what concentration he could to gather the moisture in the air to help wash his face off. When he was sufficiently clean, he looked back up at Tsukiumi, and was tempted to take a step forward, but remembering the last time he had done that decided it would be best to stay where he was.

"Are you alright?" he asked into the silence. Tsukiumi seemed to shake herself out of whatever funk she was in, and gingerly stood up, wincing a bit as the aches and pains of the day, as well as the way her body was reacting to Naruto, descended upon her.

"I am fine," she lied to him. Naruto didn't call her out on it, instead choosing to watch as the water user looked from him, to the sliced open Sekirei behind him. Her eyes focused on him again, and then she blushed. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then just as quickly closed it. Naruto watched as she did this several times, before giving a sigh.

"Well, if you're alright then I suppose I should be going." He frowned for a moment, wondering if perhaps he should ask her to join him, but given her violent reactions to him so far, both the reacting part and the violence she had unleashed on him, felt it was better for the both of them if maybe he gave her some space for now. He could always ask Homura to protect her for now, and who knows, maybe in time she would come around and see that not all Ashikabi were jerks like Mikogami. It was a small hope, but it was clear that right now she probably wouldn't agree to let him wing her, and he wasn't about to force the issue.

He turned around, preparing to leave, but a stuttered shout of "W-w-w-wait!" had him stop. Turning his head, he looked over at Tsukiumi, whose hand was outstretched towards him as if to grab his clothing, and her face was a mixture of agitation and indignation.

"Is that it!?" she demanded to know. Naruto, who had no idea what she was talking about blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You just come in and interfere with my battle, you make me feel all these strange feelings, and now you're just going to leave!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure what to say so he decided to say nothing and just let the blond female continue her rant.

"No, I refuse to let you do that! You have interfered in my and therefore you have to... have to..." Tsukiumi had started strong, but as her rant continued she began to lower her voice until it was barely above a whisper. She seemed to trail off completely, and Naruto wasn't sure if she would speak. Just when he was about to ask for clarification, she continued in a voice so quiet that Naruto almost missed it. "You have to take responsibility for me."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked, once, twice, thrice. Then his eyes widened. "Take care of you?" Surely she couldn't mean...

"O-Of course!" Tsukiumi tried to scowl, but with how embarrassed she obviously was the look wasn't very effective. "It's only right that you take responsibility for me. You're the one who's been making me feel so strangely this past week. Had it not been for you those cowards who attacked me would have never survived!"

Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it. He opened it again, only to close it one more time. The process was repeated another three times before he managed to find his voice. "B-But I thought you didn't want an Ashikabi." That's what her profile had said at least. She despised Ashikabi with a passion, and wanted to prove that she was the strongest Sekirei even without one. To top it off she was agoraphobic, and when one took into account that most Sekirei/Ashikabi relationships seemed to be male/female with the exception of his partnership with Homura and Chiho's relationship with Uzume, that only compounded on the problem. Why would she want him to wing her when she had such a powerful fear and hatred of men?

"D-Do not take this the wrong way," Tsukiumi stuttered. She tilted her head down to look at the ground. "W-we are... r-r-reacting. I... it's only right for you to take responsibility for your actions!"

The change in her entire disposition surprised Naruto more than he cared to admit. Just a little while ago she had been ready to kill him... well, she had at least tried to seriously hurt him. But now she was acting all shy, her head was tilted towards the ground, yet her eyes were looking up at him through her blond bangs. There was a prominent blush on her cheeks. She looked incredibly... vulnerable, he would have to say. She was acting disturbingly Hinata-like. To be honest, it was really quite cute. Naruto wasn't quite sure, but he could swear he had seen this kind of emotional shift before. It was almost like she... she...

No. It couldn't be? It wasn't possible was it? Nothing in her profile mentioned this? Tsukiumi was supposed to be an extreme man-hater, someone whose agoraphobia made her despise Ashikabis. It shouldn't be possible that she was...

Naruto looked at her again, more closely this time, and came to the startling conclusion that the MBI profiles were dead wrong, and whoever had made them needed to be stabbed with a rusty fork. There was no mistaking that look, those large blue eyes, hidden behind her bangs as she looked at him; that rosy flush on her creamy pale cheeks. She was even poking her damn fingers together! That settled it. There was simply no way she could anything else.

"I can't believe it..." Naruto groaned as he covered his face with his hands. After a second of lamenting the absolutely poor intelligence MBI had given him, he removed the finger covering his left eye to look at Tsukiumi. She was angry again; no longer blushing, her staring at him shyly, or poking her fingers together. Instead her face was red with anger, her eyes were glaring at him, and her fists were clenched at her sides.

"What is your problem?!" She shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Here I am... o-off-," her face flushed red, the hand with the quivering finger dropped to her side, and she looked back down at the concrete roofing, "-offering myself to you!" She squeaked out, her face flush with equal amounts of anger and embarrassment. "And you are not even willing to take responsibility of me! What kind of Ashikabi are you!?"

That settled it. This Sekirei was not Agraphobic or Andraphobic. She didn't hate men and she most definitely was not afraid of sex.

She was Tsundere, pure and simple. How MBI could screw up so royally that they would mistake a Tsundere for someone with an abnormal fear of men and sexual abuse he would never know. They were in Japan for Sage's sake! The land whose pop culture had created the term to describe a female that acted cold and hostile on the outside, yet contained a soft and gentle persona that she hid from the world on inside. No one who lived in Japan should be capable of mistaking a Tsundere for anything but what they were. Was the adjustor some kind of idiot? Someone who was romantically retarded maybe? Whatever the case was, if Naruto ever found them they were dead. He was going to kill them, painfully. The amount of trouble he had just been through could have been mostly avoided if he had known what he was dealing with right from the start.

"Well!"

Naruto jerked his head back in surprise when the loud voice of Tsukiumi shouted at him. He blinked, then focused on the now 'tsuning' Sekirei before him. She glared at him with stained cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Are you going to take responsibility for me or not!?"

"Ah," Naruto absently noted that he sounded almost like Akitsu as he paused for a second, his mind blanking as he tried to screw his head on properly. It wasn't that he didn't know his answer, because as far as he was concerned there was only one answer he could give. But he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that all of his information on the Sekirei that had been reacting to him and threatening to kill him for nearly a week was wrong.

"Sorry. Of course I'll take responsibility for you." He gave the female what he hoped was a warm smile. The act of giving a smile that wasn't fake was still difficult for him at times. Thankfully it seemed his fears were unfounded, as Tsukiumi took one look at him, and then flushed bright red. She looked down, taking a great interest in her shoes, or at least she seemed to. Her eyes would look up at him every now and then, before going back to the ground, and she was once more poking her two index fingers together like he had seen a certain Hyūga do many times in the past.

Naruto took several steps forward, coming to a stop directly in front of Tsukiumi. Her face flushed red, and her eyes diverted themselves completely from him to the ground. That wouldn't do. He placed a hand under her chin, and she didn't stop him as he tilted her head up, though the redness staining her cheeks spread from the roots of her hair down to her neck. Even the top of her cleavage had turned red from the amount of blood being pumped to her face.

He looked her in the eyes. They were incredibly vulnerable right now. Tsukiumi bit her lower lip, which only seemed to increase the look of a 'dering' Tsundere. It was undeniably endearing. Most men would have died of moe by now. Even he was beginning to get affected by the sheer adorable sexiness the woman possessed. His heart was pumping blood far faster than necessary, faster even than when he had been fighting against Mutsu. He could feel his own cheeks heating up. Naruto was quite sure that his face was probably as red as Tsukiumi's.

How any grown woman could look so incredibly cute and yet so sexy at the same time was beyond him.

There was a moment's hesitation as Naruto wondered whether or not he should make the next move or leave it to her. She was a Tsundere after all, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her 'tsun tsun' side. Granted, it was almost a foregone conclusion that he probably would be at some point in time, but he'd already had enough to deal with today that he didn't want to add another moment of senseless 'tsuning' violence.

The decision was taken out of his hand when Tsukiumi seemed to lose all strength in her legs. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head as she pitched forward, her face falling directly into his chest. Naruto's arms wrapped around her out of instinct, even as his mind tried to catch up with what was happening. He looked down at the now unconscious water user.

His right eye began to twitch.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

Naruto honestly felt he should have predicted this would happen. It was like some kind of cosmic law of the universe that if something in his life could go wrong, it would. Even if everything seemed to be perfect, _especially _if everything seemed to be perfect, something would come along to fuck with him. His track record as a genin proved that. Hell, his entire life was a chronicle of shit hitting the fan. And now it was official. Murphy hated his guts.

Naruto managed to sum up his thoughts in just three short words.

"Fuck you Murphy!"

He just couldn't get a break.

* * *

><p><strong>The chapter is finished. I know a lot of you have been waiting for this moment. I hope I did justice to Tsukiumi's Tsundereness. It's always been difficult for me to properly write out a Tsundere, the one hundred and eighty degree shift in their emotions from incredibly violent bitch to shy and demure cutie is tough. I blame my lack of truly understanding Japanese pop culture. I actually had to look up information for Tsundere's on Wikipedia and several Tsundere scenes from various animes on YouTube to get the scene like this, and I'm still not even sure I got it right. All of you will have to let me know how I did.<strong>

**Anyways, this chapter is finished, and I hope you all enjoyed it.**

**Pokemaster12 out.**


	20. Dig Your Own Grave

**Chapter 19: Dig Your Own Grave**

**XoX**

The problem with trying to leave a scene where a Sekirei battle had been, Naruto noted sardonically, was trying to determine which path he should take that would allow him to remain unseen. It was a problem that he was finding to be most troubling, and had caused his ego to deflate quite a bit upon realizing he had no clue how to go about fixing this new conundrum. Really, as if all the crap that had happened today wasn't enough, Murphy seemed to have decided to throw this new curve ball at him.

While his 'rescue Tsukiumi mission' had been more or less a complete success despite being a completely on the fly operation he had made with only a bit of basic planning ― and getting zapped by who knew how many thousands of volts of lightning ― it was becoming clear to him that he had not thought about everything such a fight would entail. Particularly the moment after the battle where he needed to find a way home that would not reveal anything that happened to anyone who was not a part of the Sekirei plan, and not reveal anything more than had already been revealed about him to MBI.

Thinking back on it, maybe that battle hadn't been such a good idea after all. Not only had several of his abilities been revealed, particularly his enviable ability to survive having somewhere close to fifty thousand volts of electricity shoved through his body, as well as the ability to walk on walls and fight Sekirei number zero five on even footing, he was also quite sure that MBI had likely seen it all. How else could they have arrived via helicopter so quickly.

Knowing that he had screwed up and the only thing he could do right now was run damage control, Naruto carefully sat down in the abandoned room in the small building that was several hundred meters from where the battle had taken place that he had taken to hiding out in.

He had gingerly set the blond haired Sekirei into his lap, mindful of the many cuts she had suffered at the hands of Mutsu. She had to have at least several hundreds small slices littering her body from her arms to her legs to her chest. The only part that seemed unmarred was surprisingly enough her face, denoting that Mutsu was obviously skilled enough to know that going for the face when trying to subdue someone with a sword was just foolish as it left a chance of causing enough damage to deactivate the Sekirei in question if the wound they received was too deep. Obviously he had been trying to get in as many small wounds as he could that would slow her down, rather than several large wounds that could very well kill her.

As he took a look at her wounds, Naruto also took that moment to look at her, truly look at her. He had noted during the moment where Tsukiumi had offered (ie where she had all but demanded he take responsibility for her) to be his Sekirei that the woman, alien, alien woman was, like all members of her species that he had must thus far, incredibly beautiful. He had also taken distinct note that her Tsundere personality, rather than detract from her beauty as it was wont to do in some instances (or was that flandere? Or maybe it was yandere, he had never been good with these new japanese names used to denote female personalities with violent tendencies), enhanced her moe to levels so dangerous Naruto was not even sure Kusano, the cutest little thing on this planet (who also happened to have the strongest teeth he had ever had the displeasure of feeling dig into his calves), could match her.

Naruto realized that the Tsundere personality, for all it's cuteness, paled in comparison to what he was seeing right now. Despite her body being littered with cuts, with bruises liberally spread across her body at varying intervals, the Sekirei in his arms was utterly gorgeous. Her face showed none of the signs of pain it was in, her expression placid and peaceful. Her lightly colored full pink lips were slightly parted as she breathed in and out. It was that expression, that look of content on her face that he would probably never see when she was awake and fully cognizant that caused his heart to start racing.

Noticing the path his thoughts were taking him, Naruto shook his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts on Sekirei who were simply too beautiful for words to describe, and instead focused on the task he had been about to do before getting distracted.

Reaching into his left pants pocket Naruto pulled out his phone and, carefully reaching his other hand around Tsukiumi who shifted a bit before mumbling incoherently and pressing her face into the crook of his neck, found the speed dial number for Matsu and pressed the button. Putting the phone to his ear, the blond Uzumaki waited for his computer hacking Sekirei to pick up. He only had to wait for one ring before she answered.

"_Naruto! What happened? Where are you?" _Was the immediate demand issued from the speaker on the other end. However, while it was the first thing Matsu said, it most certainly was not the last. Before he could even deign to give her an answer, the woman on the other line continued. _"Ever since Seo called to tell us that you had asked to stay behind everyone's been panicking. Homura looked like he was about to spontaneously combust! And don't even get me started on Akitsu! Most of your Sekirei are currently out searching for you! Even Miya had dropped everything she did and was about to start looking for you! I..."_

"Whoa, whoa!" Naruto started, interrupting the woman before she could continue on with this tirade. "Slow down. I can't answer any of your questions if you keep talking." He waited for a moment to see if Matsu had even listened to him. When the other end remained silent he began answering her two questions in reverse order. "First off, I'm not one hundred percent sure where I am. Somewhere in the South about twenty kilometers from the warehouse Seo and I left. As for what happened..." Naruto sighed as he realized this incident was going to cause a problem when he got home. "I happened to find Tsukiumi."

"_Eh!? You did!? Did you wing her!? Did you? Did you?" _Within less than two seconds Matsu's voice had gone from serious to confused to shocked and finally, to excited. It seemed that the idea of him acquiring the Sekirei who had been plaguing his mind for a while now was enough to push the red head's worry out of the way. At least for the moment.

"No, unfortunately she passed out before I could do that," Naruto admitted, and then continued on before Matsu could speak again. Knowing his perverted hacker like he did Naruto was able to easily predict that whatever came out of her mouth would be something best left to an X-rated porn film or one of his Icha Icha stories. "She was being attacked by three Sekirei, number thirty eight, Mitsuha. Number thirty nine, Mitsuki... and number zero five, Mutsu."

"_M-Mutsu!?" _the fear, shock, and worry was almost palpable over the phone. _"What happened? Are you alright? Are you injured? Where are they now?"_

"Slow down, Matsu," Naruto said, trying his best not to accidentally wake up Tsukiumi by being too loud while also calming down the woman on the other end of the phone. "I'm fine. So is Tsukiumi. I managed to rescue her from Mutsu and the other Sekirei under his command and forced them to retreat."

….

There was a moment's silence as Matsu no doubt began processing everything he told her. No doubt she would be able to read between the lines and figure out most if not all of what happened during his confrontation with the number zero five.

That theory was proven a second later.

"_You fought him?" _

"Yes."

"_ARE YOU INSANE?"_

Naruto had to hold the phone away from his ear when the red head shouted into it. That had nearly burst his eardrum! Damn super enhanced sense of hearing. He had no idea Matsu could scream like that. It was almost as bad as those times back when the Elemental Nations still existed and he was nothing more than a genin on squad seven and Sakura would scream at him for picking a fight with Sasuke, or asking her out on a date, or trying to cheer her up after Sasuke spat on her feelings for him...

….

Ok, so maybe he got yelled at a lot back than. The point was, he had no idea there was anyone else in this world capable of screaming as loudly as Sakura was. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing he didn't know, but he did hope it was something only Matsu was capable of, and only in the most extreme of circumstances like now. It would totally suck to have two or more females capable of yelling like that.

He chanced a glance at Tsukiumi to see if the noise woke her, only to sigh in relief when he saw she was still asleep. It was a testament to how exhausted she was that she could sleep through all this racket.

Picking up the phone once more, Naruto could make out Matsu still yelling loudly into the phone._ "What could you have possibly been thinking going off to fight Mutsu like that? You could have been killed! He's the –"_

"Matsu!" Naruto barked quickly and quietly, ceasing the woman's continuing rant on how much danger he had been in. It seemed that even the normally playful and mischievous Matsu could be as fierce and overly protective as Homura given the right incentive. Of course, out of all of his Sekirei she was probably the only one who truly knew how strong the number zero five was ― aside from Miya, of course ― so it wasn't like he couldn't see why. As far as Matsu knew he was just a human with some strange powers and was a bit older than he looked.

The other end of the line went quiet, and with the Sekirei silenced Naruto breathed a small sigh of relief, though it was short lived as he knew it was best to answer her before she started again. "For starters, I am perfectly sane, thank you very much. And I was thinking that I had to save Tsukiumi from being forcibly winged by Mikogami, so don't try to tell me what I did was wrong. Would you have wanted me to leave if it had been you in that position?"

Matsu was silent for a moment, no doubt processing his words and coming to some kind of understanding. After exactly two seconds, she sighed.

"_I can understand why you went off to save her. However, that doesn't change the fact that what you did was dangerous, and you could have been __hurt."_ Naruto almost snorted at those words. Yes he could have been hurt. He had been hurt (by Tsukiumi of all people), but it wasn't as if he had actually been in any danger. Even limiting his abilities as he was it was not like Mutsu could have killed him. _"And it also doesn't change the fact that you could have called us."_

"You wouldn't have gotten here in time," Naruto told her, though they both knew he really meant Akitsu, Musubi and Homura when he said 'you'. Matsu wasn't a fighter, she was a tactician and intelligence analyst. "I'm in the South, that's on the opposite side of the city from Maison Izumo. Even if a Sekirei with Musubi's physical strength traveled at full speed, it would have taken a little over an hour for them to get here. By that time Mutsu would have already captured Tsukiumi and taken her to Mikogami's where she would have been forcibly winged. As it was she was already on her last leg when I got there."

There was another pause as Matsu processed that information. _"I understand," _she said, sounding almost reluctant.

"Good," Naruto sighed, that was one crises averted. Now he just had to run some damage control and deal with the potential fall out that would happen when he returned home. "Now then, the reason I called you was because the fight myself and Tsukiumi had with Mikogami's Sekirei took place on a rooftop, and I'm sure that MBI had at least one satellite on us recording the battle. I want you to search through their database and find the video file of my fight, erase it, and then replace it with a mix of footage from different days at the same time as the fight took place."

If he were an amateur hacker, Naruto would have taken the footage directly before the fight took place and simply put that into a looping repeat pattern that anyone with half a brain would have noticed was repeating. They may not have been able to find out _what _had happened if the hacker in question was thorough enough to erase all evidence of the incident and their presence in the database, but they would have determined that there was _something _that someone wanted to keep secret had happened there. That wouldn't do. Naruto didn't like leaving anything to chance.

Matsu seemed to think so as well, because she responded almost immediately. _"Will do."_

"Thank you," Naruto said, before hanging up the phone. With a small sigh, he re-pocketed the mobile device, put the hand he had been using to hold the phone under Tsukiumi's legs, and then stood up, taking the blond haired Sekirei into a bridal carry. The woman in his arms responded to his shift in stance, squirming a bit to snuggle closer to him.

Naruto let out a slight shudder when he felt her lips touch his neck. While the feeling was most definitely pleasant, he hoped she wouldn't be making any unconscious gestures like that while he carried her home. It would not do to get distracted by having a gorgeous female kissing your neck while trying to work.

Naruto did his best to ignore the feel of Tsukiumi's hot breath washing over his neck, as well as the goosebumps her action produced. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Namely, getting back to Maison Izumo.

Carefully, he peeked out of the window and used his enhanced eyesight to look at the area where his fight had taken place. The choppers were gone, not surprising. Their job was to go and pick up Sekirei after they had been defeated and cover up any evidence of a fight taking place. There had been very little in the way of battle damage except for the power box and the gouges he had left during the battle. That was good for him. He didn't need MBI spotting him as he made his way home.

And speaking of ways home, Naruto realized he still wasn't sure how to get home without being noticed by any MBI satellites or passing bystanders. He couldn't walk along the sidewalk, what with the fact that he was carrying a bruised and cut up Tsukiumi who was bleeding from countless wounds. Not only would it cause a scene and most likely cause people on the streets to call the police and cause rumors, it would also be at least partially violating the rules of the Sekirei Plan not to reveal the Sekirei Plan to anyone who did not already know about it.

The rooftops were equally out. Even now he could see several Helicopters hovering over the site of his battle, and even if the choppers weren't there, MBI still had one too many satellites floating in orbit around earth that could easily locate him. It also didn't help that he could see several MBI troop transports coming down the street. It looked like the death of a Sekirei had forced them to bring out the big guns and they were going to do their damnedest to find him. He didn't want them spotting him and alerting the company enforcing the Sekirei Plan, and more importantly Minaka, to know that he had been involved in this affair. If both of those were out, he supposed that only left the usage of back alleys, side streets and... the sewage system.

With a deep sigh, Naruto looked down at the still unconscious Tsukiumi. "You," he began, "have absolutely no idea how lucky you are to not be awake right now."

**XoX**

It was nearly an hour later that Naruto found himself trudging down the street to Maison Izumo with the number zero nine, Tsukiumi, still in his arms. By now the sun was beginning to set, and all he wanted to do now was get cleaned up, get in bed, and sleep the like the dead. He was tired, he was sore, he was emotionally drained, and to top it off the lower half of his body was not only soaking wet, but also smelled like shit that had been left out in the son for several weeks due to the fact that he had just spent the last half an hour trudging through the sewer in order to sneak away from the place where he and Mutsu had battled it out on the rooftops without anyone, MBI or otherwise, seeing him. Yes, a nice relaxing bath and a long nap on his king sized bed sounded like a very good right about now.

It was rather unfortunate, then, that Naruto arrived at Maison Izumo to discover Miya standing outside on the front porch, broom in hand as she waited for him.

"Welcome home, Naruto-kun," Miya said, her eyes crinkling as she smiled pleasantly at the blond. It was a smile that belied the true terror hidden behind that veneer of beauty and gentleness. Fortunately none of it seemed to be directed at him for the moment, though he could sense the woman was just waiting for the right time to unleash her terror upon him. Naruto decided to count his blessings. "I heard you ran into an old acquaintance of mine."

Naruto shook off the way the air around Miya seemed to darken at the mentioning of her 'acquaintance'. It seemed there was bad blood between her and Mutsu. Not surprising. He knew very little about Miya's past, but even with the limited amount of knowledge he possessed, he knew that she had served as the commander of the first incarnation of the Disciplinary squad along with Mutsu. Naruto could only imagine that Mutsu's split from the group had not been under the best of circumstances.

"Yeah," Naruto replied slowly, wondering if perhaps she was about to unleash her hanya masked. He didn't think so, since the male who seemed to have earned her ire wasn't here, but one can always hope. "I ran into Mutsu while he and two other bloodhounds under Mikogami's command were chasing an Unwinged Sekirei."

"This is her I take it?"

Miya gestured towards Tsukiumi, still passed out and snuggled against him, with her broom. How the woman had been able to sleep so comfortably against him when he smelled horrible was beyond him. Then again, maybe it had something to do with the way she had buried her nose into his neck. Even now he could feel the flesh of her nose nuzzling against his skin.

"Goodness, it looks like someone decided to give her several hundred paper cuts or something."

Naruto was sure that if Miya were not holding her broom in both hands, she would have been using one of them to cover her mouth in an attempt to act like a demure and proper housewife.

"An accurate description," Naruto said, "only instead of paper he used a sword. Mutsu's blade was pretty sharp."

And strong. Naruto had been most surprised when the very thin katana the number zero five used had taken the full brunt of Kubikiribōcho and not snapped. All of the blades used by the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu were extremely powerful in their own right. Not only did they have their own unique abilities, but they were also made from unique materials that were far stronger than your average steel sword. Sharper too. The only way to break one of the seven blades made for the most powerful group of swordsmen to have been born was to mix elemental chakra, either lightning or wind, into a blade in order to increase it's cutting and/or penetrating power. Even then it would take a great deal of time to slice through it.

On the flip side of things, because the blades were made out of a more powerful material than steel, and were far sharper than your average sword, they could easily cut through most bladed weapons without much trouble if one used enough force.

Which was why Naruto was so surprised. He might not have been using his full strength due to him being forced to limit how much he could show, it would have caused quite a bit more trouble if people knew just how strong he really was, but he had put a good deal of power into each blow that Mutsu blocked. The tiny katana the man wielded should have been, if not cut clean through, at least gained a few chips. That it didn't told Naruto that the blade he had was made of something far more durable than your average metal. Perhaps it had been created using the reverse engineered technology found on the Sekirei ship? It was as good a theory as any other one that he could come up with.

"And he was quite skilled in using it," Naruto added almost as an after thought. While he may have been upset by what had happened, the last shinobi couldn't help but admire the number zero five's skills with a blade. He was not in Miya's realm of ungodly talent ― from what he had seen so far of the woman ― but it would not be inaccurate to say that the male Sekirei was far better than Naruto himself. At least as far as raw skills with a blade went. Truth be told, Naruto had never been much of a swordsmen, and when he did use a blade he had never needed actual skill because no one could keep up with him. Who needs talent when you can swing a blade larger than the average Japanese male around faster than the human eye can follow?

"Oh my," Miya said, the blackness that had descended upon her like a cloak vanishing upon hearing his words. Her eyes cracked open, revealing her purple irises to him. They studied him with the same intensity they usually did when Naruto did something that she had not been expecting. "From the way said that it sounds as if you actually fought him." There was a question in her words, even though the way she had phrased it made her sentence sound like a statement. Naruto knew better though.

"I did," Naruto admitted, and though his face remained somewhat bland, partially due to exhaustion, he secretly took pleasure in watching the way the landladies eyes widened. While he had seen the woman surprised a number of times before, this was the first time he had seen her expression showing downright shock. It was amusing to say the very least.

"Are you alright?" asked Miya, and Naruto blinked when the woman began checking him over for any signs of injury. She wouldn't find any, aside from the fact that all of his injuries had been internal via electroshock therapy, they had already healed by now. After a few seconds of trying to see if he had any injuries she leaned back with a frown. "You don't look like you have any injuries," she muttered, then wrinkled her nose. "But you do seem to have a hygiene issue. Naruto-kun, you stink."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well, I was just forced to travel through the sewers in order to escape the battle without being seen by pedestrians or having MBI tracking me, so excuse me if I smell a little rank."

Miya blinked, once.

"You went traveling through the sewers?"

"Yes," Naruto started to make his way past Miya, who was staring at him with an indescribable expression. "Now if you don't mind I need to dress Tsukiumi's wounds, and then I'm taking a nice, long bath."

Before Naruto could get to far, a hand shot out behind him and grabbed onto his shoulder, halting him in place. And then it happened. A slow darkness began to descend upon the world around him. The endless black was stifling as it choked the life out of everything, Naruto could swear he actually saw the grass on either side of the sidewalk wilting right before his eyes. It was as if the dark aura that had suddenly rushed into the clearing was sucking the life out of all the plants nearby.

Naruto knew he shouldn't turn around. He knew it, but he couldn't help it. The desire was too strong. Slowly, his neck craned around so that he could get an eye full of the woman behind him. Miya was smiling at him, her eyes crinkling in a pleasant expression that was borderline terrifying. The shadows cast by her bangs hung over the upper half of her face, almost, but not quite, concealing her eyes made the look all the more horrifying.

The black aura that seemed to emanate death was coming from her, Naruto noted. Wisps of acrid black energy seemed to waft off her frame like smoke. But rather than dissipate into the air like smoke, this wispy aura hung around her, gathering and cloaking her like some kind of unholy veil created by the devil himself, and her hair seemed to be swaying around in an unsteady breeze that was brought on, not by nature, but by the black tendrils of leaking, malignant energy.

Much to Naruto's disappointment, the hanya mask had not appeared behind her. It seemed she was still trying to keep it a secret from him. That was too bad. Naruto was sure he was getting close to a break through with that technique. If he could just see it one more time, the blond Uzumaki was positive he could replicate it to a degree. Then again, perhaps that was why she refused to show it to him.

"Na-ru-to-kun," Miya replied slowly, haltingly, enunciating each syllable to his name very clearly, and not in the way he was used to most women doing. Naruto shivered at the tone in her voice, an instinctive fear that all men have towards women using that tone no matter how many thousands of years they lived coming to the foreground. "I will not allow you to track mud and the gods only know what else through my newly cleaned house. I will also not allow you to dress Tsukiumi's wounds, as it is inappropriate for a man to see a woman in such a state of undress." Miya paused, her smile widening into a grin. "And you know what my policy is on lewd and inappropriate acts within Maison Izumo."

"So you're just going to have me stand out here?" asked Naruto blandly, raising a single eyebrow to look at the woman curiously. For some reason, the way Miya's smile widened made Naruto think he would have been better off not saying anything at all.

**XoX**

"You know," Naruto began in a conversational tone in spite of the fact that he was being blasted with freezing cold water by what felt like those hoses used by the fire department. "Out of all the Sekirei I have, you are the last one I would have expected to volunteer to spray me down. Isn't water, like, anathema to you or something?"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Homura scowled as he continued hosing the blond down with the cold water. It seemed he was still a bit upset by what had happened today. "I don't want to hear any smart ass comments from you! Not after what you did! Do you know how worried I ― we were about you when Seo called in and told us you had left him for some unknown reason!? And then we had to find out from Matsu that you had gotten in a fight with the number zero five of all Sekirei! What the hell were you thinking!?"

Naruto remained silent through the fire users diatribe, though he did smile humorously when he heard Homura's little slip up. It seemed that the fire using partially turned female Sekirei was beginning to get possessive. He wondered if this was a part of their nature or a process of the bonding itself. Then again, the bonding process seemed to be a part of their nature so maybe it was both.

Whatever, he could make theories later.

After letting Homura finish shouting at him, Naruto turned around so that the hose the fire user was holding was spraying his front. He watched, the amusement he felt rising as Homura's eyes widened and his face turned red. Naruto knew why, of course. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers that only covered his privates and a bit of his thighs. The rest of his clothes were currently in the wash.

The fact that those boxers were so wet they were clinging to his skin and partially see through may have also had something to do with the look he was given.

He watched as Homura's eyes trailed down his form, then back up. The Fire user's face was growing redder by the second, and the redness was spreading, moving from the cheeks, to the rest of the face all the way to the scalp and well below the neck.

Naruto wondered what the latest member of his flock was thinking. As far as he knew, Homura was still mostly male, at least down below where it counted. He knew that the Sekirei was currently in the process of turning into a female, but had no time frame for how long it would take. It could take months or it could take days. The whole situation was an unprecedented mess and brought a whole new meaning to the words Gender Bending.

Back to the fire user's current transformation from male to female. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the process of changing from one gender to another affected the Sekirei's thoughts. When the process was complete, would Homura still think like a man? Or would the process also change his thinking to those of a female? Would the white haired fire user begin finding the male form attractive? Or would he ― she ― still be interested in woman?

Thinking about questions brought up an interesting image of all his Sekirei having an orgy, which he dutifully did his best to banish and force his mind back on track.

"I was thinking that Tskiumi was in danger and needed help," Naruto said. Homura blinked as the words registered in his ears. The currently gender confused Sekirei tore his gaze away from the blond Uzumaki's body and looked up into Naruto's blue eyes. "I was thinking that if I didn't do something she would have been forcibly winged by Mikogami." He raised a single eyebrow at the much younger person. "Or are you telling me I should have done nothing and let them take her, oh Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Homura scowled at the blond's jab at his job title. "Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Oh? Then what were you saying?"

"That you shouldn't have been so reckless! You went off on your own and got into a fight with one of the most powerful Sekirei in the game! You could have easily been killed!"

"But I wasn't," Naruto pointed.

"And that makes it better!?" Homura was practically screeching by now. It was loud enough that Naruto was sure the fire user's voice could shatter glass if there was any near him.

However, while there was no glass around for the voice to shatter, there were several people within the residence they were staying at who came out to see what the fuss was all about.

Uzume and Chiho were the first ones out. As the waifish Ashikabi still didn't have the leg strength necessary to walk on her own for prolonged periods of time, she was being carried by Uzume, much to her embarrassment. The girl had actually been offered a wheelchair, but Uzume had put her foot down saying she was going to carry her Ashikabi and no one could convince her otherwise. Personally, Naruto thought she was being so adamant on having her Ashikabi ride piggy back on her so she could cop of feel without rousing Miya's suspicion.

"What's going on here ― woah!"

Uzume found herself gawking when she saw Naruto in nothing but his boxers while being sprayed with a water hose by Homura. The busty brunette wearing her traditional star shirt and tight fitting jeans blinked several times as she eyed him up and down before a salacious grin replaced the surprised expression on her face.

"Not bad, bro," she complimented with a whistle. "You've got some serious muscles going there. If I didn't already have an Ashikabi, I may have ended up picking you. What do you think, Chiho-baby? Chiho?"

When Chiho didn't respond, Uzume turned her head in confusion.

"Chiho, I was asking what you... oh..." Uzume trailed off when she saw her Ashikabi staring at the young (looking) blond with very prominent blush staining her cheeks. They looked like two large sunspots that she had gotten from staying out in the sun for far too long. And was that drool coming out of her mouth?

Uzume began to pout.

"How come you never stare at me like that?"

"Eh?" Chiho blinked several times before her mind actually seemed to register what her Sekirei said. Once she did, however, the red dots on her cheeks began to spread until her entire face looked like a boiled over lobster. "I-It's not like that!"

"Don't worry, I know when I'm being replaced," Uzume fake sniffed. "It seems my eternal love for you can't match up with Naruto's hot bod. I understand."

"U-Uzume-chan!"

"Ara, ara, what's all this noise about?" asked Miya as she too appeared. Or at least, made it look like she randomly happened upon the scene. Naruto knew better. The purple haired landlady had been waiting just inside one of the shogi screen doors, eavesdropping on Homura's angry ranting long before Uzume had ever shown up.

Honestly, Miya was as bad as Matsu when it came to peeping in on other people's conversations.

"Gah!"

"Kya!"

The two females standing on the porch whirled around. Well, Uzume whirled around. Chiho was currently on Uzume's back so she was just taken a long for the ride. It was actually pretty funny, watching Uzume as she spun around, nearly tripping over her own two feet, her arms flailing in the air as she tried to regain her balance while Chiho was screaming loudly as her arms tightened their grip around her Sekirei's neck.

Of course, it would have been bad if they actually _had _fallen. Who knows how badly Chiho might have been injured, but thankfully, the large breasts brunette was able to keep herself from toppling over. She still looked like she was about to have a heart attack though.

"Dammit, Miya!" Uzume swore as she clutched a hand to her breast, the effect of which really just served to emphasis the large chest she was sporting. "You scared the shit out of me ― ouch!"

Uzume's startled rant came to an abrupt end when Miya smacked the poor Sekirei with the handle of her broom. The brunette Sekirei instinctively reached for her head, only for Chiho to begin slipping, forcing the girl to tighten her hold on Uzume, unintentionally choking the woman she had bonded to.

"Swearing is not allowed within Maison Izumo," Miya chided lightly, the handle of her broom moving back and forth like a pendulum. A very threatening pendulum.

"He, eh heh," Uzume chuckled nervously as she re-grabbed Chiho's thighs so the girl could stop strangling her. Her eyes never left the broom though. "Right. Sorry, Miya."

Miya's eyes crinkled in a beautiful smile that had Uzume cringing. Fortunately for the large breasted cloth user, the purplette's were already off her and now on Naruto and Homura.

"Are you all finished getting cleaned up, Naruto-kun?" Miya asked innocently. Naruto's right eye began twitching a bit, but he did his best not to let his annoyance show.

"Seems that way," he replied with faux cheer. "Though getting hosed down doesn't really make one clean. All of the... waste might be gone, but it's done nothing for the smell."

"I see," Miya's smile grew wider. "Then I guess it's a good thing that I have a bath all prepared for you."

This time Naruto couldn't quite contain his annoyance.

"You mean to tell me that I had myself stripped down and blasted with a hose for nothing?"

In the presence of Miya's most beautiful smile, Naruto decided right then and there that this woman was the epitome of evil.

**XoX**

After scrubbing himself so thoroughly his skin had actually been rubbed raw, followed by a long soak in the tub where he let his damage skin heal, Naruto, now dressed in a pair of tight blue jeans and a sleeveless orange shirt, found himself making his way up to the room where Tsukiumi was currently being kept.

Like he had expected, Akitsu was standing right outside the door, a silent sentinel that someone could almost mistake for a statue. The woman was so damn still it looked like she wasn't even breathing.

"Akitsu," Naruto greeted with a slight smile. Said woman looked over at him. Her eyes moved from his eyes, then down to his lips. She blushed and looked away.

"Ah," there was that pause again, "Ashikabi-Sama."

"Has there been any change in Tsukiumi's condition?"

"No," Akitsu shook her head slowly, methodically. "She's still asleep. Miya-Sama came in twice to dress her wounds and change her bandages, but zero nine hasn't woken up yet."

"I see," Naruto said. "Thank you for looking after her."

"Ah..." Akitsu's cheeks turned pink and her head tilted down to look at the ground. "You're welcome."

Naruto shook his head, unsure whether he should be amused or not. The ice user was awfully easy to embarrass, especially when considering how Akitsu's outfit looked like it was more suited to an S&M convention than a household like Maison Izumo. Then again, it could just be that she had trouble accepting praise and gratitude. It wouldn't surprise Naruto, not when he thought about what her life must have been like in MBI's labs.

"I'm going to check in on her," Naruto didn't really know why he felt the need to inform Akitsu of this. It wasn't like this was some kind of hospital or anything with a hierarchical structure that would require him to inform the ice user or anyone else of his intentions. Nevertheless, he still found himself doing so. "Would you like to come inside with me?"

Akitsu tilted her head to the side, silently contemplating his question. After a moment, she nodded.

"Ok."

Room number two oh four was the last of the four rooms located on the second floor. It looked just like every other room within Maison Izumo; tatami mat flooring, off white colored walls, a closet on one side and a window on the wall farthest from the door. The only difference was this ones lack of furnishing. Where the room Naruto shared with his Sekirei was filled with many modern amenities and western styled furniture, Matsu's room was filled with computers and monitors, and Uzume's room was filled with posters and cosplay outfits, room two oh four had none of those, just a single futon laid out in the center of the room upon which Tsukiumi was currently resting.

Naruto stood in the entrance way for a moment, indecision clouding his thoughts. After a second or two, and with some verbal nudging from Akitsu ("Ah, Ashikabi-sama?"), Naruto entered the room and walked over to where Tsukiumi was resting peacefully.

She looked much better than she had after the battle that had nearly ended in her capture. Actually, that was something of a lie. Right now she looked more like a mummy than anything else, her body, from her neck to her legs, was wrapped in white medical bandages, but at least she had been cleaned up. Her face and arms were no longer covered with grime, sweat, and dirt. She didn't look like she had been running for several days on end. If one discounted the multitude of bandages wrapped around her body they could almost assume the woman was just sleeping.

As Naruto looked at the water using Sekirei, uncertainty began to set in again. He wasn't sure why he was even here. Ostensibly it was to check up on Tsukiumi, but with Miya having dressed her wounds and cleaned her up there was really nothing he could do until she woke up. So why was he here then?

A frown crossed the blond's face as he realized he had no clue why he had bothered coming in here when there was nothing for him to do. That realization was offset by the knowledge that there _was _something he could do, he just wasn't sure if he had the capacity or inclination to do it. The last time he had found himself in a similar position ― how long ago was it? fourteen? Fifteen hundred years ago? He couldn't even remember ― had been less than enviable. And it was not a place he would like to be again.

Thankfully, the situation with Tsukiumi was nowhere near as gruesome as that time had been. The water user wasn't in any danger, she was suffering from no fatal wounds. In fact, most of the damage done to her was superficial at best. Yes, if he looked at it from a more positive perspective, things were definitely looking up from the last time he had sat next to somebodies bedside..

A slight jingling sound and the clinking of chains brought Naruto's mind back to the present. He looked over at Tsukiumi again. His hand reached out towards her, as if to grab her hand, or perhaps run his fingers through her hair. He stopped himself before following through, however, and after a moment, withdrew his hand and stood up.

He made his way back out of the room, the 'chink, chink chink' of Akitsu's chains accompanying the sound of their footsteps. After the door to Tsukiumi's temporary residence closed behind him and Akitsu, Naruto turned his attention towards the ice user.

"Akitsu-chan, would you mind heading downstairs and getting Musubi?" he asked. "She should still be sparring with Miya," the blond cocked his head to the side for barely a second, long enough to hear Musubi's shouts and grunts and pained yelps when Miya hit her on the head with the butt of her sword. Yep, they were definitely still sparring.

"Yes, Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu was very quick to do as commanded, eager to please her Ashikabi.

"Oh, and also tell her to clean up as well," Naruto called out. "I'll be starting dinner in a while and I don't want her sweating all over the food when you guys help me prepare it."

"Ah," Akitsu paused. She turned slowly to look at him. Her head cocked to the side for a few seconds before she nodded. With a soft, monotoned "yes" she turned back around and began heading down the stairs to get Musubi and convince her to stop sparring with Miya and take a bath.

With Akitsu gone, Naruto began heading over to the sliding door that was the hidden entrance to Matsu's room. Without even bothering to knock, he slid the door open and walked inside.

As always the inside of Matsu's room was dark save the light granted to the small area by the myriad of computer screens that littered three of the four walls within the room. Naruto's keen eyes had already adjusted to the low amount of light and could make out the information scrolling across many of the screens. From the flow of data and the images on several of the monitors, it was clear to him that Matsu had been working hard.

And she was still working from the looks of things. Sitting in front of one of the consoles was none other than his red haired, perverted Sekirei. Matsu was staring at one of the monitors with lines of flowing data that Naruto recognized as computer coding intently, her fingers flying across the keyboard in front of her at speeds that seemed to rival Naruto's own speed at creating handseals. It was an impressive feat to be sure.

"Matsu will be with you in just a second, Naruto-tan," Matsu told him, alerting the blond male in question to the fact that she knew he was there. He assumed the woman had a camera planted directly outside of her room so she could see who was near her. Looking over at one of the screens cycling through various images of the rooms within Maison Izmo, Naruto knew he was correct. "Why don't you take a seat while Matsu finishes this up."

"Sure," Naruto replied as he moved further into the room. He sat down behind and slightly off to the side of the red head so he could see what Matsu was doing from over her shoulder. It looked like she was hacking into a database, at least, that's what he assumed she was doing. While Naruto made sure to keep up to date on new high end technology and how they worked, even he would admit that his skills at hacking could use work. Still, he was sure his guess was right. The coding looked incredibly complex, which likely meant she was delving into MBI's database, the fact that a lot of the images on some of the other screens seemed to be showing a birds eye view of Shinto Teito merely confirmed that fact in his mind.

"And... there!"

Tapping the keys a few more times with theatrically slow and overly exaggerated motions, Matsu finished whatever it was she was doing. The screen went blank for a moment, then a screen saver of... Naruto in his underwear popped up on the screen.

"Where did you get that image?" asked Naruto as Matsu turned around to face him. He was pretty sure that he had gotten rid of any and all cameras and spyware within his room and the bathhouse. And he did routine sweeps through both areas regularly. Which meant this woman was either getting very good at hiding her peeping appliances, or she was setting them up and then taking them down when she got what she wanted. The salacious red head just gave him a mischievous smile as she poked her tongue out between her lips. It only seemed to confirm that one of these two theories was the most likely scenario.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Naruto frowned, wondering if he should force her to delete it, but in the end decided not to. It wasn't like Matsu having an image of him in nothing but his undergarments as a screen saver was that big a deal.

Besides, there were more important things to focus on.

"I take it you just finished fixing the video recording of my battle with Mutsu and the other Sekirei?" he asked, getting down to the entire reason he had come here.

"Yes," Matsu's expression turned rather serious as she looked at him like something to be studied. "I managed to create a feedback loop by utilizing another video recording from last month that happened at the same time to keep from arousing suspicion that it was tampered with. A good thing to, considering what that video recording showed."

Naruto nodded, well aware of what had been showed.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised by what I saw from that recording," Matsu continued. She took off her glasses, causing her face to look much more mature than it usually was, and studied him with more intense expression. "I knew you were strong from what I managed to gather of you so far, but being able to survive forty thousand volts of electricity coursing through your body, fighting against Mutsu directly afterwords, and level fiving a Sekirei is a bit more than I imagined you would be capable of. To be honest, it's find of scary."

There weren't many ways Naruto could respond to her words, especially when what Matsu had seen wasn't even the tip of the ice berg of what he could actually accomplish. The fact of the matter was no one within the Sekirei plan actually had the capability of defeating him, not even Miya. Hell, none of the Sekirei even had the capability of defeating the more powerful ninja of his age, much less him. While it was true that many of the Sekirei he met had the _potential_ to be as strong as the kages and S ranked ninja from his era, they lacked the necessary training, experience, and killer instincts that made those shinobi so dangerous.

The only ones who cold probably match a kage from his time were the original five disciplinary members with the exception of Matsu, whose strength did not lie in combat, but intelligence gathering. Even then, the only ones who had a shot of actually defeating a kage were Karasuba and Miya, both of whom were supposed to be the two strongest Sekirei in the plan. And even then, Miya was the only one he had found so far who would have ever be able to match the likes of Uchiha Madara, at least in terms of raw power if not skill and ability.

"I take it this is the only level five defeat so far?" asked Naruto, deciding to let his curiosity get the best of him for a moment. He wondered how many Sekirei would actually die before the end of this 'game', as it's been called.

"Yes," Matsu took a deep breath. "I really didn't expect there to be any deaths in the Sekirei Plan," she admitted quietly. Naruto nodded his agreement. Most don't expect these kinds of things to happen. "I mean, while the Sekirei Plan is supposed to be dangerous, due to the fact that it's essentially a war between Sekirei, there have always been strict procedures and rules that most people follow. And while killing a Sekirei is not against the rules, it's definitely frowned upon."

Naruto shrugged.

"I didn't have much time to make any plan that would have allowed all of us to walk away. And I would rather one of my enemies get killed than Tsukiumi because I was afraid of accidentally offing one of my enemies Sekirei."

"I understand," Matsu said, and Naruto knew she would. As one of the first five Sekirei to awaken, she had already experienced war, if on a much _much _smaller scale than himself. Unlike the rest of the Sekirei, she knew that sometimes death was inevitable, even necessary and unavoidable at times. Though he imagined she was still feeling a bit down at the fact that it was one of her fellow Sekirei that had been the necessary casualty. There weren't many of them after all, and she probably felt it was important to protect each one.

"So you're sure that no one saw what happened during the battle between Mutsu and myself?" Naruto asked, just for clarification. While he had acted quickly in getting Matsu to work her magic, there was always a possibility that someone had seen it before she could do her thing. He wanted to be one hundred percent sure that no one saw the video of that battle.

"Yes," Matsu nodded her head. "While they were alerted to your battle when number thirty eight was terminated and reacted very quickly to recover her due to it being a level five termination, they didn't actually look at the video feedback from the satellites due to, I suspect, the fact that they felt they were under a time constraint and it would have taken more effort to pull the file from the databanks, since this particular video was automatically encrypted due to the nature of the recording." She paused, then, almost as an after thought added, "and Minaka was doing his own thing when it happened, so he didn't get a chance to look at the file either."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief at the news.

"Thank you, Matsu," he thanked her. "I'm not sure what I would have done without you. You did a good job."

"Good enough for a reward?" asked Matsu with a flirtatious, or perhaps perverted would be a better word, smile. She placed her glasses back on and suddenly, like a flip had been switched, the mature and intelligent Matsu once more became the perverted female version of Jiraiya.

Cue shudder.

Naruto opened his mouth, no doubt to tell her something along the lines of maybe later, when Matsu spoke again. "After all, you promised Matsu that if she was a good girl you would let her do some experimentation." He promptly shut his mouth after that and took a moment to consider the woman before him and her request.

If Naruto was being one hundred percent honest with himself, he was still very wary of letting himself get too close to his Sekirei. Even now, after he had promised to be better, he had yet to share so much as a simple kiss with any of his Sekirei besides Homura, and even than it had not been a sign of affection. It was simply so the fire user could get his wings. The problem was, in spite of making a promise to be better, it was still hard for him to put words into actions. He had kept his distance from others for so long it was simply hardwired into his psyche. Naruto could probably even go so far as to say it was simply habit now, as natural to him as breathing.

A habit that he's had for over a thousand years at least, perhaps even before then.

The problem itself wasn't necessarily the sex, or the act of intimacy that Matsu was implying she wanted. He'd slept with and seduced more women than he cared to count. It was _who _he was being intimate with that bothered him.

Not that there was anything wrong with his Sekirei. Each and every one of them was absolutely stunning. Beautiful beyond imagination. They made models look like ugly old hags. But it wasn't there beauty that was the problem. It was the bond he shared with them, and he wasn't talking about the metaphysical connection that linked them to him via winging.

The fact of the matter was, despite attempts not to, Naruto found himself actually liking his Sekirei. He enjoyed being in their presence, and he enjoyed spending time with them. There was just something about being with his Sekirei that made him almost forget about all of the traumatic experiences he'd suffered through in the past. Sometimes, it felt as if all he had been through was merely a bad dream rather than a grueling reality.

And that was the crux of his problem. Before now, sex was just that. Sex. There was no real meaning to it beyond pleasure and having a warm body next to him so that he could at least _pretend _there was nothing wrong with his life. It had been a coping mechanism more than anything else. But if he did something with his Sekirei it would not be just sex. There would be meaning behind it, emotions that ran deeper than mere lust. Companionship. Intimacy. Love. These feelings and more would be present, and that wasn't even going into the bond he shared with them as their Ashikabi. For all Naruto knew he could very well lose himself to the bond if he allowed himself to become intimate. And that thought scared him more than he cared to admit.

At the same time, Naruto knew he needed to get over these hang ups. Perhaps being intimate with one of his Sekirei would do that. He didn't necessarily have to have sex with her, but maybe a little intimacy would help him get over the issues he had with getting close to his girls.

"Alright," Naruto said softly. Strangely enough, Matsu either had not heard him, or had been prepared for him to reject her because a second after he gave his single word answer, she began defending why she deserved to 'experiment' with him.

"Matsu understands that Naruto-tan wants to take it slow, but sometimes I think you're taking things a little _too _slow. Matsu's not asking for much, just a little..." she trailed off after a few seconds, blinking. The red head stared at him for some time, her face blank, as if her mind was just now registering something that had happened some time ago. After a few seconds, her eyes widened in shock. "Wait. Did you just say alright?"

Naruto's lips twitched very slightly in amusement, but it quickly vanished as he began preparing himself for what he planned on doing.

"I did. After all, you've been helpful, and a good girl. And do you know what happens to good girls?"

Matsu shook her head, her eyes still wide. Naruto, for the first time in a long time, allowed a seductive smile to cross his face.

"They get_ rewarded_," he purred. Matsu's eyes, impossibly, widened even more. Her cheeks took on a deep shade of red and her breathing began to pick up a bit. Through the bond, he could sense Matsu's arousal. It was so powerful it almost felt like a physical sensation rather than a mental one.

Naruto could understand why. It had been a while since he used any of his skills in seduction, but a few months could not change several hundred lifetimes of experience. While Homura may have been a skilled seducer of women when he was working at a host club. And male. Naruto was the single most talented person at seducing women alive. Period. With naught but a few words modulated with the correct seductive and sensual overtones to his voice, Naruto could have any women (married, single, divorced, lesbian) eating out of the palm of his hands ― or on their knees sucking him off ― and while the blond Uzumaki was not one to brag about his skills at seducing and sleeping with women, it would not be inaccurate to say that he was the closest thing to a sex god this world would ever have.

No, seriously. There was a reason his Icha Icha series was so damn popular, and it wasn't just because ninety nine point nine percent of the male population were a bunch of dirty perverts. Writing about past experiences is infinitely better than trying to come up with something from the imagination.

"Lay down," Naruto ordered the red head, who looked like she was just barely restraining herself from hyperventilating with excitement. Or launching herself at him in an attempt to rape him. When Matsu did as instructed, laying down on the futon, Naruto asked, "Are these walls sound proof?"

"Um... what? Sound proof?" Matsu blinked several times, her lust at actually getting something she had been desiring for a long time now warring with the more logical part of her brain. "Ah, um, let me think. They, well, oh! Right. They've been sound proofed. All the computers I have tend to generate a lot of noise, so Miya sound proofed the walls and door for me."

Naruto noticed almost right away that she wasn't speaking in her childish third-person speak, letting him know that her usual act was just that, an act. He didn't comment on it, merely nodding his head at her words.

"Good."

There was a moments pause as Naruto took a good look at the female before him. Matsu was laying on her back, her legs straight, arms at her side. Her head was raised and she was staring at him. Even in the dim lighting he could see the large blush staining her cheeks, and he could hear her heavy breathing over the loud hum of the dozens of computer consoles and monitors within the room.

Scooting forward until he was sitting by her feet. He lifted one leg up by the calf and divested the appendage of her shoes, then did the same with the other one. He looked over at Matsu's face to see a confused expression on it and smiled.

"All in good time," he said simply before starting things up by giving her a simple message.

If Matsu had had any intention of complaining about not getting right down to sexy times, they were washed away when her blond Ashikabi began kneading her feet with his hands. It started with him simply grasping one of them in both hands and putting minor pressure on her arches with his thumbs. Then began adding small clockwise and counterclockwise rotations while continuously adding pressure.

Matsu moaned as Naruto worked his magic. It was not well known to a vast majority of people, minus those who were 'experimental' when it came to their sex life, but the feet often had at least one or two erogenous zones, places that had more nerve endings than others and therefore were more sensitive to stimulation than other places on the body. Matsu, Naruto noted idly, had two; one at the soles of her feet and the other being her big toe. He decided not to use those and leave them for later when they did more than just what he planned on doing.

He briefly thought about using his chakra to enhance the effect his hands were having on the amorous red head, but decided not to. It wouldn't do for him to overload her nerves with pleasure before they had even done anything.

Deciding that enough time had passed, and realizing that if he kept this up Matsu may very well cum before they even really started ― it had happened before ― Naruto stopped messaging her feet.

He ignored Matsu's wines, smiling with a bit of smug satisfaction about how she had almost been ready to complain about doing something with so little sexual connotations and now didn't want him to stop at all, and placed a kiss on the sole of her left foot. The blond heard Matsu gasp, and grinned slightly before moving on, placing another kiss, this time on her ankle.

Slowly, Naruto began working his way up her leg. He moved the leg he was not working over off his lap and managed to get himself situated in a seiza position without the use of his hands, which were currently busy holding up Matsu's other leg.

With the skill of someone who had been in a similar situation millions of times, Naruto kissed his way up her calf, listening intently to the moans and cries Matsu released. It was easy to tell which places caused her the most pleasure. Each time he found one of her erogenous zones her breath would hitch and a tiny gasp would escape her. This would have followed by a loud moan as Naruto kissed and suckled on her flesh.

Eventually, Naruto set her foot down and began leaning over and down so he could begin placing kisses along her thigh. He moved the front flap of her dress away and spread her legs apart so he could access her inner thigh.

Matsu's muscles trembled under the touch of his lips. Her hands were tightly clenching the sheets of her futon as she experienced sensations she had only ever read about until now.

"Oh gods! Naruto!" Matsu gasped as her Ashikabi placed his mouth just off to the side of her panty clad core. "More! Please! I need more!"

Naruto smiled as he breathed on her mound, still clad in white panties.

"As you wish."

Still not removing her panties, Naruto placed his mouth directly over Matsu's mound and began to gently suck on her lips through the cloth. The red haired Sekirei released a much louder gasp than usual, followed by a particularly throaty moan. Her hands went to his head, fingers digging into his scalp as she grabbed a fistful of his hair. Naruto continued his work, heedless of the slight pain from his scalp as several hairs were accidentally plucked out.

His tongue darted out, tasting the fabric of Matsu's panties and the secretion of her juices that were beginning to stain the cloth as her arousal grew. In response, Matsu began grinding and bucking her hip into his face, no doubt hoping to increase the feelings Naruto was giving her by pushing herself into him.

"Ahn! Naruto! Stop teasing me!" Matsu cried out. Her hips jerked, her fingers were clenching the spread of the futon tightly, and her thighs were quivering as her feet planted themselves firmly on the floor. It sounded like she was getting impatient. Naruto decided he had wound up this amorous red head enough.

Gripping her hips with both hands, Naruto hooked his fingers under the waistband of her panties. Matsu knew exactly what he was doing and seemed eager to let him do it with as little resistance as possible. She lifted her hips off the ground, allowing him to slide her panties down her legs more easily. They stuck to Matsu's core for a moment, the dampness from her arousal causing the sticking sensation, but they still came off with relative ease.

Her white and surprisingly plain looking panties slid down the smooth expanse of her beautifully shaped thighs, past her calves and eventually her feet. Naruto tossed the damp piece of bunched up fabric away and finally got his first look at the prize that lay beneath one of his Sekirei.

Situated in between Matsu's legs, Naruto found himself staring at the mound before him. It was different than what he had seen in other women. It wasn't really a mound or anything of the sort. It was smooth and curved downwards perfectly (a small difference in Sekirei physiology perhaps?). They didn't appear to have any folds or lips either. It was just a perfectly thin slit that disappeared past her legs as it followed the curvature of her mound. It was the sign of someone who had never so much as even pleasured herself.

Naruto was surprised by this. He had, in all honesty, expected someone of Matsu's amorous nature to have at least masturbated. Was this another difference between normal human females and Sekirei? Perhaps their desire to experience love at their Ashikabi's hands kept them from doing anything with themselves? If that truly was the case it was just another sign of how devoted to their Ashikabis they truly were.

"Naruto?"

Hearing his name called, Naruto looked up to see Matsu staring at him inquisitively. Realizing he had lost himself in thought in the middle of being intimate with his Sekirei, the blond Uzumaki offered the female an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I was just admiring the view," while saying this, Naruto let his eyes trail down to the junction between Matsu's legs, letting the amorous young woman know just where he was looking. It was almost cute to see Matsu of all people actually going red from embarrassment.

The red head mumbled something incoherent. Naruto thought she was saying something about him, but couldn't be sure as he was already leaning down. It wasn't long before he was hit with the scent of her arousal, an unusual and heady smell that reminded him of lavender and lilacs. Strange, but not unpleasant.

Bending down the rest of the way, Naruto once again gripped both sides of Matsu's hip with her hands. Leaning down, he placed his lips directly over her maidenhood, giving her 'lips' a prolonged kiss as he nuzzled his nose against the small patch of red pubic hair.

A strange noise emerged from the back of Matsu's throat. A low, rumbling noise that was slightly halted at uneven intervals. It sounded almost like a mix between a gasp and purring.

Naruto's tongue flicked out from in between his mouth and teased Matsu's lips. His pink, fleshy appendage traced along the outer edge of her labia, taunting her with it's feather-light touches. Matsu squirmed and wiggled beneath him. Her hips tried to buck and jerk in order to make him give her more, but Naruto's hands arrested her movement and kept her still, forcing her to take his teasing.

"Gods, Naruto!" she cried as his tongue just barely penetrated her outer lips and teased her insides. "More! I need more! P-Please!"

Deciding to give her more, Naruto removed his mouth from Matsu's lower lips. The woman wined and pleaded with him, but he ignored her as he stuck a finger inside of his mouth to wet it. She wouldn't be begging much longer.

He pressed his finger against her sex and applied pressure. He watched as his finger was almost literally sucked into Matsu's waiting and eager sex. As his digit was sucked into her up to the second knuckle, Naruto curved his finger and quickly found the small ribbed area up the front of her anterior walls and began rubbing it.

The reaction was almost instantaneous. Matsu came, hard. Naruto felt her walls tighten around his finger to an almost painful degree. Only the juices she released kept his finger from getting stuck inside of her. Her hips jerked upwards almost violently as she released a loud scream of pleasure. Her body and mind, it seemed, was completely unprepared for a sexual encounter with someone like him.

Naruto didn't let up. Despite having already brought Matsu to climax, he began working her over again. His finger moved within her and continuously rubbed against the small, sensitive wall of flesh. Meanwhile, his mouth came back into play, pressing itself against her lips above the finger that was currently bringing her pleasure.

His tongue darted out, teasing her lips apart and reaching the small hood that hid another prize. He skillfully worked out the small bundle of nerves out from behind it's covering and took them into his mouth.

Then, he began to truly send Matsu into orgasmic bliss.

With her clit in his mouth, Naruto began to suckle on one of the most sensitive area's of a woman's body. His tongue flicked against the small bundle of nerves, his teeth lightly grazed against her. He nipped, sucked, and licked the sensitive bundle until Matsu couldn't stand it. Her screams of pleasure became incoherent gibberish that sounded like sixteen different alien languages mixed together.

He had no idea how long he was there, though he counted time by the number of orgasms the Sekirei he was pleasing went through, but eventually the stimulation and pleasure became too much for the perverted hacker. Her body twitched and shuddered several times, before the red head went completely slack, her entire body had gone limp.

Looking up from where he had been working, Naruto saw that Matsu's eyes had rolled into the back of her head and her mouth was parted slightly with a large amount of drool trailing down her cheek and chin. Her chest was heaving, breasts jiggling with each movement, the only sign she was still amongst the living.

Seeing the results of his actions, Naruto wondered if perhaps he had gone a bit overboard?

Nah.

Pulling his finger out from inside of Matsu and removing his mouth from her womanhood, Naruto sat up. He wiped the lower half of his face with his hand. It was completely drenched with Matsu's arousal. Almost absently, he began licking his fingers clean. Much like the scent of her arousal, Matsu tasted very different from other women. She tasted surprisingly sweet, like honey almost. It was a most unusual flavor and not something he had ever tasted from a woman before. He wondered if this too was just another part of being a Sekirei.

As Naruto shifted into a more comfortable sitting position the tightness in his pants caused him to look down at his own arousal. That would need to be taken care of soon, either by pleasing himself or cooling down. Maybe he should take an ice bath or something?

Before his thoughts on how he would take care of his own sexual arousal, the door behind him slid open. There was a hiss of steel and Naruto suddenly found a blade grazing the left side of his throat over his shoulder. It was just barely touching his neck, merely grazing it, but he knew that may be subject to change at anytime.

"Miya," Naruto greeted casually as he continued cleaning his face and fingers. He didn't sound like he was particularly worried about the landladies presence.

"Naruto," Miya's voice was surprisingly calm. Normally when she was angry her voice would sound unnaturally pleasant, like she was talking to an old friend she had missed dearly. She must be incredibly upset if she was foregoing her usual method of terror. Then again, her usual method didn't really work on Naruto.

"I thought Matsu's room was sound proofed?"

"It is."

"Ah."

Naruto nodded his head, taking her answer to mean that she had her own listening device installed somewhere within this room. It almost made him wonder why she had waited until after he had finished pleasing Matsu to come in. Had she been away at the time and thus didn't hear them until they were almost finished? Or was there another reason for her coming in so late.

He supposed it didn't really matter, even though he was curious.

"Hey, Miya," the sound of Homura's voice came from somewhere beyond the door, though it sounded like the fire user was getting closer. "What are you ― oh! Oh gods!"

Naruto, being careful not to slice his throat open on Miya's blade, turned his head so he could see Homura standing behind Miya out of the corner of his eyes. The flame wielding Sekirei was standing just a little behind and to Miya's left. Homura's eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth was agape, and his cheeks had already surpassed Hinata red as he took in the scene before him.

Not that he could be blamed. Matsu was still lying on the ground, her form prone and her legs spread with him situated in between them. It was clear to anyone what they had been doing.

"You know I don't approve of illicit relations within Maison Izumo," Miya said, her voice still calm. Dangerously so. Homura was so, ahem, engrossed with what he was seeing ― it was like a car accident, no matter how much you wanted to look away you just couldn't ― that he didn't even seem to register the dangerous quality to Miya's voice.

"Yes."

Perhaps it was his answer, or maybe the way Naruto stuck another finger in his mouth and sucked it clean, but Miya seemed to get even more upset. Her grip on her blade tightened, the sound of leather creaking echoed with surprising loudness within the small room lit by several dozen monitors.

This time, Homura did notice her reaction and backed away. Or tried to. He ended up bumping into Uzume, who had Chiho on her back. From the slightly disheveled appearance of their hair, Naruto judged they had just woken up from a nap.

"Oi, oi, what's going on here?" asked Uzume, curious to see what had caused the small gathering of people near Matsu's room was. She peaked over Homura's shoulder, Chiho looking with her, and managed to catch sight of Naruto sitting in between Matsu's legs.

While Chiho's face took on the shade of a red sun, Uzume took several seconds to gawk at Naruto and Matsu, before offering him a grin.

"Wow, bro! So one of your Sekirei finally broke down your will and got you to experiment with them, ne? I'm not surprised it was Matsu though. She's always been the biggest pervert I've ever met."

Uzume gave him a sly grin. There was a teasing glint in her eyes and Naruto knew he was going to catch flak for this from the busty brunette, especially after how he had stopped her from doing something with her Ashikabi numerous times.

"Though now I'm kind of upset at you. All those times you stopped me and Chiho-baby from having our fun ―"

"U-Uzume-chan!"

"― and here you are experimenting with our perverted hacker." She gave him a mock pout, completely ignoring the embarrassed shouting of her Ashikabi. "Really, I'm not sure you have a right to stop me from having my fun anymore."

"Uzume," Homura hissed warningly, his eyes locked on Miya. "I'm not sure now's the best time for this."

"Eh?" Uzume looked over at the fire user, her expression denoting confusion. "Why not?" In response to her question Homura simply pointed at Miya. Uzume's eyes went wide, and her face paled. "Oh..."

Miya was standing still as a statue. Even her breathing was so slow it was hard to tell she was a living being and not just a very realistic doll. But it was not the way the purplette stood still, nor was it the expression on her face that terrified Uzume and Homura.

It was her presence, or lack thereof. Miya had always had a presence about her, a certain feel to her that commanded the respect of those around her. Even when she was posing as the kind landlady who was always willing to help anyone in need there was just something about Miya that made people show her deference and respect. Now it was gone. Her entire presence had simply disappeared. She was like a blank spot to their senses. They could see her, but they couldn't find her.

And it was utterly terrifying.

They didn't know what this was. Neither of the Sekirei even knew such a thing was possible. The thought that someone could just disappear from their senses entirely was a horrifying thought, and they did not have the experience to deal with it. Neither of them knew how this was possible.

Naruto did. As someone who had seen the best and most powerful warriors life had to offer, and someone who had fought those very same super powered beings, Naruto knew what had happened. It was a very rare ability that took years of training and experience to master.

All beings of great power have a presence that could be felt by those who were sensitive to such things. It was that 'presence', that aura that allowed shinobi of sufficient skill to sense an impending attack from their adversaries. When an enemy ninja or Sekirei would attack, their aura would spike with killing intent or at least the intent to harm, even Musubi. By sensing that spike in aura, a person could tell an attack was coming a split second before it happened, thus allowing them to avoid the attack entirely.

And that was why what Miya had done was so terrifying. Without that aura, that presence, it was impossible to sense what she would do next.

It was actually impressive. Very impressive. While Naruto could do it that was only because he'd had several millennial of training his presence to disappear. In all his life there had only been one other person he knew who could cause their presence to vanish so thoroughly.

Uchiha Madara, the founder of the Uchiha Clan. Madara had been a master at utilizing his presence to the highest degree possible. At times he could make his presence so overwhelming that less experienced shinobi would simply drop dead of a heart attack, while at others he could cause his presence to disappear so completely you would be dead before you could even realize he was there. Aside from his overwhelming power and skills in battle, that had been one of the reasons he had been held up to as one of the most powerful ninja in the world, and why so many people feared him.

That Miya could do this spoke very highly of her abilities and experience as a warrior. It also served to further confirm his thoughts on her power. If there was anyone currently living who could have matched some of the best his era had to offer, it was this woman right here.

"What's everyone doing over here?"

Before his thoughts could go any further, Musubi, Akitsu, and Kusano walked up, the green girl in between her two sister Sekirei, holding their hands. The one who had spoken was, of course, Musubi.

"Why is Matsu-san sleeping so early in the day?" asked Musubi, ever the oblivious one. "Did she do some sparring too? She does look kind of tired..."

"Oh she's tired alright," Uzume grinned, snapping out of her fear thanks to Musubi's oblivious nature. "But it's not because she was sparring. Unless you count what she and bro here did as sparring."

"U-Uzume-chan!" Chiho gasped, her already red face going redder. An impressive feat to be sure.

"Is now really the time for this?" asked Homura, still eying the stock still landlady fearfully.

"Ah," Akitsu cocked her head to the side as her eyes slowly took in the scene before her. She eyed Naruto, then Matsu, then Naruto again, and then her eyes went to the junction between Matsu's spread legs. She blushed. "No panties."

"No panties?" Musubi looked confused. She lifted her short skirt, thinking Akitsu might be talking about her. When she found out that it was not her and she had not forgotten to put on panties, she lifted Akitsu's longer skirt.

"Is she serious?" asked Uzume as she watched Musubi check to see who wasn't wearing panties. "She can't seriously not see what's going on here, right?" she looked over at Chiho, who was too busy being embarrassed by Musubi's lack of modesty to respond, then Homura who had pressed his palm against his face in exasperation. "Not even Musubi can be _that _oblivious."

"Don't be so sure about that, Uzume," the fire user said, the sound of his voice muffled by his hand.

Still confused, the shrine maiden with strange pacifistically violent tendencies said, "We're both wearing panties. What are you talking about, Akitsu?"

"Matsu," was Akitsu's single word response.

"Matsu?"

Musubi looked over at Matsu and finally realized what Akitsu was talking about.

"Oh!" Musubi gasped in excited realization, her left hand forming a fist as he smacked it into the open palm of her right hand. "I see! Matsu-san isn't wearing panties! Wait..." As the knowledge that her computer hacking sister Sekirei wasn't wearing panties set in, Musubi scratched the back of her head in confusion. "Why isn't Matsu-san wearing panties?"

A groan and a face palm was given by Homura, while Uzume began chuckling at the naïve shrine maiden. At the same time, Chiho was looking utterly mortified. Her face was red enough to make a boiled lobster jealous, and Naruto would not have been surprised if steam started pouring out of her ears.

Miya remained eerily still.

"He heh," Uzume grinned. "I guess you're right, Homura. But then, that's Musubi for you."

Homura just sighed.

While all this was going on, little Kusano had managed to worm her way forward, pushing through the much larger Sekirei until she was standing in front of her onii-chan. The adorable tiny terror with the ridiculously strong teeth stared at her big brother with her large, innocent eyes looking confused.

"Ne, ne, onii-chan?" she said, getting the blond's attention. "Why is Ma-chan not wearing panties? Should I stop wearing panties too?"

For the first time since this entire fiasco had started, Naruto paled. He looked over at Miya, who for some reason seemed even more horrible and terrifying than she had several seconds ago, despite not having changed from her stiff, statuesque posture.

Shifts in perception based on the happenings going on around people really were an incredible phenomenon.

"I'm in trouble," was all Naruto could say.

"Yes," Miya said, speaking for the first time since the other Sekirei entered the scene. Her voice was just as void of emotion as her face. It was frightening enough that even Naruto was beginning to feel uneasy. "Yes you are."

Naruto was really beginning to hate Murphy.

* * *

><p><strong>First of all, I would like to apologize for my long absence. There are many reasons I have not been updating as much, the first of which is my muse had switched from my Naruto stories to my Harry Potter story, which for those of you who have read it will know I shot 27 out in somewhere around two to three months. The second reason is because I just lost all motivation to write Naruto stories for a while. For those of you who are like me, you'll understand that when a story doesn't essentially write itself, it's impossible to write a good story. When my muse sucked my Naruto motivation from me, I just couldn't write anything worth reading, so I decided to take a break from my Naruto stories and focus on something else. That something else being Harry Potter. Anyways, I do hope this latest chapter was enough to make up for my long absence.<strong>

**Thank you all very much for waiting patiently for me to find motivation to write again, and for all the reviews you've given me. While it doesn't have the most reviews of all my stories, it is the story with the most reviews per chapter, and that makes my favorite story to write.**


	21. Opposites Most Definitely do NOT Attract

**Chapter 21: Opposites Most Definitely do NOT Attract**

**XoX**

"Ha! You think you can beat me with those sucky moves!"

"Oi! Don't diss my moves you damned button masher! Unlike you, I actually use skill to earn my wins."

"Why don't you say that after you win a game against me, hmm?"

"Grr! I'll show you how to play the game, bro! I swear I'll win this time!"

"Good luck with that."

Sitting on the large couch within his bedroom, Uzumaki Naruto found himself playing Street Fighters IV for the Playstation 3 against Uzume. They had been playing for the last hour or so, and so far they had played ten rounds with Naruto winning each round by a landslide. Not that this surprised him in the least. When it came to video games or anything involving hands really, he was king.

Currently, Naruto was playing as Cammy White, who was his favorite character because she was sexy, hot, kicked ass, and took names. She was like the perfect combination of all the things he loved in a woman rolled up into one tiny package.

And while the immortal Uzumaki played using his favorite femme fatale, Uzume was playing as Ryu, who had some decent moves but was far too slow a character in Naruto's opinion. Of course, he was probably biased against the person many people consider the face of Street Fighters because Ryu wasn't an attractive female capable of kicking ass and taking names.

If Naruto wanted to see a dude capable of kicking ass and taking names, he would just look at himself. He was better than Ryu was any day of the week. A regular Hardcore bad ass who had graduated with top grades from the school of hardcore badassery. At least he was in his own mind.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Heh, you like it? That was my special move."

"Special move my ass! All you're doing is mashing buttons like a maniac on speed!"

"Think whatever you like. You're just jealous of my mad skills."

Naruto's fingers were a blur of motion as he pressed the buttons on his controller at speeds that would have probably broken any other controller. Fortunately for him, several seals had strategically painted onto his controller were able to keep it from turning into dust under the force of his light speed fingers. He would have given himself a pat on the back for his foresight. Too bad he was too busy beating Uzume in another round to do so.

"No, no, no, no!" Uzume wailed in shock and despair as she watched Cammy deliver the fatal blow against Ryu by turning into what looked like a human drill and smashing into Ryu's stomach with aher sexy legs. "I can't believe it! You beat me again!" She turned to glare at the blond sitting next to her and glared at him. "How do you keep beating me?"

Naruto sent Uzume a smug look.

"I'm just awesome like that."

Uzume's right eye began twitching.

"When did you get so cocky, bro?" When Naruto did nothing more than widen that blasted smile on his face, Uzume switched tactics. "Whatever, let's go another round. I'll beat you this time for sure."

"I don't think so," Naruto said, the look of smug superiority still on his face, only this time it was tinged with amusement when he saw Uzume's left eye join the right one in it's twitching. "You've had your three strikes so now you're out. Why don't you let your cute Ashikabi play me now. I bet she'll give me a better challenge than you."

At the mention of her Ashikabi, Uzume turned her head to look at Chiho, who was just sitting on the comfortable leather chair closest to her Sekirei. The girl had been sitting there since the beginning of what had turned into a battle royal between the cloth user and the enigmatic Uzumaki. Her hands were situated in her lap and there was a placid smile on her face, as if just watching Uzume have fun brought her a kind of nirvana that few could or ever would achieve.

That changed the moment Naruto said her name and Uzume turned to look at her. The girl's face turned a light shade of red at seeing her Sekirei and her savior both looking at her with equally intense expressions.

"You want me to play?" asked Chiho, her voice sounding like a mouse squeaking. "I-I'm not sure I'd be very good, Naruto-san. I'm sure Uzume-chan can give you a much better challenge than I could."

Uzume puffed out her chest at her Ashikabi's praise of her Street Fighter fighting skills, which consequently did some very nice things with her chest, as Naruto could attest to. Unfortunately, he couldn't let her ego get too big, therefore it was his job to burst her bubble before her head inflated to such a proportion that it wouldn't be able to fit through his door.

"I doubt you could be any worse than Uzume," Naruto said dryly. He studiously ignored the loud 'oi!' coming from the cloth user. "Remember, I just beat her ten times in a row. I need someone new to give me a challenge, and seeing as you are the only other person in the room that leaves you as the only option." He offered the girl a smile. "I'm sure you'll do fine. And besides, it's not right for us to do have all the fun playing video games while you sit there looking pretty."

Chiho flushed, whether due to his smile or the looking pretty comment was unknown. Naruto figured it was a mixture of both. The lithe young woman wasn't very good at accepting compliments. He would have called her humble, but Naruto had a feeling there was another reason for her seeming inability to accept praise of any kind.

Whatever the case was, it did not change the uncertain expression on Chiho's face.

"I don't know..."

"Ah, come on, Chiho-baby," Uzume thrust the controller into her Ashikabi's hand. Chiho blinked at the controller now in her hands with the same uncertainty she had when Naruto suggested she try her hand playing against him. "You have to play and beat this jerk in my honor. At least give it a try."

Chiho looked at the controller uncertainly. Naruto doubted the girl had ever played a video game before in her life. They didn't have any at the hospital, and while it was possible she had played some before the disease that had rendered her a paraplegic, he highly doubted the girl had even so much as touched a video game system. She seemed more like the type who enjoyed being outdoors and exploring than the kind of girl who would sit at home on her rear all day and play video games.

Still, the lithe young woman seemed game.

"W-Well, ok," she said, still sounding a tad uncertain. "I'll give it a try..."

"Give what a try?"

The voice that came from the doorway had Uzume stiffening in both shock and fear. Chiho looked surprised as she turned her head to face the person the voice belonged to, but she didn't seem to be fearful as her Sekirei was. Probably because she had yet to actually be on the receiving end of the woman's Hanya mask. On the other side of things, Naruto was completely calm and composed as he looked at Miya whilst said woman stood in the doorway, one hand holding her broom while the other was on it's handle as if it were some kind of sword.

Considering the way she was able to swing that thing it might as well have been a sword.

"Just what are you three doing?" asked Miya, her voice mild and her head tilted in what could be considered idle curiosity. There was a smile on her face, a very pleasant smile that had Uzume shuddering subconsciously in fear.

"Ah, eh heh," Uzume squeaked out her usual laugh, though it sounded nothing like her normal amused laugh. "Well," she coughed into her hand. "We were just, um, watching bro here like you asked us to and, uh..." Her eyes darted to and fro as if looking for a miracle to save her, or perhaps an escape route should things turn sour. There were none. "And uh, well, you know..."

"No, I don't know," Miya smiled pleasantly. "Why don't you enlighten me."

Uzume looked close to hyperventilating, much to the surprise of her Ashikabi who wasn't entirely sure why her Sekirei looked so frightened by the pleasant landlady. Naruto knew why, of course. Miya could be damn scary when she wanted to be. He had seen her use that mask of her's to great effect. He wondered if she would use it here.

One can always hope.

"We're playing Street Fighter," Naruto told the purple haired landlady, not at all afraid of repercussions unlike a certain veiled Sekirei. "It's a very fun game. Would you like to play, Miya-chan?"

Miya's right eye twitched slightly before she regained her pleasant demeanor.

"No, thank you. I am not really into computer games."

"That's too bad," Naruto actually sounded somewhat despondent. He was sure that Miya would be killer at Street Fighters. As a general rule people who followed the ways of the sword had more dexterity and strength in their fingers than most other people, ninjutsu users being an obvious exception (of course, this was no longer an applicable comparison as the only ninjutsu user in the world was Naruto). "So, did you need something?"

There were several seconds of silence as Miya stared at Naruto, her beautiful face set in that gorgeous smile she always had on. The look did not fool Naruto. He knew she was annoyed with him, both because of his immunity to her fear tactics and because he more or less refused to comply with her demands.

Though it would be slightly inaccurate to say he did not acquiesce to them. He _had _confined himself to his room after the Matsu incident as she had _requested_. It just so happened that keeping him confined in the space where he had 'set up shop' so to speak, was not conducive to keeping him from enjoying himself.

Ah, the joys of video games. One of the few inventions in this world that humanity made right.

Miya sighed, obviously realizing this fact. He wondered if she was going to admit defeat or just tactically retreat and do some reconnaissance on him until she had a clearer idea of how to properly chastise him.

He wished her luck with that.

"I came to inform you that Tsukiumi is awake," Miya told him. Now _that _got Naruto's attention. It also seemed to get the attention of both Chiho and Uzume, if their neck breaking head turns were any indication. "She woke up just a few moments ago while I was about to get rid of her bandages."

"And how is she?" asked Naruto, trying not to let anything show on his face. He wouldn't necessarily say he was worried about the number zero nine, but he had felt a bit apprehensive about how she would react once she had woken up. Given that she was Tsundere, it wouldn't surprise him if she started shouting and causing a ruckus.

"She is fine," Miya assured the blond. Naruto noticed her smile widen and wondered if perhaps his carefully constructed mask of indifference was not as solid as he assumed it was. "She was a little disoriented when she woke up, but after I informed her of her whereabouts and how she got here, she seemed to calm down."

"That's good," Naruto sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was for Tsukiumi to freak out over finding herself in a new and strange place that she had never seen before. That she was a Sekirei only made it worse. That her power was over water made the magnitude of how catastrophic such an event could be rise by a factor of at least ten. Water and Japanese style houses such as this just did not mix.

On that note, maybe he should think of putting up seals that would prevent water damage. It was something to think about at least.

"She wanted to see you," Miya started again. "That's actually why I'm here."

"Oh?" Naruto couldn't help but grin at her words. "But I thought I was grounded, _mom?_" There was a definite tone of sarcasm in the blond's voice, and Miya noticed it instantly.

"If that's the case then perhaps I should take out all of your video games and that television of yours so that you don't have anything to occupy your time with," Miya suggested with a smile so pleasant it sent chills down Naruto's back. Uzume and Chiho didn't look much better. "Maybe then you'll actually reflect on why I had you stay in your room in the first place."

"Urk!"

Naruto felt like someone had punched him in the gut. To be more specific it felt like Tsunade had punched him in the gut using her full strength. Would Miya really take away the only form of entertainment humans had connived in the past several thousand years that he could actually enjoy? She couldn't do that!

Could she?

"You wouldn't do that would you, Miya?"

Miya's smile just widened.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto felt truly uncertain about his position.

Maybe he should have just stayed silent.

**XoX**

A frown marred his face as he stood in front of the door that led to Tsukiumi's room. A part of his displeased expression, he knew, came from the fact that Miya finally had something over him with which she could use to make him do things he might be otherwise predisposed towards not doing. He cursed himself for being stupid enough to actually give away his one weakness (not including ramen).

Still, it wasn't like this was the end of the world. He doubted Miya would actually take away his video game system. She may threaten him, but even she knew there were lines that could not be crossed. And even if she did, it wasn't like Naruto couldn't just steal it back. His skills in stealth were second to none.

Yes. Everything would be fine. He wouldn't lose the one thing humanity made that he couldn't criticize in any way to Miya.

"Well," a voice from behind startled the blond Uzumaki from his thoughts. "Are you going to go in, or just stand there?"

Naruto turned his head ever so slightly to see Miya standing behind him, that ever pleasant smile on her face. He gave her a slightly annoyed look.

"Why are you following me?" he asked plainly. After that fiasco in his room where Miya had discovered one of his few mortal weaknesses, he had high tailed it out of there in his haste to not only make a tactical withdrawal from the situation (Naruto did not run away), but also get away from Miya. Naturally, that last part had become a non factor since she had followed him.

"Seeing as how I can no longer trust you not to give into your beastly desires and take advantage of all these women you have bound to yourself, I have decided it would be best if I came with you when you speak to Tsukiumi." Naruto's eyes began twitching. The way she said that made it sound like that moment back in Matsu's room was all his fault and not that of his most perverted Sekirei. "This is simply to ensure that you do not do anything immodest, Naruto-san."

Ouch. She was actually using the less personal and affectionate suffix on him. He must have really pissed her off.

"Right," Naruto decided it was best to just not argue with the purple haired landlady on this. Though, if he were honest with himself he had to question her 'no lewd acts' policy. She had been a married woman at one point, so unless she was a prude who had never experienced the act of being intimate with her husband, she had most likely committed these 'lewd' acts herself at some time during the past.

So why then, did was she so set against other people doing them now? From what he understood the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi was that of a metaphysical and empathic connection that was formed around the love a Sekirei had for their Ashikabi. If one were to think of it that way then a Sekirei bond was akin to marriage, only it was more powerful and could not be broken like most how most human marriage often broke.

Maybe she was like this simply because she was bitter since she was no longer getting any? It made sense to him, though he would never actually speak these thoughts out loud. While he picked on her and got on her nerves a lot, he did actually like the woman.

His eyes landed back on the door that led to Tsukiumi's room, a frown appearing on his face. Naruto was not sure why, but for whatever reason he was feeling inexplicably nervous about entering the room and talking to the number zero nine. While feeling nervous was not completely foreign to him, the blond Uzumaki could not understand why he felt this way. He had no reason to feel any form anxiety. Yet for some reason he was.

"Naruto-kun?"

A soft, feminine hand landed on his shoulder. Naruto looked down to see the surprisingly delicate fingers and soft looking smooth skin of Miya's hand. It was always a surprise to see just how pristine the woman's body was. Despite being a powerful Sekirei who was well versed with a sword and spent much of her time laboring around the inn, her skin remained perfect. There were no callouses from hard labor or the sword she wielded. He could not see any scars on what parts her body he had managed to catch glimpse of. It was very different from the kunoichi of his area, who while very beautiful often had physical evidence of the training they did and the battles they fought.

His head followed the hand to the wrist it was connected to, which faded into the voluminous light purple sleeves of Miya's kimono. His eyes traveled up the sleeves towards the woman's shoulder, then face. She was giving him a look of mild concern, both eyes were open and studying him intently.

"I'm fine," he assured the purple haired landlady. She did not look very convinced, but seemed to decide it was best not to argue. With a final squeeze of reassurance, her hand left his shoulder and came back to her side.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Naruto did what he could to dispel his strange case of nervousness, reached for the handle and pulled the door open.

He walked into the room, Miya following behind him, and took a quick look around. It looked just as the same as it had the last time he was in here. The only difference now was that Tsukiumi was wide awake and no longer covered in bandages. Said woman was currently sitting up straight, the covers of her futon only covering the lower half of her body while her torso was covered by a large white t-shirt that Naruto guessed had once belonged to Miya's husband due to it being several sizes too large for the woman in question to wear.

Tsukiumi had noticed his presence as soon as he entered the room, perhaps even before that. Her head had snapped over in his direction when the door opened and he stepped inside. The moment he had, her eyes widened before her cheeks took on the shade of a boiled lobster. She had quickly looked down at her hands as they wrung themselves on her lap, though every now and again her eyes would flicker to him, their startling blue color just visible beneath the fringe of her hair.

It was ridiculously adorable.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," Naruto broke the silence as he moved further into the room and sat down next to Tsukiumi's futon in seiza. His words caused Tskiumi's already flushed cheeks to darken, something Naruto would have not thought possible were he not seeing it with his own eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"I-I am fine," Tsukiumi muttered, her embarrassment welling up for a second. Of course, being Tsundere meant the dere dere moment did not last long. She looked up at him just a few seconds later, a fire in her eyes. Her back straightened and she sniffed haughtily, her looks and expression making her look like one of those arrogant yet very beautiful princesses people sometimes read about in stories. "But this does not surprise me. I am the strongest, after all."

Naruto cracked a smile.

"That's good to hear. I was... pretty worried about you when you fainted on me," Naruto's admitted a bit reluctantly. He hated admitting his weaknesses, especially when it dealt with a weakness towards others.

Tsukiumi's face went straight from arrogant and haughty, to embarrassed in shy in less than two point five seconds.

"You've been sleeping for a long time now," Naruto continued, taking note of the woman's reaction. "Eighteen hours to be precise."

"Has it really been that long?" asked Tsukiumi, her voice conveying her shock. So was her face for that matter. Her eyes were wide and her mouth looked like it was struggling not to hang open.

"Yes," Naruto gave her a solemn nod. "Which reminds me, just how long were you running from those guys?"

"I was not running!" Tsukiumi's shocked expression gave way to a fierce scowl at the untactful mentioning of her strategic withdrawal. "I would never run away from honorable combat! Those damn dogs fought dirty, ganging up on me as they did! They did not even have the common courtesy of giving me there name and number!"

A chuckle almost escaped his lips at the indignation on Tsukiumi's face. The look was almost endearing. He did not laugh for one of two reasons however. For one, she would have gone all 'tsun tsun' on him if he did. He knew her type well enough, and he simply had no real desire to deal with a tsuning tsundere at the moment. Another reason was because there were more important matters to discuss and he did not want the blond haired Sekirei getting distracted.

"So..."

It took a moment for Naruto to realize he had no clue how he was supposed to go about this particular conversation. Really, just how do you ask a super powered tsundere alien who you had just rescued a little less than a day ago if she was still interested in getting her wings without sounding like a pompous and impatient ass? That type of conversation was difficult enough on it's own without adding in the awkward fact that this woman was the kind who would more than likely react violently when an embarrassing topic was brought up.

"I hope you plan on taking responsibility for me."

Fortunately for him, it seemed as if Tsukiumi had no problem bringing up their previous point of contention. Though perhaps contention was not quite the best word to describe this topic. It wasn't like they had debated about this before. In fact, they hadn't actually argued the point at all. Tsukiumi had pretty much told him point blank that he was going to take responsibility for her.

Of course, all this happened right before she passed out, which led to the current situation they had found themselves in. He wondered if this was karma? And if so, was it good or bad?

"Oh my," Miya's voice came from the background, bringing both Tsukiumi's attention, and Naruto's – who had almost forgotten the woman was there – on to her.

"You are..." Tsukiumi's face scrunched up in thought as she stared at the purple haired woman. Naruto couldn't help but find it strangely cute. Damn tsundere's. "... the woman who was changing my bandages."

"I'm so glad you remembered me." Miya gave Tsuikiumi a gentle smile. "My name is Asama Miya. I am both the proprietor and landlady of Maison Izumo, which you currently reside in."

"I see."

"In any event," Naruto began again, hoping to get the ball rolling on the topic he had been trying to keep them on before anyone else could say anything to derail them. "I have every intention of taking responsibility for you, especially after all the trouble I went through to rescue you from Mikogami's hounds."

"Hmph! I did not need saving." And of course, that was the only thing Tsukiumi took out of his words. The woman seemed quite indignant at the mere mentioning of how Naruto had saved her from a fate worse than death for Sekirei. "I am the strongest Sekirei. I do not need some monkey to protect me!"

Naruto felt his eyes twitch slightly. This girl was a real piece of work. Still, it wouldn't do to get angry. She was tsundere, he reminded himself. This was just how she was.

"Then, pray tell, why had you captured by those three Sekirei when I first found you?"

"That..." Tsukiumi's face turned red, though whether it was from embarrassment, anger, or a combination of the two was unknown. After a moment or two of flushing and sputtering she turned her head and let out a huff. "As I said before, they had fought using cowardly and dishonorable tactics. Had I fought any of them one on one it would have been I that claimed victory."

"But they didn't fight you one on one, and you had been captured by the time I arrived and would have been taken to Mikogami to be forcefully winged had I not intervened," Naruto gave a satisfied smile as he presented the blond haired beauty his flawless logic. There was no way she could argue against this point without sounding like an idiot. "Which means I did save you."

Tsukiumi stared at him. Despite the fact that only a second past in real time, the intensity of the stare seemed to stretch that single second to well over several minutes. Naruto wondered if all females were capable of similar feats as he had yet to meet a women who was not able to perform something comparable to the look he was receiving now.

After the second past, Tskiumi's cheeks took on a light pink hue. She turned her head a bit and closed her eyes.

"W-Well," she started, sounding both nervous and self conscious. "I suppose you did at that. For a monkey, you are quite courageous."

Naruto almost snorted at the woman's words. It was both amusing and annoying to see the woman trying to save face by insulting him and giving him a back hand compliment at the same time. But then, had he really expected anything less from this woman?

"Are you sure this is what you want?" asked Naruto, his expression shifting from slightly amused to serious. Tsukiumi looked startled, though the blond was not sure if the look was because of his change in demeanor or his words. "Once you gain your wings, you won't be able to take them back? Are sure you want this?"

In most circumstances, Naruto probably wouldn't have asked that question. As a a general principle, most Sekirei were eager, nay, _obsessed_ with finding their Ashikabi and gaining their wings. And while he was positive Tsukiumi was the same way – albeit, not willing to show it because she was tsundere – he wanted to be one hundred percent sure this was what she wanted before they went through with this.

"Of course I am sure," Tsukiumi huffed, her arms crossing over her chest as an indignant expression appeared on her face. She looked insulted that Naruto would ask her such a question after she had just finished telling him that he had to take responsibility for her. "Do not make me repeat myself."

"Right, sorry," Naruto apologized, though it was easy for most people to tell from the amused undertone in his voice that he was not being sincere in his apology. Fortunately for him, while Miya knew this and had covered her mouth with the left sleeve of her kimono to hide her giggling, Tsukiumi did not seem to recognize the tone of amusement in his voice and gave him a nod as if to accept his apology.

"Apology accepted," she said imperiously, not even realizing that Naruto had not been making a serious apology.

"So," Naruto started, shifting his body so that instead of sitting seiza he was sitting with his legs crossed. "I suppose we should get you your wings then?"

"Y-Yes," Tsukiumi's face began to flush pink as she started stumbling over her words. "I guess we should..." The blond haired Sekirei trailed off, the pink hue of her cheeks darkening as she bent her head down so that her hair was hovering over her eyes, leaving only a little bit of those clear blue irises visible as she worried her lower lip.

Naruto was once again struck speechless by the blond woman's beauty. Her face was flawless save for two soft red stains on her cheeks that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. The way she looked so demure and shy was absolutely breathtaking.

Her pouty lips looked utterly kissable. In that moment, Naruto wanted nothing more than to claim those lips with his own. He wanted to take this woman in his arms and ravish her mouth until her toes curled and her knees grew weak. He wanted her, badly.

He just couldn't understand it. How in the hell could someone with so much potential for violence be so god damn seductive and adorable? And fuck! How could anyone be both seductive and adorable at the same time? Those two words shouldn't even belong in the same sentence, much less being used to describe the same person!

Damn tsundere.

Doing his best to shake all thoughts of how attractive tsundere's with nidaime-like powers over water were, Naruto reached out towards Tsukiumi with his left hand. He placed it under her head, cupping her chin so that he could turn her head towards him. Her eyes were staring up at him through the fringe of her blond bangs, looking both eager and uncertain. Her cheeks were flaring up like a red star. Her breathing was getting heavier as the emotions from her reaction began increasing. It seemed she had been holding it in since he had appeared before her.

Naruto tilted Tsukiumi's head up and bent his down to meet her mouth in a kiss.

The first thing that went through his head was about how right he had been. Tsukiumi's lips were incredibly kissable. They were warm and soft, slightly moist and tasted of the sea. Surprisingly, the salty taste of her lips enhanced the kiss rather than detract from it.

For a moment, Naruto wondered if the reason he found this kiss so incredibly was because it was the first one he had given willingly, of his own accord with no outside influence and no bond to addle his thoughts. There was a distinct possibility that was the case. So far as he knew, all of his previous wingings had more to do with the bond forming without his knowledge and forcing his Sekirei's emotions onto him (with the exception of Matsu who he was essentially guilted into winging). Even his winging of Homura had more to do with the bond than any desire to actually wing the gender confused Sekirei. This would be the first time Naruto had willingly allowed himself to grant a Sekirei wings without being influenced by anything other than his own desires.

Of course, these thoughts fled him mere seconds after coming to his mind, and any other theories he may have come up with left him seconds after entering and all the blond immortal could find himself focusing on was this ridiculously beautiful woman and the feel of her lips pressed firmly against his own.

Naruto's eyes began to flutter closed as the kiss began to grow more passionate. He could feel Tsukiumi melding into him. Her lips seemed to fit with his own perfectly. Her breasts were pressing against his chest and it was all he could do not to lift a hand and begin groping them through the material of her clothes.

Had he kept his eyes open, he would have seen the wings flaring into existence behind Tsukiumi. Though the term 'flaring into existence' may not have been an apt one to use in this instance.

It started at the Sekirei Crest, which was burning brightly on the upper part of Tsukiumi's back right in between the shoulder blades where the back attached itself to the neck. Water. Small droplets of precipitation began gathering near the crest. They coalesced into existence, molecule by molecule, first in ones, then twos, threes, more and more began gathering around the crest at an ever increasing rate until water there were literally multiple jets of water streaming in towards the woman's back like a couple hoses.

The water continued to flow towards Tsukiumi's back, defying the laws of physics as it began to take shape and grow. Starting from the crest and moving outward, large wings like those of an angels spread out behind Tsukiumi's back. The two great wings that were taller than Naruto when he stood at full height stretched out behind the blond Sekirei, bending when they were impeded from reaching their full length by the ceiling.

They pressed against the plaster ceiling, bending like some kind of organic material without bones instead of a liquid that should have not been able to hold any form. Despite how the two wings were being pressed against the ceiling and their tips touching the walls, nothing they touched actually got wet.

However, Naruto saw none of this. All he saw were the backs of his eyelids as he and Tsukiumi continued to kiss. All he felt were her lips as they pressed against his, her tongue as it grazed against his teeth, his tongue, his mouth. Nothing else mattered to him right now. There was nothing else except this woman, this amazing, incredible vision of beauty who had somehow managed to light a fire under him.

Had he been in the right state of mind, he probably would have wondered why his body was reacting like an overly hormonal teenager on viagra. As things stood, he wouldn't have been capable of thinking straight even if he wanted to.

Naruto did not know how long he and Tsukiumi remained where they were, kissing feverishly as if they were trying to consume the other. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. The only reason Naruto even stopped was because of the hand that had clamped down on his shoulder.

The action was startling enough that the blond shinobi managed to somehow pry his mouth off of Tsukiumi's. Even then it took an astonishing amount of willpower, and the needy whimper that came from the newest member of his flock certainly did not help matters. Gods, did every female Sekirei just emit sexy naturally?

"I believe you two have been at this for quite long enough," Miya said, her voice strained. As Tsukiumi began to calm down her raging libido ― which was replaced with mortification as soon as she remembered she and Naruto had not been alone in the room ― Naruto turned to look at the woman who had pulled him from his own lust induced haze. He blinked several times as his mind came down from what almost felt like a post orgasmic high before he was able to properly look at the woman grasping his shoulder.

It was probably the first time he had ever seen Miya look so embarrassed. Granted, he had seen her embarrassed before, back when they had their mutual apology during that time when Naruto had discovered her and Matsu spying on him when he healed Homura. But even though he had seen her embarrassed, he had never seen her quite so _flustered? _Yes, flustered was a good word he decided. Not even when she had caught him going down on Matsu had she looked as flustered as she did now.

Then again, she had come after the fact, not during.

Thinking back on that incident, he had to wonder how she knew what was happening, as well as why she had come after the deed had already been done and not before or during the event to stop it. It was just didn't fit with what he knew of Miya to _not _make a preemptive attempt at stopping him from 'releasing his beastly urges' as the purple haired landlady was so fond of saying.

Well, he supposed it didn't matter in the end. And thinking about it too much gave him a head ache at the moment anyways.

Best not to think about it. Just don't think about it Naruto.

"Right," Naruto said. It was only now, after he had finished talking, that he realized just how short of breath he was.

That was surprising. Naruto had always been a stamina freak, even before he gained his immortality. A combination of his Uzumaki bloodline and Kurama being sealed inside of him had ensured that he would almost never run out of energy. That stamina had increased to levels unheard of since then, and now there was not a soul in this universe who could probably outlast him in anything.

Shaking that thought off, Naruto took a quick moment to check himself over. He only needed a minute to take stock of himself. Aside from being short of breath, his face felt hot. It felt almost like someone had stuck his body in a furnace. His body was slightly sweaty from his exertions, which was surprising because he and Tsukiumi had only kissed.

At least, that's what he thought until his mind began taking stock of the rest of his surroundings. It was only seconds later that he realized his position and Tsukiumi's had changed sometime during their kiss.

The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer sitting with his legs crossed. Instead they had been straightened in front of him. He could only assume his body had reacted instinctively to the weight on top of him. He was also leaning backwards, with his left hand positioned behind him to act as his support pillar. This was probably due to the pressure being exerted on his chest.

And that was when he noticed Tsukiumi's position. She was the weight currently pressing down on his legs. Sometime during the kiss she had moved. That, or he had pulled her onto him. Where once she had been sitting on her futon with the covers hiding the lower half of her body, now she was sitting on top of him, her wonderful, mile long legs straddling his thighs.

At some point during the kiss (or was that kisses?), Naruto's right arm had wrapped itself around the blond haired Sekirei. This lent some credence to his theory of him pulling Tsukiumi to him. Though he liked to think she had moved of her own accord.

The last thing he felt were Tsukiumi's hands. They were pressing themselves firmly against his chest. Under his shirt.

Naruto shuddered and it took everything he had not to fall back into a lust induced haze as he realized that sometime during their kiss (make out session) Tsukiumi had buried her hands under his shirt to caress his well formed pectoral and abdominal muscles without being hindered by any fabric.

He was actually surprised that was the last thing he noticed. One would think that feeling the warm, delicate hands of a female touching them _anywhere _would be the first thing someone noticed. Then again, having the warm, beautiful body of said female those hands belonged to currently straddling him was making it very difficult for Naruto to think at all.

Tsuikuimi also seemed to have noticed their change in position. Her eyes, which had already been wide from having realized Miya was still in the room with them, widened even more. They were so wide, in fact, that they looked comical. Her eyes reminded him of that American cartoon character, Daffy Duck, when he was surprised surprised.

The blond haired Sekirei's face began to turn red. Starting from the twin spots of bright warmth on her cheeks and slowly spreading to the rest of her face. From the roots of her hair to well past her neck, Tsukiumi's face and at the very least the upper half of her body began taking on the same shade as a boiled lobster.

Her pupils dilated as a look of horrific embarrassment crossed her face. Naruto only had enough time for one word when he realized what was about to happen.

"Shit."

"Water Celebration!"

Murphy was definitely against him, Naruto decided. He just couldn't get a break.

**XoX**

"Did you really have to soak me like that?"

Naruto's eyes twitched violently as he walked down the hall towards the living room. Walking at his side was Tsukiumi, her cheeks slightly pink due to what she had done to him while both her arms clung to his left one. Despite her obvious embarrassment over having smacked him face first with what was essentially a large ball of condensed water, she seemed to be unwilling to admit to being at fault.

"It is not my fault," the flush on Tsukiumi's cheeks deepened just at the mere mention of their kiss within the room she had been sleeping in, even if it was just indirectly mentioned. "Honestly, you should not have been so forward with me."

"I was under the impression that in order to gain your wings, a kiss was required due to the exchange of DNA through mucousal contact," Naruto replied to her words in a dry tone of voice. "If that is not the case than please correct me. Was there anything else I could have done to avoid getting hit by a ball of water?"

"Your sarcasm is unappreciated," Tsukiumi mumbled, sounding both angry and embarrassed. Not that Naruto particularly cared how embarrassed she was at this moment. After all, he was the one who had suffered from her reaction. Or was that over reaction?

Behind them, Miya raised an arm to hide her mouth behind the sleeves of her kimono and giggled.

"Something amusing you, Miya-chan?" asked Naruto as he turned his head slightly so he could look at her out of the corner of his left eye.

With her eyes alight with thinly veiled mirth; the tiny, amused smile he knew she was sporting behind the fabric of her kimono; and the soft, tinkling bell-like giggle that escaped her lips, Naruto knew the landlady of Maison Izumo was finding this whole situation far too amusing for her own good.

"Oh no," Miya assured him, those purple orbs barely visible behind half lidded eyes. "I assure you, there is absolutely nothing amusing about seeing you soaking wet." The way she spoke with such a bemused undertone did very little to assure him that her words were true. In fact, they did the exact opposite. "Or getting hit by a ball of water."

"I'm sure," Naruto murmured as he and the two women with him came to the shoji screen door leading into the living room. Without much hesitation on his part, Naruto opened the door and stepped inside, an embarrassed Tsukiumi who was trying to mask said embarrassment behind a haughty exterior and a giggling Miya right behind him.

While no one was inside of the room, a quick look at the opposite end revealed Akitsu and Kusano sitting out on the veranda just outside of the Shoji screen doors. The youngest of his Sekirei was sitting on the snow woman's lap playing with the cold beauties white locks. As was per usual, the second member of his flock was allowing the girl and tug and pull on her hair with the patience of a saint.

Judging from the grunts and shouts coming from outside, Naruto correctly deduced that Musubi was shadow sparring or just going through her forms (what forms there were). It was something he had come to expect from her. When not spending time with him or sparring with Miya, the most naïve of his Sekirei could often be found trying to perfect her technique.

As if to prove his theory, a second later Musubi became visible as she moved across the courtyard, juking and weaving as she launched kicks and punches at her imaginary opponents. She was getting much better, he had to admit, though she still had far too many holes in her defense for his liking. He counted at least five within the first few seconds of the exchange he saw. It was something he would eventually need to work with her on as only another taijutsu user would be able to properly help tighten her form.

His presence did not go unnoticed as he stepped further into the room. Kusano, who was sitting perpendicular to Akitsu, noticed him out of the corner of her eye. The young girls eyes lit up like twin beacons in the night, a smile so wide you could land an airplane on it crossed her face, and her entire body seemed to radiate a joy that could not be contained.

It was absolutely adorable.

It was also very disturbing.

"Onii-chan!"

The tiny titan scrambled to get off Akitsu's lap and made a mad dash towards her 'big brother', her tiny arms open wide as if to engulf him in her embrace.

Unfortunately for her, she was much to small to actually engulf him in a hug. That, and she only reached up to his knees, but she did manage to latch onto his left leg like some kind of adorable leech.

The tiny blond looked up at him with a big, bright smile, and Naruto found it incredibly difficult not to return the look.

Bending down, he picked the littlest of his Sekirei up. Kusano allowed him to scoop her into his arms, and quickly latched her own tiny arms around his neck as he cradled her to him like a father would their child.

"Ku-chan," Naruto greeted, hesitating for only a moment before placing a kiss on her temple. The tiny terror with teeth sharper than Hoshigaki Kisame giggled uncontrollably, her cheeks slightly flushed from the contact between them. "Have you been a good girl for Aki-chan?"

"Mmhmm!" Kusano nodded her head vigorously. "Ku-chan's been a good girl."

Naruto's lips turned themselves into a tiny half-grin at the girl's words. He would have responded to them, but before he could another voice spoke up.

"Husband, who is this?"

Naruto felt like palming his face as he realized he that he had not only _not _introduced Tsukiumi to her sister Sekirei (kind of hard to do that when she's been unconscious since before they got to Maison Izumo), she also did not even know he _had _more than one Sekirei.

This was not good. How was he going to tell Tsukiumi that she was not his first Sekirei, or even his second, but his _sixth_ without her going all 'tsun tsun' on him? Was there even anything he could say that would not lead to potential tsuning violence?

If this girl was anything like the other tsundere's he'd met in his life probably not.

Wait.

Did she just call him husband?

Before Naruto could open his mouth to ask her about his apparent new title, the jingling and clinking of chains alerted him to Akitsu's presence. He looked over to see the woman standing up from where she had been sitting on the veranda. She walked over to him with her slow methodical steps until she was standing in front of him, her head bowed deferentially.

"Ashikabi-sama," she greeted.

Tsukiumi furrowed her brow.

"Ashikabi-sama?"

"Akitsu-chan," Naruto greeted quickly, hoping to head off Tsukiumi's thought pattern by initiating a conversation with the white haired ice user. At the very least he wanted this conversation out of the way before his newest Sekirei starting tossing condensed balls of water at him again. "Was Ku-chan any trouble?"

"Ah," Akitsu shook her head. "No."

"Muuu!" Kusano gave Naruto an irritated look that was far too adorable for her own good. "Ku-chan already told onii-chan she was good!"

Naruto chuckled a bit while a little ways behind him Miya gave a soft giggle.

"Husband!" Tsukiumi did not seem to like being ignored. Not that Naruto was actually ignoring her, he just wasn't sure what to say to her that would allow him to avoid a potentially volatile situation yet, but it most definitely looked that way to her. "Who is this child that is clinging to you like some kind of leech? And who is this woman who calls you Ashikabi-sama? What is going on here!?"

Even if Naruto were inclined to answer her question, which if he were honest he was not entirely sure how to answer, another interruption came in the form of a certain battle crazy Sekirei in shrine maiden clothing.

Musubi, who had previously been practicing outside on her own while Akitsu and Kusano watched on, had come inside the living room, presumably to see what the fuss was all about. The moment she saw Naruto her face lit up in a way that was not dissimilar to the way Kusano's had.

Body of a woman, mind of a child. That was Musubi to a T.

"Naruto-sama!" The shrine maiden with an unhealthy love for combat ran up to the growing group of people with a bright smile. "I'm glad landlady-sama has finally let you come outside," Musubi began pouting, "I haven't been able to see you since you came back."

"I'm sorry, Musubi-chan," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, not exactly sure what he should say in a situation like this. Would it be appropriate to reassure her? Or should he correct her and inform her that Miya hadn't technically let him out of him room, just decided it was pointless since all that meant was he and Uzume would be playing video games?

Seriously, this whole Ashikabi business was starting to become a headache. Or maybe he was just over thinking things.

"Mou, it's fine," Musubi waved off his apology with a bright smile. "I'm just glad I can see you again."

It was very hard for Naruto not to return the excited girls smile. He could literally feel her happiness radiating outward from their bond. Her joy at just seeing him was so profound there were simply no words to describe it. Naruto doubted there would be anyone in the world who could see that smile and not be affected.

Well, Naruto could name at least one person who did not seem to be affected.

"Husband," Tsukiumi ground out in anger. Her eyes flickered from the blond male with whiskers to the three 'new girls' that surrounded him. "Who are these... these... girls?"

Naruto sensed the potential 'tsun tsun' situation from a mile away. It looked like mount Tsukiumi would soon erupt in fiery (or is that watery?) fury if he did not answer in a way that appeased to her sensibilities.

Unfortunately, he could not think of any answer that would actually do that.

"Who is this, Naruto-sama?" asked a curious Musubi. She was, of course, asking about Tsukiumi, who she had yet to meet due to her being out in Shinto Teito searching for him after Seo had called Matsu and informed her that he had decided to leave the scruffy looking Ashikabi in order to rescue said water user.

Naruto was actually very glad for the opening she had unwittingly given him.

"This is Tsukiumi," Naruto introduced said woman, who currently had her arms crossed under her bust and was giving Musubi an imperious glare while she tried to figure out the shrine maiden's connection to him. "She's the number zero nine. You know, the one I've been dreaming about."

"Ah!" Musubi gasped in both surprise and excitement. It didn't last long, but for just a second, Naruto could have sworn sparkles appeared within the girl's eyes as she she looked between him and Tsukiumi. "Then, then, is she your newest Sekirei?"

Naruto shifted a bit.

"Yes."

"This is great!" Musubi crowed, her left hand clenching into a fist as she pumped it into the air. It was not unexpected, but it seemed like Musubi was even more excited about Naruto adding another female to his flock than he was. "You've got another one! And a single digit too!"

"Another one?" There was a tremor in Tsukiumi's voice, one that promised violence. A quick look at the blond haired Sekirei showed that the expression on her face matched the tone of her voice to a T. Her eyes were twitching quite violently, and several strands of her long hair was swaying in an unseen breeze. For a moment, Naruto wondered if she was manipulating the water molecules within the air to accomplish such a feet with her hair, but was forced to disregard that thought when Tsuikiumi's 'tsun tsun' voice sounded again. "Husband, do you mean to tell me that I am not your first?"

"No," Naruto sighed, there really was no right way to answer this, and it seemed that delaying tactics would no longer work. Best to just get this situation over with and hope for the best. "You are not."

"I see," her lips twitching like she wanted to peel them back from her teeth to snarl at him, Tsukiumi continued her questioning. "And aside from me, just how many Sekirei do you have?"

"Well..." Naruto blinked several times, then looked up at the ceiling as if he were counting in his head. "Five."

"Five?"

The twitching of Tsukiumi's eyes became even more pronounced as, without warning, she raised her hand towards Naruto, water gathering around her palm like streamers.

"Water Celebration!"

Two times in one day. Murphy must really hate him right now.

**XoX**

Dinner that day was a very interesting affair. Not to say that it wasn't always interesting. With so many different people with different personalities coming together to share a meal with each other, dinner was always an interesting (and very loud) affair. But today, dinner was even more interesting than usual.

The reason for this could easily be attributed to Tsukiumi, Sekirei number zero nine, the water Sekirei, and the newest member of Naruto's increasingly large harem.

Increasingly large harem. Even now, that term was something Naruto would have never believed could apply to him. They were just words that had never held any meaning. While other males might find the idea of a harem awesome, Naruto just never cared. What would he need a harem for anyways? They would just die less than a hundred years from now.

It was funny how life worked out. The one person who would never want a harem was one of the few people who had somehow found himself acquiring multiple female partners. Ridiculously hot female partners that came from another planet, had supernatural powers, were currently fighting in some kind of strange game being run by a madman, and wanted to have his babies.

When did his life become like an eroge?

Naruto turned his head slightly to look at Tsukiumi. She was sitting directly on his left, a place where Musubi or Akitsu would normally sit depending on what day it was. Today the water user had taken that spot.

Though taken might be a bit of an understatement in this instance. The blond female had practically demanded the right to sit next to him. Of course, being who she was, Musubi had agreed that it was only right since Tsukiumi was the newest Sekirei to their family. Akitsu just hadn't felt like arguing, though Naruto got the distinct impression that the taciturn woman had been tempted to impale Tsukiumi with a large spear of ice.

Tsukiumi was eating the food he had prepared with a regal grace that was offset by just how fast she was eating. Naruto was beginning to wonder if all Sekirei just had Akamichi-like appetites. Seriously, so far every Sekirei he met seemed capable of putting away nearly twice their body weight in food. Even Kusano ate like it was going out of style!

She was also glaring at Homura with a narrowed gaze as said fire user sat directly across from her, eating his (her?) own meal at a sedate pace whilst trying to ignore the eyes that were drilling into his (her?) head. He (she?) wasn't doing a very good job.

"Can I help you?" asked Homura with a sigh after finishing another bite of food, obviously no longer able to ignore the glaring woman sitting across from him.

"You..." Tsukiumi muttered, her eyes narrowing even further as she leaned forward slightly, as if doing so would help her observe the white haired fire user better. "You look very familiar..." she continued slowly, her words causing Homura to nearly choke on the air he had just inhaled. "Have we met before?"

Homura coughed several times, each time banging a fist against his chest as he tried to dislodge something that wasn't even there from within his throat. After a moment he seemed to regain control over his lungs and quickly turned his head away from the water using tsundere nervously.

"I can't say that we have," he replied in a neutral, careful voice.

Naruto rolled his eyes from where he sat. He didn't know why Homura was trying to hide who he was to the woman he apparently had some history with. If there was one thing Naruto had learned in his long life, it was that in a situation like this, the truth will always come out no matter how hard you try to hide it, and the longer you try to hide it, the worse the reaction you get will be.

Considering Tsukiumi was a tsundere, the chance said reaction will be incredibly violent increased astronomically.

Tsukiumi continued to stare at Homura for several more seconds. The gender confused Sekirei being stared at just tried to ignore the look as much as possible, though Naruto thought the pale skinned fire user looked a tad nervous. After a moment or two longer, Tsukiumi leaned back, seemingly satisfied with her observations.

"I suppose not," she said at last, before picking up her bowl of rice and a set of chopsticks. Homura sighed in relief before picking up the steaming cup of tea near his plate. "Though you do look familiar, the one I am thinking of is a man that wears a mask."

Homura, who had just began drinking some of the tea set out for him, did a classical spit take at those words, spewing tea all over the table and some of the food.

"Homura!" Miya exclaimed in surprise while everyone else voiced their own exclamations.

"I'm not a woman!" Homura growled angrily as he stood up and glared at Tsukiumi, who actually looked surprised by the white haired fire user's sudden anger. "I'm a man! A MAN!"

Naruto sighed as Kusano buried her face into his torso, as if doing so would allow her to escape the fire user's wrath, even though none of it was directed at her. Likewise, Musubi seemed to be frightened by the intensity of Homura's anger. She was leaning away from the fire user from where she sat on his left. The only Sekirei amongst his flock that did not seem affected by the fire flinging Sekirei's wrath was Akitsu, who had looked up at him upon his outburst, then went back to eating in her slow, methodical manner.

"He heh," Uzume's customary chuckle filled with din. "This coming from someone who has a nice rack."

Homura let loose a strangled noise that sounded suspiciously like 'eep!' as he covered his rather prominent assets and sank back down to the floor, his face flushed as red as the fire he produced.

It looked like someone forgot about their chest bindings today. Did this mean Homura was getting more comfortable as a female? Or was he still only half female?

Naruto sighed. This whole situation was getting entirely too fucked up for his liking. Seriously, gender changing aliens who bonded to humans due to an intense need to find a mate? If that wasn't Icha Icha material than he didn't know what was.

"U-Uzume-chan," Chiho whispered in a hushed voice, her face aflame from her Sekirei's crass words. "Don't be so mean to Homura-san."

"Aw, come on, Chiho-baby," Uzume gave her Ashikabi a pout. "You can't tell me you don't find it at least a little bit funny." The lithe girl the cloth using Sekirei had bonded herself to flushed a bit, causing Uzume to giggle uncontrollably, which consequently earned a scowl from Homura.

"Uf fu fu fu," Matsu let out her perverse giggling, covering her mouth with her hand as her glasses gleamed with an ominous, perverted glint. The hacker of Naruto's group was definitely enjoying this fiasco far too much for the blond's liking. Though considering she was pretty much isolated to this inn because she was on the run from MBI, Naruto could not begrudge the woman from having fun watching the others. The old Naruto would have probably found this situation amusing as well. "This is even better than a soap opera!"

Homura glared at the red head.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself at my expense!"

"You don't need to be so rude," Tsukiumi muttered, having hardly even paid attention to what had happened after Homura's outburst. Instead she was content giving her rival ― not that she knew this ― a glare of reproach. "I was merely stating my observations."

"Your observations aren't wanted or needed!" Homura growled as he covered his chest. Naruto noticed that his voice sounded a lot less like a growl and a lot more like a squeak, almost like the fire user was going through a strange form of reverse puberty.

Was this a part of the transformation process from male to female too? The part of Naruto that had grown since becoming immortal, that of the curious man who liked learning more about the world around him, wanted to see if he could get some X-ray scans of Homura's anatomy to see if there were any significant changes to his physiology aside from the obvious physical changes. It would be interesting to see what he could find.

"You're the one whose being rude!" Homura said loudly, his voice once more rising several octaves above what it should be. "Coming in here and calling me a woman!"

"Watch your tone," Tsukiumi stood up, her eyes narrowed in anger as she clenched her hands into fists at her side. "I won't tolerate being talked down to like this, least of all by someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Homura stood up again, his own eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth. The fire hurler seemed to be getting more aggravated than usual, Naruto noted with interest. He wondered if it was that time of the month for Homura. He was normally so composed. "What is that supposed mean?"

"Hmph!" Tsukiumi tossed her hair behind her head in a gesture of haughty disdain. "It means exactly what I said. Someone like you has no right to insult me!"

"You're the one who insulted me!"

The two Sekirei glared at each other as the others watched on. No one seemed ready to stop this argument from coming to blows, not even Miya. Surprisingly enough, she looked just as shocked that these two were about ready to start a brawl in the middle of dinner as everyone else.

Thankfully, before this situation could devolve any further than it already had, help came from the most unlikely source.

As one, all of the people within the living room, including Homura and Tsukiumi, who by this point had been at each others throats, turned to look at Matsu as Darth Vader's theme song sounded out from in between the red haired hackers breasts. Matsu herself blinked several times as she looked down at the rhombus cut out in her dress, where everyone could see the blinking lights of a vibrating cell phone.

Just as Matsu was about the grab the cell phone, she looked up to see everyone staring at her and flushed red.

"What?" she asked, as if having a vibrating cell phone playing Darth Vader's theme song was an every day occurrence.

"Nothing," Homura looked away from the shameless woman, his face red. Surprisingly, Tsukiumi did the exact same at the same time.

"How did I miss that?" Naruto wondered as he stared at the cell phone locked within the sweet embrace of Matsu's bosom.

"Naruto," Miya said in warning, not that the blond was actually listening to her.

"He heh," Uzume chuckled. "I'm kinda surprised myself, especially after what we saw yesterday evening." She completely ignored her Ashikabi crying out her name in an embarrassed manner as she gave Naruto a leer.

"So am I," Naruto admitted with a shrug, causing Uzume to blink.

Miya's left eye twitched as she was ignored by the blond Uzumaki. Deciding it was not worth the effort, and knowing nothing she did would get the blond to actually heed her warning, she instead turned her attention to Matsu, who had just taken out her phone and was now tapping on the touch screen.

"Matsu," the purple haired landlady said in a mild mannered voice that belied her irritation. "I believe I already told Naruto-kun this, and you should know it well enough by now, but electronic devices are forbidden at the dinner table. Put your toy away for now, and you can get back to whatever it is you are doing after dinner."

Unlike Naruto, who would have just continued doing whatever he was doing, Matsu decided she did not want to get on Miya's bad side and put the cell phone away.

"In some place other than your chest, Matsu," Miya smiled pleasantly at the red head, causing her to pale.

"I don't have anywhere else to put it," she complained, looking down at herself. Naruto observed her as well and had to admit she had a point. That dress had no pockets, or even much in the way of excess fabric. The only place that had any more fabric than necessary were the sleeves of her arms, and there simply wasn't any way she could fit a phone in there.

He briefly had an amusing thought of Matsu putting her cell phone in her panties, but shook it off just as quickly.

Maybe Miya was right and his beastly urges really were getting the better of him.

"That's not my problem," Miya said without a care in the world. Matsu grumbled a bit as she realized what the woman wanted. Standing up, the perverted red head walked out of the room, presumably to go back upstairs so she could put her phone away in her own room.

With Matsu leaving, dinner resumed in relative peace. It seemed the woman's phone going off had the fortunate side effect of making Homura and Tsukiumi forget they had been arguing in the first place. Now the pair were sitting down, ignoring each other as they ate. It wasn't much, but it was better than any of them could have hoped for given how things had been about to take a turn for the violent less than a minute ago.

Naruto frowned as he looked at the two who had previously looked like they were going to be at each others throats any second. He still didn't know how the two knew each other and it was beginning to bother him. He would have to ask either one or both of them about their relationship later on.

He also wanted to know why Homura was trying to keep the knowledge that he was the fire user's Ashikabi a secret from Tsukiumi, especially when it was obvious that this was not the kind of secret that could be kept for very long. He supposed he could ask later on when he got the gender confused Sekirei alone. It wasn't like the need to know was pressing or anything, just something he was curious about.

Several minutes later when Naruto and the others were about to clear the table, the sound of frantic footsteps sounded from outside of the room. They became progressively louder as the person running, Matsu presumably as she was the only resident living that was not currently sitting at the dinner table, began getting closer.

A minute later the door slid open with a suddenness that would have been startling had the sound of footsteps not informed everyone of the impending arrival. Even then both Musubi and Kusano jumped at the sudden opening of the door.

Matsu stood in the doorway, breathing heavily as she placed one hand on the door jam and leaned against the other side of the door.

"Matsu?" Miya said in admonishment, a small frown adorning her fair features. "You know running in the house is forbidden."

For once, Matsu seemed to completely ignore Miya's words as she turned her attention to Naruto.

Said blond straightened as he saw the expression on her face. It was surprisingly serious despite her still wearing her glasses. Before Naruto could ask what she had gotten so worked up about, Matsu began spoke first.

It was only four words, but it was four words nobody who had ever been a ninja enjoyed hearing. And for someone like Naruto, he enjoyed hearing them less than anyone else. The words were:

"We've got a problem."

* * *

><p><strong>This is my shortest chapter by far. To be fair, it was originally part of the chapter I updated last time, but because it got so long I had to split it. Anyways, this chapter was really just setting the scene for my next arc. What is that arc, you ask? Well, you'll just have to read on and see.<strong>

**I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I appreciate them very much. If you found this chapter just as enjoyable as the last, please leave a review to let me know. And if there was anything you feel I could improve on, please don't hesitate to let me know.**

**Thank you and have an awesome day.**


	22. Arising Problems

**Chapter 22: Arising Problems**

* * *

><p>Naruto once again found himself sitting inside of the darkened room filled to the brim with computers and monitors. The lights from the screens cast harsh angles across everything within the room while the computers being used to power the massive structure of technology thrummed with a life of their own.<p>

Unlike last time, Naruto was not alone with the perverted Hacker. Sitting on his lap was none other than Kusano. The tiny Sekirei was taking great enjoyment of being so close to her 'onii-chan' and had taken to trying to mimic his facial expressions, looking up at his face only occasionally to make sure nothing changed.

Sitting on his left was Tsukiumi. The blond haired beauty had yet to leave his side, and when he got up to follow Matsu, she had immediately gone with him. Naruto believed a big reason she had yet to let go of his arm was because she was afraid of getting supplanted by one of the Sekirei who had not been able to sit at his side.

To his right was Musubi. The naïve and childish Sekirei whose bust circumference was currently the largest amongst his flock was sitting down in seiza. Much like Tsukiumi, she too had her arms wrapped around his limb. Also like Tsukiumi, his arm was currently being pressed in between the two large mounds she called breasts.

Directly behind him was his second Sekirei. The ice user, Akitsu. Naruto wasn't sure if she just didn't want to be left out of the 'group bonding moment' or if she was trying to compete with who could turn him on the most, but Akitsu was sitting directly behind him in a semblance of Seiza.

It was only a semblance of said position because the white haired snow woman was leaning forward so that her breasts were pressed firmly into his back. It was so un-Akitsu-ish that if Naruto were not able to feel it was her through their bond, he would have assumed it was someone else. She was usually so shy when it came to physical affection.

It was a very pleasant feeling, having three buxom young women pressing themselves against him. He had almost forgotten what that felt like. Too bad it was during what might become a dire situation and not after they had finished having a night of rough, passionate sex.

Oh well, you can't have everything you want.

A small frown crossed Naruto's face as he thought about his current situation. More specifically the new desires entering his mind.

Before now, the desire to 'mate', for lack of a better term, with his Sekirei had been fairly easy to resist. Oh sure, he had his moments of weakness. These girls were gorgeous after all. It would be impossible for him, for anyone, to not at least think about having a sexual relationship with them. But while thoughts and desires had entered his mind on occasion, they had all been very easy to push into the back of his mind.

Now though, things were different. The desire to sleep with these girls in a way that meant doing something other than sleep had grown stronger. It wasn't enough to affect his abilities to think, but it was enough to make him feel a little hot under the collar. Naruto determined that he might even need a cold shower after this.

He didn't know the _how _or the _why _he was now feeling more sexually driven, but he did know the _when._ It was right after Tsukiumi had gained her wings. During the time when he and his newest Sekirei had begun getting into an act which may have eventually ended with their clothes flying off had Miya not interrupted them.

Naruto wondered if the bond was beginning to affect him. Did the bond between him and his Sekirei get stronger with each Sekirei he added? Or did it simply increase his sexual desire? It was a very plausible theory. Perhaps some kind of defense mechanism to ensure the species created offspring so they did not go extinct. Naruto had never heard of anything like this, but then again, this was also the first time he had heard of a group of super powered aliens that were capable of creating empathic bonds with humans in the first place.

When entering the unknown, there was bound to be a new experience around every corner.

While Akitsu, Kusano, Musubi, and Tsukiumi were currently the closest members of his growing harem physically, they were not the only four in the room with him. Standing near the back wall, segregated from the rest of them with his arms crossed under his growing feminine assets and an aloof expression on his face was Homura. The fire user seemed to still be keeping as much distance between him and the others as possible.

Or maybe he was just trying to keep his distance from Tsukiumi. It was hard to tell with that one.

And last but most certainly not least was Matsu. The red haired, perverted hacker was in front of everyone, typing away on her keyboard as she began bringing up the latest information she had for them. It was one of the few times Naruto had ever seen the young woman so serious.

"Would you mind explaining what exactly is so important that you forced my husband and I to abandon our dinner and come up here?" asked Tsukiumi, having finally lost her patience with the woman before them. Not that she had much to begin with. The blond haired water user didn't seem the type who enjoyed sitting around sorting through information.

"No one asked you to come Tsukiumi," the fire user told her in a dry voice. Naruto was really beginning to wonder about the relationship between these two. They really didn't seem to get a long very well.

"What was that?" Tsukiumi turned her head to glare at Homura. The fire user snorted at the look, but did not deign to respond to the woman's anger. It seemed he at least knew not to get in a fight when there was potentially dangerous information about to be handed out. Naruto was glad for this. The last thing they needed was a fight between two Sekirei with opposing elements breaking out.

"Husband?" Musubi tilted her head curiously at the term. She didn't seem very familiar with it, which honestly did not surprise Naruto one bit. This was, after all, the very same female who didn't even know the word modesty existed, much less the concept behind it.

"Of course," Tsukiumi said before anyone else could, her tone one of superiority and haughty disdain. "Naruto and I are now bonded. Therefore he is my husband."

Homura rolled his eyes at the blond woman behind her back. Meanwhile, Musubi adopted a thoughtful look, one hand under her chin with her pointer finger out and pressing against her lower lip as she looked up at the darkened ceiling.

"You said there was a problem," Naruto prompted Matsu, hoping that he could get the woman to start talking before one or all of his Sekirei got distracted and in turn distracted him from the original reason they were in Matsu's room in the first place. "What is it?"

"Remember when you placed that spying device on Izumi Higa?" asked Matsu as she pushed the frame of her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She did not give the whiskered blond enough time to respond before continuing. "I've been keeping myself up to date on all of Higa's activities with it. At least insomuch as is possible given that he doesn't always do his business transactions inside of his office. When it comes to Sekirei related issues, he seemed to be a bit more hands on."

Naruto nodded his head along with Kusano, who was looking up at him for her own queues.

"I'm not surprised," the blond said. "I remember when he tried getting me to join him, he came in person. It's a standard tactic when making a business transaction, especially in the Black Market. By appearing in person you project the image of someone who is not afraid and willing to take risks. It also makes the people you want on your side feel like you respect them by meeting them face to face. It inflates their ego by making them feel like they're worth your time."

"Right," Matsu spoke with a nod as the other Sekirei in the room looked at their Ashikabi in surprise.

Well, except for Musubi, who just released a gasp of elation.

All eyes turned to the fist fighter. Some were wondering if she knew something they didn't. Others were wondering what she was going to say and asking themselves how it would disrupt the meeting.

"Wait!" Musubi eyes lit up in excitement as she brought her finger back down from where she had been poking at her lower lip. Naruto wondered what she was so elated about, as he highly doubted the fist fighting Shrine Maiden was even paying attention to their conversation. He was proven correct a second later when she said, "So if Naruto-sama is Tsukiumi-san's husband, then that makes Naruto-sama, Musubi's husband as well!"

"Of course it doesn't!" Tsukiumi said after getting over her shock. Musubi's words must have really caught her off guard ― granted, they had caught everyone flatfooted, but her reaction had been much worse (it probably had something to do with not knowing the girl like every one else did) ― because it took her nearly a full minute before she managed to regain her bearing. "There can only be one wife, and that's me!"

"Eh?" Musubi looked over at Tsukiumi as she was brought down from her emotional high, her head tilting in confusion. "But you just said that you're Naruto-sama's husband because you two are connected."

"I did, and I am," Tsukiumi confirmed. "But I am the only one who can lay claim to the title of wife. And I am the only one who can call Naruto my husband."

Naruto sighed. This... this really wasn't as surprising to him as it probably should be. Honestly, he was beginning to realize that arguments made for the pettiest of reasons (like who gets to call him their husband) were in all likelihood going to be a recurring theme with the members of his flock, and he should probably just start getting used to it now.

"Please continue," Naruto gestured towards Matsu while Musubi and Tsukiumi argued the point.

"Wife?" Musubi blinked, confusion more than evident on her face. "What's that?"

"You mean to tell me you call Naruto your husband, but you don't even know what a wife is?" Tsukiumi asked incredulously, her left eyebrow twitching. After regaining control over herself, she crossed her arms and huffed. "A wife is what you call a woman who has a husband."

"Ah!" Musubi gasped in excitement. "Then would that make Musubi, Naruto-sama's wife!?" The naïve Shrine Maiden pressed her hands against her cheeks and smiled delightfully. "I'm so happy."

"You are not his wife!" Tsukiumi scowled. "The only one who can lay claim to the title of wife is me!"

"Eh?" Musubi pouted at her newest friend. "But that's not fair. I wanna be his wife too!"

"Matsu, please," Naruto pleaded with the hacker Sekirei. The red head blinked several times, as if her mind was just now coming online. She had probably been so busy watching the argument between Musubi and Tsukiumi that the reason they were even here in the first place had been put on the back burner.

Well, not anymore.

"Right," Matsu muttered before continuing her explanation. "Anyways, after that spy camera inserted itself into Izumi's office, I began checking it at least once or twice a day."

"Like I said," Tsuikiumi spoke, sounding very irritated by the Shrine Maidens continued attempts to be allowed to call Naruto her husband. "You cannot be his wife. In a traditional Shogun Harem, only one woman can be considered a wife. The rest are concubines."

A snort from Homura had Tsuikiumi turning her head angrily and casting a glare at said man for interrupting her.

"What are you laughing at!?"

"Nothing," Homura coughed into his hand to hide his laugh. "I wasn't laughing. I just had something in my throat."

Tsuikiumi stared at him for several more seconds, before deciding he was not worth the effort. With a huff, she turned her attention back to Musubi and began her argument about wives and concubines anew.

"He hasn't done much in the days since you spoke with him and he tried to get you on his side," Matsu tried her best to ignore the byplay going on between the two women sandwiching Naruto with their respective bosoms. She was only partially successful as every few seconds a giggle would escape her lips. Naruto sighed, but let the woman continue talking. "Most of the time he simply makes calls and completes business transactions for his pharmaceutical company."

Matsu began typing into her keyboard, bringing up what looked like a video file. After maximizing the window for the file, Naruto got to watch Higa, sitting in his chair behind his desk with his hands laced in front of his face like a bad impression of Mister Burns from the Simpsons, appear on the screen with three other people. The first two were easily recognizable as Higa's bloodhounds and bodyguards when he went out, Ichiha and Toyotoma, but the third person in between the two Naruto did not recognize.

The person in question was a very petite young woman who couldn't be much older than eighteen. She had blue eyes and raven colored hair, the traditional color for someone of Japanese decent. It was cut short, about shoulder length, and was styled in a group of messy layers and was being kept out of her face by a brooch.

Her clothing looked like something that resembled a modified school uniform. She was wearing a white, long sleeve button up shirt with a red tie that had a black cross running from one end to the other up the middle. Her black mid thigh skirt was being held up by a thick red belt with a silver ring acting as the buckle. The outfit she wore was finished off by a pair of socks that stopped a little above her knees, showing off an expanse of skin between where they started and her skirt ended, and a pair of black platform boots.

Naruto frowned as he tried to identify this new girl. He had no clue who she was, though he was able to glean several pieces of information based on how she was interacting with Higa and his two bloodhounds.

It was obvious to him that whoever she was, she was a prisoner, or maybe a hostage. Toyotoma and Ichiya were standing on either side of her, the spear wielding Sekirei lightly caressing her weapon in a likely attempt to intimidate the petite female, while Ichiya was leering at the girl with a bloodthirsty grin. Higa's look of smug satisfaction only served to prove Naruto's belief that the girl was not there of her own free will.

Of course, figuring that out was the easy part. The hard part was discovering who this girl was. She could be anybody; from a new Ashikabi in the Sekirei Plan that had caught Higa's interest, to the daughter of someone belonging to one of Higa's rival companies.

Granted, the only rival company within Shinto Teito was MBI, and the likelihood of this girl actually being related to someone working for MBI was small, but that did not mean the chance did not exist.

"Ku-chan wants to be onii-chan's wife too!"

Naruto's right eye began to twitch violently as the argument between Musubi and Tsukiumi over who his 'real wife' was drew Kusano within the conflict as well. It was one thing to hear two full grown woman (if someone as childish as Musubi could be considered fully grown) fighting over who his wife was. It was quite another to hear an eight year old little girl claim she wanted to be his wife as well.

Honestly, this entire conversation was beginning to get a little too disturbing for his taste.

"You cannot be his wife," Tsukiumi argued with the little girl, who glared back at her from where she sat on Naruto's lap. Had this been an anime Naruto was sure sparks would have started flying between the two blond's eyes. "I am Naruto's one true wife!"

"Musubi is Naruto-sama's wife too!"

His left eye soon joined his right eye in it's twitching as the two (or is that two and a half?) continued to argue over who was his wife. They had been practically going around in circles ever since the argument started, with Musubi simply claiming she was his wife as well as Tsukiumi, and Tsukiumi claiming Musubi couldn't be his wife because she was his wife. Throw Kusano into the mix and you had one of the most pointless arguments to ever be seen in the history of arguments.

Naruto had become incredibly patient since becoming immortal. With a life as long as his it had been a necessity. It simply wasn't possible to go through thousands upon thousands of years whilst keeping ones sanity intact if they were impatient. Yet even with all of the patience he had gained throughout his several millennial of life as a wanderer, Naruto was this close to telling all three of his Sekirei to shut up.

"WOULD YOU THREE SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH TALKING!"

Fortunately for him, Matsu decided to put the three arguing members of his flock to rights before he could.

Several sets of eyes widened, as if they could not believe that Matsu, perverted, playful, teasing Matsu, had just shouted at them for something that, in most circumstances, she would probably enjoy watching more than anyone. It was so un-Matsu that no one, not even Tsukiumi ― who barely even knew the red haired Sekirei ― could speak.

Needless to say, it got very quiet very quickly.

"Now that everyone is quiet," Matsu began again, glaring at the three Sekirei that had interrupted her debriefing as she adjusted her glasses. "I think you'll want to see this..." With nothing left to say, Matsu pressed a button on her keyboard, initializing the video sequence she had brought up to play at the beginning once more.

Naruto sighed as he watched the video begin playing. It was, most unfortunately, all silent. While it was true that all of his inventions used seals as opposed to technology, just like with technology there were some drawbacks when it came to seals.

Space. There was only so much space one could use to write seals on an object, and the smaller that object the less space there was to write. With a device as small as the one they were currently using to spy on Higa with, Naruto had only been able to write out a seal that allowed it to capture and send images at a rate of sixty-five frames per second.

Most unfortunate.

Thankfully, Naruto did not actually need to hear someone speaking to know what they were saying. Long experience in dealing with people and different languages made him very adept at reading lips. And though he was not able to see Higa's mouth moving due to only being able to see the back of his head in the video, he could read the girl's lips just fine.

Tsukiumi could not, on the other hand, and it was irritating her.

"I don't get it," the blond woman narrowed her eyes as she stared at the screen. "Why can I not hear anything?"

"Because the device we're using to spy on Higa with doesn't allow for audio recordings," Matsu informed her.

"But how are we supposed to know what they're talking about if we can't hear them?" asked Musubi. It was probably the first time Naruto had heard the excitable shrine maiden with the unhealthy lust for combat ask an intelligent question.

"That girl is telling Higa that she's not going to join him," Naruto stated. He saw the awed and confused looks directed his way and shrugged. "I know how to lip read."

The video recording soon ended with the girl shouting something at Higa as she was dragged away by the man's two bloodhounds. There was a moment of silence when the recording stopped, with the only sound in the room being the thrum of the computers.

"So what exactly was the point of having us watch this?" asked Tsukiumi. Ever the impertinent one it was only natural she would be the one to break the silence.

"I have to admit that I'm curious as well," Homura spoke up for the first time since his sarcastic comment to Tsukiumi. Surprisingly enough, the comment was one that actually had him agreeing with the water user. "I understood the basics of what we saw here, but I'm still not sure how this knowledge applies to us."

"I'm getting to that," Matsu said with a pout. Her cheeks puffed up as she glared at the white haired Sekirei. It probably would have been adorable on, say, Kusano, but on Matsu the pout looked kind of weird. Like an adult trying to make a play at being a child.

Seeing as no one was talking anymore, Matsu began typing on her keyboard once more. The screen on the left side of the one that had been playing the video flashed once before bringing up a close-up image of the girls face, along with a list of statistics about the girl.

"Sahashi Yukari," Musubi read out loud. There was a small gasp from the back of the room that Naruto took note of. No one else seemed to notice. "Age, eighteen; Occupation, student; height, one hundred and fifty-eight centimeters; weight, forty seven kilograms; three sizes, eighty-one, sixty-one, eighty-three."

"Do we really need to know that, Matsu?" asked Homura, scowling as the red haired pervert finished listing off Yukari's bust-to-hip ratio.

"Uf fu fu fu," Matsu's perverted old man giggling returned with a vengeance. The red head pushed the glasses up her nose, somehow managing to catch a nonexistent light to make the lenses gleam ominously. "Of course it is. All the information I have is important to know."

"I do not see why we need to know this strumpets bust size," Tsukiumi agreed with Homura, her own scowl in place. Seeing the fire user and the water user with almost identical expressions on their face made Naruto wonder if the reason they didn't seem to get along was because they were so damn similar.

"I take it she's an Ashikabi?" Naruto asked hurriedly. He could already see Matsu preparing to respond to Tsukiumi statement with some kind of perverted comment that would likely make her newest sister Sekirei incredibly embarrassed and possibly violent. It would be best to get the red head back on track before anything like that happened.

"Yes," Matsu looked a bit put out that Naruto had interrupted her, but continued on regardless. "She's only just become an Ashikabi two days ago, which is why she isn't on your profile yet." Matsu typed a few more keys on her keyboard, bringing up another image, this one of a young male with messy silver hair like Homura's and gray eyes. "Her Sekirei is number one hundred and seven, Shiina."

A gasp escaped from Kusano. Naruto looked down at the little girl sitting on his lap. The Green Girl's eyes were wide as she stared at the image of the young looking Sekirei.

"That's your friend, isn't it, Ku-chan?" asked Naruto as he recalled the conversation he had with Kusano about the other Sekirei she had been adjusted with, the one whose powers were opposite of hers. She had mentioned that he had been a lot like her older brother figure and had looked after her whenever her powers got out of control.

Kami, had it really been only a little over a month since then? It honestly felt like a lifetime ago.

Kusano gave a little nod of her head. Her eyes had yet to leave the image of Shiina.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this Yukari girl has been captured in order to ensure the cooperation of her Sekirei," Naruto stated, his eyes narrowing in thought. Tsukiumi's grip on his arm tightened a bit, but he took very little notice of this. "Since Uzume is no longer under his control thanks to us, Higa's probably looking for another Sekirei to do his dirty work."

It made a lot of sense. Higa struck him as the kind of person who was all talk. He acted like he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, but when it came down to it the man was a fraud and woul never do anything that could harm his position as the Ashikabi of the East. Whenever there was a situation that needed dealing with, like someone he wanted to have taken out of the Sekirei Plan because he felt they were a threat, Higa would force those under him to take care of the situation for him.

Even when Higa was meeting with him the owner of the rival company for MBI had taken every precaution in ensuring that he would not only be completely protected, but that he would also have the means to subdue Naruto should the situation between them become unfavorable.

Had Naruto been a normal human than those precautions would have been enough.

Naruto had to admit it was a smart move strategically speaking. By forcing others to do his dirty work, Higa was not only thinning the competition by having Ashikabi under his command take out the Sekirei of those he wanted gone with their own Sekirei, he did it by putting the Sekirei of someone else at risk rather than his own. If the Sekirei of the Ashikabi under his command was deactivated, well, it was no skin off his bones.

"You would be right," Matsu informed him, adjusting her glasses before turning back to the screen and typing in some information.

The images and statistics of Yukari and Shiina disappeared, only to be replaced with the image of another Ashikabi/Sekirei duo. The Ashikabi was a male, a rather plain looking one. He had brown hair and black eyes. His skin was light but not pale. Truly, he looked even more unremarkable than that Minato kid Naruto had net when he first arrived here did.

The Sekirei on the other hand was just as beautiful as any other Sekirei he met. Her breasts weren't as big as the girls in his flock's were (minus Homura who had more average sized breasts), but then, Naruto very much doubted anyone could have a bust size larger than most of the girl's in his flock. Uzume excluded, of course.

This particular Sekirei reminded him a little bit of the kunoichi of his time. She was outfitted with a purple sleeveless turtle neck shirt that covered only her bust and just a little below that, allowing everyone to see the smooth expanse of her flat, well formed stomach. The pants she wore rode low on her hips, were black in color, and followed a scheme similar to her shirt in that they looked like they were designed with kunoichi in mind. The girl had short, messy black hair, and purple eyes. Her name was Natsu, Sekirei number seventy-two.

The information that got Naruto's attention the most were her weapons. Natsu's ability revolved around her throwing knives, which looked very much like kunai without the rings located at the end of the handle.

Above the statistics for the long range weapon user in big, bold letters were the words 'Level Four Deactivation'.

"He's already managed to take out one of his targets," Naruto commented.

"Yes," Matsu nodded her head. "I have a recording of the battle if you want to see it."

"Put it on."

The battle, if one could even call it such, was very short. Naruto watched as Shiina decimated Natsu with nothing more than simply touching her. His theory on the boy's powers being decay were definitely spot on. Anything his power touched simply withered away. The throwing knives that Natsu tossed at him would rust and disintegrate when Shiina brought up what looked like a yellowish-blue shield formed from his powers. And when those powers were active all life around him seemed to age and die right before their eyes. It was actually quite frightening to see.

Naruto pondered the boy's abilities. What would happen if Shiina were to use those on him? Would they even work? Just from watching the battle Naruto had already created a theory on the number one hundred and seven's abilities.

Pathologically speaking, decay meant a decline in health and vigor; to waste away. When it came to living organisms, decay spoke of the destruction and decomposition of matter, in other words, rot. Going off that term it could be construed that Shiina's powers were the ability to rapidly age anything they touched to the point they decayed within seconds.

Naruto was ageless. Timeless. The flowing river that was time would never touch him. He merely watched it's progression from the sidelines. An observer more than anything else.

In some ways, Shiina's power was a time based power. It was likely based around the ability to rapidly increase the amount of 'time' something existed within this world without affecting the actual progression of time outside of the small bubble Shiina's powers created in order for the decaying process to take effect.

Would something like that work on a being who was timeless? Probably not, though it was possible Naruto's theory was way off the mark. Still, even if it was, he doubted the number one hundred and sevens power would be capable of harming him.

"As you can see, this battle took place just a little over half an hour ago," Matsu pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "The only reason I was even able to get the video was because I had been keeping progress of number one hundred and seven when I found out what was going on and had an alert put in place to warn me when something like this happened."

"Wow! He's so strong!" Musubi looked like she was about to go into her post orgasmic battle mode. Her hands were clenched into fists under his chin, her eyes were sparkling brightly as she stared at the battle happening on the screen, and her breathing had picked up to the point where the only thing missing to make her look like she was heavily aroused were the red cheeks. "Are we going to fight him?"

"No, Musubi," Naruto sighed. "We are not going to fight him."

Musubi's disappointment was evident. Her shoulders were now slumped dejectedly and her eyes looked like pools of sadness. She sniffed a couple of times for good measure.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the girl before turning back to Matsu so he could continue his conversation with the red head. "I take it the video was deleted by Koucho so that MBI would not be able to discover who had taken out this Sekirei?" Naruto theorized out loud. Koucho was Higa's version of Matsu. A Sekirei whose power was over technology and gathering information. It would make sense for her to be used in this way.

"That's right," the red head bobbed her head up and down in a nod. "I was able to create a copy minutes before Koucho managed to delete it. Because the video was deleted from MBI's database so soon, I doubt anyone within that company knows who did this." There was a pause as Matsu cocked her head to the left. "And I'm pretty sure the only reason they even know number seventy-two was deactivated is because of the implants they put on all of their Sekirei that lets them know of our health."

Naruto nodded noncommittally, a small part of him taking note of the new information Matsu had just unwittingly given him. Later on, perhaps after this incident was resolved, he would have to ask Matsu more about the implants all Sekirei apparently have.

But that was for another time. For now he had to decide what to do with this newest problem. Had this incident been happening with any other Sekirei, Naruto probably would have just let it run it's course. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that, not with who Higa was using to do his dirty work.

Naruto looked down at the tiny blond in his lap. Kusano looked like she was on the verge of crying. He doubted she understood much of what was being said around her, but she must have some idea of what was happening. At the very least she knew that her friend was being forced to fight for someone who was not his Ashikabi.

"So you mean to tell me that this... this monkey is using the sacred bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei in order to force them into committing deplorable acts?" asked Tsukiumi, a tremor of anger in her voice. The blond's eyes were narrowed dangerously and her lips were set in a mask of displeasure. It looked like she didn't care for what Higa was doing to one of her fellow Sekirei much either.

Her grip on his arm tightened as she glared at the screen.

"How dare that filth dishonor the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei with such a deplorable act!" The blond water user raged. "This fool needs to be taught a lesson!"

"I'm surprised you care about this so much, Tsukiumi," Homura commented, his voice cool and aloof. "I thought you always hated Ashikabi. Weren't you always saying you were going to be the strongest Sekirei without having an Ashikabi tying you down?"

Tsukiumi turned her head to cast a glare in Homura's direction. She huffed, then turned her head again in a dismissive gesture, as if she had decided he just wasn't worth it.

"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand."

Homura's eyebrows began to twitch.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Ok, so, Higa has taken Sahashi Yukari as a hostage in order to force Sekirei number one hundred and seven, Shiina, into terminating other Sekirei of his choosing," Naruto spoke up loudly, halting the potential argument between Homura and Tsukiumi before it could truly begin. "The question is, what should we do about this."

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Tsukiumi with a scoff as she stood up, a fire lighting in her eyes. "We cannot allow this travesty of the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei to remain tarnished."

"We should help them..." Musubi added, raising a clenched hand in the air. Before long, she too was standing up, the same fire that was burning within her newest sister Sekirei now burning in her own eyes. "With our fists and our hearts!"

Naruto stared at Musubi and Tsukiumi as they held identical yet diametrically opposite positions. They were both standing up, their legs spread exactly shoulder width apart. The difference lay in there hands. Musubi had her left hand on her hip and her right hand clenched into a fist that was held near her face. Tsukiumi's positioning was the opposite, with her left hand on her hip and her right hand clenched into the fist.

After staring at the odd pair for a full thirty seconds, Naruto slowly shook his head and decided he would be better off pretending that what had just happened never happened.

He looked back at the screens that had all of information Matsu had been presenting to them displayed for his perusal. On the left screen was the video feedback of the battle between Natsu and Shiina. Below that was a screen that showed the statistics of Natsu and her Ashikabi, and directly to the right of that one showed the statistics for Yukari and Shiina, while situated above that screen was the video from the spying device Naruto had implanted on Higa during their first and only meeting.

Naruto knew he would need to do something about this. While in most cases he would have sat back and only stepped in when the situation became advantageous for him, he could not afford to do that when the Sekirei being used was so close to one of his own.

Kusano was easily the purest and most innocent of his flock next to Musubi, and unlike Musubi she was still a child. A Sekirei to be sure, but an eight year old girl nonetheless. He didn't want the girl to suffer through knowing that her best friend, someone she considered a brother, was being forced to fight against his will by Higa when he could do something about it.

The question was, what should he do about it?

**XoX**

Naruto entered the door that led into the changing room for the bath house. It was much later in the day, the sun had set and the moon was out, and Naruto decided it was time to get some much needed relaxation in. After all that had happened so far today, he felt he deserved it.

After divesting himself of his clothes, folding them, and putting them in one of the cubby holes, Naruto grabbed a towel off a nearby rack and made his way over to the door leading into the bath house.

As expected when he entered the bath house proper, the entire room was covered in a thick layer of steam. It rose up from the bath, obscuring much of the room in it's haze.

Naruto walked further into the room. As he came closer to the bath itself, the area around him became less obstructive, giving him a better view of the bath.

This included the person who was currently lounging in the bath itself.

"Homura?" Naruto asked, surprised to see the fire user there. The white haired bishounen with breasts was leaning against the bath, his head tilted back and his arms resting against the lip of the bath. It was perhaps the first time Naruto had seen the much younger... male(?) look content.

Then again, the few times he had seen Homura it was usually during some kind of emergency.

After the meeting in Matsu's room, Homura had disappeared. Naruto thought he might have adjourned to his own room, which was where he usually stayed these days. Seeing the white haired Sekirei inside of the bath house was not something he had expected.

Homura's eyes snapped wide open at the sound of Naruto's voice. Slowly, those shocked, almost frightened as moved over until they landed on Naruto. When they did, the white haired fire user jumped to his feet.

"N-Naruto!" he shouted, startled. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Getting ready to take a bath," Naruto responded dryly as he grabbed the bucket and scooped up some warm water from the tub. "By the way, you expose yourself when you stand like that."

Homura blinked several times as the words registered in his ear. When it seemed they had finally turned into a format that was comprehensible to him, he looked down and his eyes widened further.

With a loud 'eep!' of shock and embarrassment, Homura ducked back into the water with a loud splash. The fire user tried to sink further into the tub's depths, lowering his body until the water was just a few centimeters below his nose.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he sat poured the bucket of water over himself and began scrubbing his arms and chest.

"I don't know why you're so skittish," Naruto said, his tone almost sounding conversational were it not for the small hint of sarcasm in it. "It's not like you have anything I haven't seen."

"Oh?" Homura lifted his head just enough to speak. His tone was scathing. "So you've seen someone who has anatomy from two different genders."

"Yes," Naruto answered simply. When Homura gaped at him, the blond rolled his eyes again. "What? You think you're the only hermaphrodite in the world? Despite being an oddity there are a surprisingly large number of people who have the sex organs of both genders. And at least your status is only temporary. You should be thankful."

"Oh yes, I'm so thankful that I'm turning into a girl against my will," Homura's tone was incredibly sarcastic as he spoke. "Because, you know, I've always wanted to be a woman. It's practically my life goal."

"Your sarcasm needs work," Naruto told him as he finished washing off his body. Homura rolled his eyes at the blond's response. Eyes which soon bugged out when Naruto stood up and turned around to walk into the tub, heedless of the fact that he was practically naked with only a towel wrapped around his waste.

"W-What the hell are you doing!?" Homura squeaked, his voice raising several octaves. The fire user quickly tried covering himself by placing an arm over his breasts, which did very little. The only thing they managed to cover were the nipples.

"Um, getting into the bath," Naruto responded with an eye roll as he stepped into the warm water and sat down on the opposite side of Homura. "Seriously Homura, you need to relax. The only one currently making a big deal out of your physical state is you."

Homura growled.

"The only reason you're not freaking out is because it's not happening to you! If you grew up as a man and suddenly found yourself changing genders, I'm pretty sure you would be freaking out as well!"

Naruto absently wondered if he should tell Homura about the times he had lived whole lifetimes while under the henged form of his female variant. He remembered at least five separate occasions where he had disguised himself as a woman and lived a standard human lifetime. It would probably go a long way towards easing the young man's mind to know that someone else had, in fact, lived life as a female several times.

Then he remembered that neither Homura nor anyone else for that matter knew he had lived for several thousand years, much less had the ability to transform into a female at will.

And besides, it was far more fun watching the white haired bishounen sulk and brood over something he couldn't change.

"Does it really bother you that much?" asked Naruto, his head tilted in curiosity as he looked at his current bath mate.

"Yes!" Homura snapped, right before he sighed. "No," he admitted softly as his body sunk further into the water. "It doesn't," he glared at Naruto, "but it should. I shouldn't be so... so... okay with this. I should be angry that I'm becoming something I don't want to be, that because I have an Ashikabi whose a male my body is changing into a woman's."

"And that's the problem isn't it?" said Naruto, taking a stab at what was really bothering Homura. "You don't like the fact that you aren't even bothered by your body changing genders when you should probably be freaking out, or at least having one of those mid-life crises'."

Homura snorted at the small attempt at brevity.

"I don't know how I could have a mid-life crises when I'm still in the early stages of my life," he commented dryly, causing Naruto to grin.

"You could be starting early. It wouldn't surprise me, what with all that white hair," the blond Uzumaki teased.

Homura's face took on another scowl as Naruto made the jibe at his hair color. He didn't seem to appreciate people making fun of his locks. Even if that person was his Ashikabi.

It was probably because he was a Bishounen, a pretty boy, and they took just as much as, if not more, pride in their looks than most female super models.

"I'll have you know that I was born with this hair color," Homura told Naruto, his fierce scowl still in place. The blond gave him a pitying look.

"I am so sorry for you," he said with a tone that was tinged with false regret and compassion. Homura's scowl grew and a growl escaped from his throat before he turned his head away from Naruto, causing the blond to chuckle once more.

Teasing Homura really was quite fun. Why hadn't he done this before?

Leaning back against the lip of the tub, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to relax. This was really the only time he now had for such a frivolous activity. With four of his five Sekirei now vying for his attention, the young looking immortal hardly had any time to himself these days.

As he allowed his body to succumb to the pleasurable heat from the water, his thoughts turned towards the Sekirei currently sharing a bath with him.

Homura was definitely an odd case, and not just among Sekirei. In all the years he had lived, Naruto had never seen a case of gender transformation like this. In fact, he had never seen a gender transformation at all. It truly did bring a whole new meaning to the term gender bending.

He refocused on the much younger male's words. How Homura had said he should be mad at what was happening to his body but wasn't. It made Naruto wonder again at the inner workings of Sekirei.

The way Homura seemed to be so accepting of his situation, aside from what appeared to be minor annoyance, was almost disturbing. Naruto couldn't help but ask himself if this acceptance Homura displayed was caused by the Sekirei bond. Was the bond between actually changing the fire user's disposition and very personality into that of a female?

It certainly seemed that way. When Naruto had first met Homura the white haired Sekirei had been calm, collected, and cool as a cucumber. Very little seemed to phase him and he acted the very definition of a Bishounen playboy.

Now Homura was having random mood swings, seemed to get much more emotional, was acting irrationally angry whenever he confronted Tsukiumi, and spent most of his time brooding. While there were occasions where the young... man, would occasionally regain his previous personality, those moments were becoming fewer and father in between.

"Do you regret me winging you?" Naruto asked out of the blue. His question seemed to surprise Homura, who looked back at him with a slightly stunned expression. After a few seconds the white haired fire user's expression changed from surprised to thoughtful.

"No," he answered Naruto's question after a few moments of consideration. "Had you not winged me I would have probably died that day, burned from the inside out by own powers." Homura grimaced at the thought of dying such a painful death, and Naruto had to admit it wouldn't be a very pleasant way to go.

"Death can be preferable to some of the things we might face in life," Naruto said, his words causing Homura to look at him in surprise. The much younger man probably had no clue what he was talking about. That, or he may have heard the slight bitterness that tinged Naruto's voice. Even someone who had mastered disguising their emotions such as him had trouble keeping all of his thoughts and feelings locked away.

The bonds he could feel humming beneath the surface of his thoughts certainly did not help matters either.

An uncomfortable silence passed between the two. Or at least, it was uncomfortable for Homura. The fire using Sekirei kept squirming a bit where he sat, his eyes occasionally going over to Naruto who looked almost like he was sleeping were it not for the fact that his eyes were open.

"Well," Homura coughed a bit to get Naruto's attention. "Regardless I am thankful for what you've done. I don't want you to think I'm not." He gave Naruto an earnest look that probably would have been more endearing if Naruto didn't know that the younger male had a penis. "Ever since my winging my powers have been much stronger than before, and much easier to control too."

Naruto gave Homura a small smile.

"Glad to be of help."

**XoX**

It was quite a bit later that Naruto decided to get out of the bath. He had actually wanted to stay in a bit longer, but the waters had long since grown cold, and he no longer had enough control over the fire element to heat the water up using fire natured chakra without causing the entire bath house to combust.

Homura was long gone. The fire user had left a little over half an hour ago, having apparently had enough of the bath, or perhaps enough of Naruto. Watching the currently in the process of changing into a female Sekirei scramble out of the bath as quickly as possible had been rather amusing.

After drying off using a spar towel, Naruto stepped into his pants (and ramen theme boxers) and zipped them up. He grabbed his socks and shirt in his hands, but did not put them on, deciding instead to go shirtless.

Stepping in through the door Naruto was met with a small surprise in the form Akitsu. The silver haired snow women was standing right outside the door on his left. Considering he was the only one who had been using the bath house and she had taken a bath with the other girls earlier, he could only assume she was here for him.

"Akitsu-chan," Naruto greeted with a small smile, which disappeared when he noticed the woman had not greeted him with her usual 'ah... Ashikabi-sama'.

For a moment, Naruto thought there might be something wrong. A large number of possibilities sprang to his mind; anything from one of his other Sekirei being in danger to Minaka Hiroto deciding to use his vast wealth and resources to try and take over the world. It wasn't until he took another look at Akitsu to realize why she had not responded to him.

Whenever he was in Akitsu's presence, the woman was almost always staring at his face, as if it were something to she needed to study to try and figure out. A mystery that she wanted to solve. It had been a little creepy to be honest, but he had gotten over it quickly.

Akitsu was not staring at his face right now. She was staring at his chest. His bare chest.

Naruto had never really shown off his chest. Thinking back on it, he was almost always wearing a T-shirt to cover himself. Even when going to bed he usually had a shirt on.

He had never noticed that before. Back before Naruto had winged Musubi, he had almost always slept in the nude. It was just more comfortable than wearing clothes to bed, and it wasn't like he had anything to be ashamed of. But when Musubi had first been winged he started wearing more to cover himself. T-shirts became regular nightwear, pajama bottoms or occasionally boxers were now a must while in bed.

How odd.

A frown crossed Naruto's face over this strange new revelation before he decided it was not worth thinking over. He did too much thinking as it was, he did not need to be wondering over his decision to change his sleepwear. Or why he had decided to wear something to sleep when he often slept nude, as the case was here.

He looked over at Akitsu and almost did a double take. The taciturn young woman was still staring at him, not unusual all things considered. It was _how _she was staring at him and just _where _she was staring that was a bit disconcerting.

She was still staring at his chest, which he had kind of expected. Her normally pale cheeks were now stained a dark red. Her eyes were hooded, half lidded and glazed over with what looked very much like lust. Naruto checked the emotions he was feeling from Akitsu over the bond and realized that the feeling was indeed lust. In fact, if he was reading her emotions right, she was just about ready to jump him right here in the hallway.

Huh, who knew that Akitsu could sometimes be even more perverted than Matsu.

Deciding he couldn't afford to get caught screwing one of his Sekirei in the middle of the hall, Naruto quickly put his shirt on. For a moment, he could have sworn Akitsu actually whined in disappointment, but quickly discarded that theory. Even if it was true, the idea of Akitsu of all people whining was just to disconcerting to think about.

"My face is up here, you know," Naruto commented lightly as he put his clothes shirt on. Akitsu blinked once, her mind registering the words. Then she began to blush, and her eyes quickly moved up to his.

Of course, considering she had just been blatantly ogling Naruto's muscular torso, she could only maintain eye contact for a little over a second before she seemed incapable of keeping it up and averted her eyes once more.

"Kusano's been put to bed I take it?" asked Naruto after he finished putting his shirt on. He began walking without waiting for a response, knowing that Akitsu would follow him.

And he was right. Less than a second after he began walking Naruto's acute sense of hearing picked up the clinking of chains and the soft pitter-patter of feet following him.

"Yes," Akitsu informed Naruto, her voice soft and slow. "She fell asleep about an hour ago. I put her to bed in Miya-san's room."

Naruto nodded his head noncommittally, knowing that the Green Girl would sneak out of Miya's room sometime during the night and sneak into his. He would have thought it amusing that Miya, for all her apparent ability in stealth and detection, couldn't sense a single child with massive amounts of power sneaking out of her room.

Naturally, it wasn't funny because Naruto suspected Miya knew what was going on and simply let it continue so she had something to tease him with. Not that he could actually prove it.

The pair stopped just before reaching the stairs. Naruto turned around and looked at the woman who had her head bowed in subservience. Even now, seeing her act like this still bothered him a bit.

"You wanted to ask me something," it wasn't a question.

Akitsu looked startled. Or at least, as startled as Akitsu could look. Her eyes were ever so slightly wider than they usually were, and her mouth looked like it was about to open. Then she began to blush. Two small dots of pink appeared upon her cheek, contrasting beautifully with her snow white skin.

This strange change in demeanor from her usually emotionless gaze was quite a sight, Naruto had to admit. It really enhanced her beauty, an impressive feat in and of itself as the woman was already a female whose grace, figure and apollonian gaze could enchant even gay men and convince them to become straight.

It was also the strongest reaction he had seen in the woman with the sole exception of when she gained her wings.

"No," she shook her head slowly, causing Naruto to frown. He decided to check her through the bond again to see if he might have been wrong in his perception of what she wanted.

That was the problem with the bond, Naruto lamented. It wasn't like he could just peer down the connection between them and discover what Akitsu or any of his other Sekirei were thinking. The bond was nowhere near that precise. All it did was allow Naruto to feel the emotions of his Sekirei and vice versa. This meant that he could tell what they were feeling at any given time, but knowing what emotions they were feeling and interpreting those emotions in a way that would allow him to know what they were thinking was two very different things.

And unfortunately, it meant he could not truly tell what she wanted. She was feeling a bit apprehensive, and a bit embarrassed (though he had no clue why), but that was all he could get from the bond.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked just to make sure she was being honest and not playing off her desire. If there really was nothing she wanted to ask him and the feelings were of something else than that was fine, but if she did want to ask him something but wasn't for whatever reason that was not. He didn't know why, but the thought that Akitsu might be keeping something from him bothered him.

Then again, he had several very large secrets that he was keeping from everybody. Did he really have any right to talk?

When Akitsu shook her head again, Naruto's frown deepened. He took the single step forward that would bring him into the white haired snow woman's personal space. His left hand came up, resting directly under her chin, and he used it to tilt her head up so he could look into her eyes.

Akitsu eyed him for a moment. Then the flush of pink on her cheeks deepened to a darker red. Her eyes shifted, like she wanted to look away, but she didn't. It was as if his eyes were holding her in place.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" asked Naruto, trying to coerce her into telling him what she was thinking. He briefly thought of using the bond to convey his emotions towards her in order to further persuade her, but didn't. Not only would it be wrong to violate the bond like that, but he would also admit that he wasn't sure he could convey the proper emotions to her. Faking emotions via facial expressions and mannerisms was easy. But you couldn't fake real emotions, and Naruto was not sure if he had the ones that would have worked on convincing her to open up to him anyways.

And, even if he would never say it out loud, he was deathly afraid that using the bond so fully would cause him to lose himself.

Thankfully, it looked like he wouldn't have to.

Akitsu was still looking at him, her eyes locked onto his. Her small, pink tongue darted out between her lips to wet them. Naruto had to force his eyes not to stray from her face, as well as force his body not to act on the impulse to crush her lips to his.

Was it just him, or was it getting harder to control his desire to be intimate with his Sekirei?

"I just..."

Akitsu's face took on an even deeper shade of red. The small twin dots on her cheeks spread across the bridge of her nose as the blood in her body rushed to her face. For a moment, Naruto didn't think she was going to continue. However, after another second or two she seemed to screw up her courage and speak.

"I was just... remembering what you did with Matsu-san," she admitted, her already red face coloring even more. "And I was just wondering why we haven't... done that before."

And just like that, Naruto realized what the feelings he had picked up through their bond had signified. She wanted to be intimate with him like he had been with Matsu, but she was too shy to actually ask him.

Then there was the apprehension she was feeling. Akitsu was his second Sekirei, Matsu was his fourth, yet he and Matsu had already been intimate where the most Akitsu had received from him were a few kisses, which had stopped the very day he realized his emotions were being affected by the bond he had formed with all of them. That had to be a blow to her self esteem, especially when he took in the fact that had one point she had not had any self esteem because she had been a 'scrapped number'.

Naruto couldn't help but feel like a jerk now. He had given into Matsu's desire to indulge in perversion because he had thought it would help him get over his hang ups over being intimate with his Sekirei, which he was not even sure it had worked as he still felt like something was holding him back.

What he hadn't thought about was how being intimate with one of his Sekirei would affect his other Sekirei. Musubi and Kusano wouldn't be a problem. One of them was too young to understand the meaning of sex and the other was too naïve and innocent. Likewise, Homura wouldn't be an issue right now, and not just because he still had his fish and tackle. He also worked at a host club, so he was used to sexual situations.

Akitsu on the other hand was not naïve like Musubi nor trying to work through their own confusion like Homura. Out of all the Sekirei he had winged, she was probably the only one besides Matsu who knew what sex was and understood the implications of the act and all it entailed.

She was also the one who probably desired intimacy the most, quite possibly even more than Matsu. At one point Akitsu had been a 'scrapped number', a Sekirei that had been told she would never find her Ashikabi.

Then, out of the blue, he had come into the picture, taking her away from her bleak future and giving her the wings she had been told she would never get.

When put like that, it was very easy to see why she was so devoted to him, and why she did everything he asked without question. He had saved her from a fate that, for a Sekirei, was worse than death. In her mind, he was probably the center of her universe, the thing her entire world revolved around. She would do anything he asked, when he asked, without question. If he said jump she would not ask 'how high?', she would simply jump.

It honestly made him incredibly uneasy. Naruto had power. On this world, perhaps even in this entire Universe, Naruto was probably the most powerful being in existence. If he wanted to, he could crush this world with his chakra alone. Smother it until it was nothing more than a radioactive ball of waste. Reach down into the very core of this world and tear it asunder. The amount of sheer power he had was godly. Not even the combined might of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama could match him in terms of pure, unadulterated power these days. He knew this, had known this for a long time. It had never bothered him before, and it still did not now.

Yet the idea that he could hold such absolute power over another persons life like he did with Akitsu made him incredibly uneasy, and he did not even know why.

He focused his attention back on Akitsu and wondered what he could do to fix this new problem that had arisen. He never meant to hurt one of the girls he had bound to himself and in turn bound himself too. He felt even worse because it was Akitsu, who had likely already been dealing with confidence issues because of her past, that had been hurt.

Naruto found himself drawn to Akitsu's eyes. Those light grey eyes that looked almost like steel, though they had none of the hardness and were looking a little vulnerable right now. While the rest of Akitsu's face may not show much of her emotions, her eyes seemed to hold a depth that the facial expressions of others could not.

His head began to lower itself as his hand tilted Akitsu's face up towards him. He saw Akitsu's eyes widen just before he closed his own and lowered his face the rest of the way to hers.

Their lips met, and Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the feel and taste of Akitsu's lips. They were lush, and soft, and had a minty freshness to them that made Naruto wonder if her power was effecting how she tasted.

Those thoughts left him as he felt Akitsu begin kissing him back. Through his eyelids he could see the light made from the wings of ice that formed behind her, but he ignored that in favor of attending to the lips of the beautiful woman in his arms. His arms wrapped themselves around the ice user, pulling her to him in an effort to reduce the amount of space between their bodies. Like she had back when he had acted more affectionate, her kiss was tentative, as if she was afraid of getting it wrong.

The kiss remained chaste for the most part. Naruto did allow himself to partake in Akitsu's lips much longer than a simple peck, but he was not sure if she was ready for anything more. Naruto was not even sure if _he _was ready to do anything more.

Still, even if he had yet to truly sort out his emotions and thoughts on intimacy he could not deny he enjoyed the kiss. It was much different from kissing other women. There was just... something about it, something he couldn't quite describe that made it better. Even though some of the other female's he had kissed, many others in fact, were better at it than Akitsu, there was something about kissing her, and all of his Sekirei (minus Kusano and Homura for obvious reasons) that made the act more enjoyable than any of his one night stands.

Naruto pulled his lips away from Akitsu's and, still holding the young woman in his arms, studied the white haired female again.

Akitsu's eyes were closed. Her cheeks contained a healthy flush, and her mouth was parted slightly in an expression of bliss. The look was far more expressive than anything she had ever given him to date, and despite his own confusion, Naruto felt a swell of pride knowing he put that look on her face.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but in truth was only a few seconds, Akitsu opened her eyes. She took one look at him and the blush currently on her face grew.

"Thank you... Ashikabi-sama..." she mumbled, her voice as dazed as the half lidded expression on her face.

Naruto gave her a small half smile.

"Anytime."

Mission accomplished.

"Come on," Naruto said, having successfully diverted Akitsu from her previous thoughts and melancholy, the blond Uzumaki decided it was time to get to bed. The others were probably already ready. He grabbed Akitsu's hand, taking quick note of her reaction to the act, and began walking up the stairs and towards their bedroom.

As the two got closer to where they and Naruto's other Sekirei would sleep, they heard voices coming from his door. It sounded like an argument.

"You cannot sleep here!" Tsukiumi's voice rang out. "Only I, as Naruto's proper wife may sleep with him in his bed. You, as the concubine, must find somewhere else to sleep."

"But Musubi is Naruto-sama's wife too!"

Yep, definitely an argument.

Naruto groaned as he entered the room to find Musubi and Tsukiumi arguing over who would sleep with him. Matsu probably would have been involved as well, but as always she was far too busy enjoying the drama unfolding before her to truly care. He saw her standing in the corner, one arm under her chest holding her stomach, while the hand attached to her other arm was covering her face to stiffen her giggles.

"Ufuhuhuhu!"

Of course, the act did very little to actually stifle her giggling. Naruto was almost sure she knew this and did it on purpose.

"There can only be one wife!" Tsukiumi continued to argue her point, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Musubi. "And that is not you! I am Naruto's real wife!"

Musubi pouted.

"I'm Naruto-sama's real wife too, you know!"

"No you are not!"

"Yes I am!"

"Are not!"

"Yes I am!"

"ARE NOT!"

Naruto watched as Musubi and Tsukuimi got right in each others face. The water user was glaring at the fist fighter. Musubi was... sort of glaring, but since she didn't have a mean bone in her body it really didn't look like a glare at all.

Sparks were flying between the two woman (metaphorically speaking of course), and Naruto could swear he smelled the stench of burnt ozone. He ignored that in favor of turning to Matsu.

"How long have they been at this?" he asked, hooking his thumb back towards the two who were still in the middle of a glaring contest. Naruto really hoped it wouldn't come to blows.

"Ah! Naruto!" Matsu flushed a bit, her cheeks taking on a pink hue. She was likely remembering what they did yesterday. "Yeah, they've been at it for a while now. About..." Matsu tilted her head in thought for a moment. "Fifteen minutes I'd say."

"And they've pretty much been arguing like this the whole time?" Naruto asked incredulously. He had known many stubborn people in his life who could argue for days on end if they thought they were right. Hell, he was the most stubborn bastard anyone would ever meet. But to argue in such a childish manner like this for fifteen minutes was ridiculous.

Oh well. At least they hadn't attacked each other yet. He would take what blessings he could get.

"I guess I should stop them," Naruto muttered mostly to himself. He ignored Matsu's whines to let them keep going as he walked over to the pair. "Excuse me. Ladies?"

"What!?"

"Yes?"

The turned to him and shouted at the same time, their glares still in place. Naruto actually took a step back for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. Rolling his eyes, he said, "I'm sure for this night at least, you two could put away this argument for the sake of getting some rest."

Musubi seemed to agree with his decision instantly. She obviously didn't really care one way or the other and was just arguing over who Naruto's wife was. Tsukiumi, on the other hand, huffed, flicking her hair over her left shoulder as she crossed her arms under her bust.

"Very well. I shall allow these trollops to bed you for tonight only," she said in an imperious voice, as if she were the one calling all this shots in this strange relationship. It was actually quite cute to be honest.

"But," she whirled on Musubi once more. "Do not think this means anything! There can be only one real wife, and that wife is me!"

"I'm his real wife too!"

And once again the argument was on. Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he ran his hand down his face, trying to contain the growing exasperation he felt.

All those guys who thought having a large harem of beautiful women was the greatest invention since Metal Gear Solid obviously didn't have a fucking clue about what they were talking about. Naruto really hoped this was not going to be a nightly occurrence, because if so it was going to be seriously taxing on his patience.

Deciding the ignore them in favor of the bed, Naruto began getting dressed in his orange pijama pants and a large T-shirt. It was too bad Musubi and Tsukiumi were so busy arguing with each other or they would have gotten to see the washboard abs and muscular chest their Ashikabi was hiding underneath his clothes. Too bad for them they didn't see it, thus only Akitsu and Matsu got the rare opportunity to ogle the man they were bound too.

Naruto walked over to the bed, gesturing for the two alien women who were not arguing with each other to join him. They did, walking towards him as he stopped in front of the bed that would now be housing five (five and a half if you include Kusano when she sneaks into the room) people. It was only now that he was here, staring at his bed, that he realized another problem they now had.

"Oh great," Naruto groaned, his voice almost unheard due to the argument between Musubi and Tsukiumi that was still raging. "The bed's too small."

This was just not his day.

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><p><strong>I want to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I appreciate all comments and critiques given.<strong>

**This chapter had actually been supposed to be when the action started, but I kind of went overboard with my writing... again. I decided that since I've been focusing mostly on Naruto and Miya's relationship, as well as Uzume and Chiho, that I should give his other Sekirei a little more love. Tsukiumi had two chapters about her and got her wings, and Matsu got her Narutime, but it's been a while since I've given Akitsu any attention, and I don't think Homura's been given attention at all save for when he was winged so they were the ones I wrote about this chapter.**

**Next chapter is where the action will start taking place. I set for the foundations for the next arc in this chapter, and Naruto will be dealing with Higa, or at least dealing the little turd a major blow, possibly even a crippling one.**

**I hope all of you are looking forward to the next chapter.**

**Peace.**


	23. Operation Start

**Chapter 23: Operation Start**

* * *

><p>"You can't be serious!"<p>

These were the first words Naruto heard when he told everyone his plan to deal with the new curve ball they had been thrown yesterday via Matsu. They were not words spoken calmly, but with a loud shout of incredulity that could only come from someone who was speaking in a way that denoted disbelief.

The entire household was sitting at the dinner table. Miya, as always, sat at the head, sipping her steaming tea as she watched the proceedings with a careful eye. There was no way to really tell what was going through her mind at the moment as she watched the events unfold around her. She could have been amused or intrigued or feeling and thinking any number of things as she sat there with her face masked in neutrality. Whatever the case was, she seemed to be regarding the whole situation very carefully.

Naruto sat in between Tsukuimi, who was on his left, and Akitsu, who was on his right. As always, Akitsu's face was an expressionless mask. The only way to even get a hint at her thought processes was to look at her eyes, which were gazing at Naruto with the same intensity they always did, showing exactly what, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say who, she was thinking of. The blond on the other hand was not masking her emotions at all, and was staring daggers at the person who had just spoken to her Ashikabi in a way that she felt was disrespectful.

Kusano was sitting on his lap, not looking the least bit interested in the proceedings. Instead she was playing with a small stuffed fox Naruto had gotten for her during one of his outings. She was even making strange 'meowing' noises in spit of the fact that foxes did not meow like a cat.

On the other side of Akitsu sat Musubi, who was not paying attention to the proceedings either, busy was she was pouting at missing her chance to sit next to Naruto.

Better luck next time Musubi.

At the other end of the table, opposite of Miya, Matsu was watching what looked to be an eventful and highly amusing argument with interest. It was very likely that the perverted hacker was simply thinking of the unfolding events as some kind of soap opera. The girl found entertainment in all of the strange and unusual things the rest of Naruto's flock did and said.

And on the other side of the table sat Homura, Uzume, and Chiho, with the fire user on the left most side, Uzume in the middle, and Chiho sitting to cloth user's right. One of the three people there, Uzume, looked almost as amused as Matsu was. No doubt she was finding just as much entertainment as the lascivious Matsu. Meanwhile, Chiho was looking at Homura with worry while Homura himself looked ready to spit fire.

The words that had been spoken were, naturally, from Homura. The white haired fire user looked to be on the verge of exploding from anger, and all that anger was currently being directed towards his Ashikabi.

Said Ashikabi was took a slow sip of his tea, sighing as he enjoyed the flavor that caressed his taste buds. The tea was a special blend he had made many, many centuries ago during his search for the perfect type of tea. It was the culminated result of many centuries of splicing various tea leaves together to find that perfect combination that tantalized the taste buds and revitalized the mind.

After taking a nice, long sip of his tea, which seemed to anger the fire using Sekirei he had been ignoring even more, Naruto set his cup down and fixed Homura with a calm gaze.

"I am quite serious," Naruto stated without much inflection. He was not worried about the young man doing anything in his anger. Even _if _Homura tried to actually hurt him, which the blond highly doubted he would considering what this argument was about, it wasn't like he actually _could _do any damage to him. "This is the best way to deal with Higa and help get Shiina out from underneath that man's thumb."

Just a few short minutes ago, Naruto had revealed the plan he had cooked up last night to rescue Kusano's Sekirei brother figure, Shiina. It was a rather ingenuous plan if he did say so himself. Not only would it help someone precious to one of his Sekirei, but it would show Higa that he was not top dog in the Sekirei plan.

It would almost be like one big prank, and that was something Naruto could not just ignore. It had been far too long since he'd actually had the opportunity to prank someone. Unless one considered mass assassination a prank.

Naruto didn't, mainly because there was no one around to enjoy the fruits of his labor. The dead simply couldn't appreciate a good prank since they were, you know, dead. A pity.

"By putting yourself in danger!?" Homura asked incredulously, his voice sounding ridiculously loud in the mostly silent living room. Of course, it could have sounded loud because he was shouting.

"Use your inside voice please," Miya stated with a beatific smile that belied the implied threat behind her words. Homura took a shaky breath, his teeth grit, as he tried to keep himself calm. He did not want to provoke the wrath of the Hanya of the North.

"I hardly believe this plan would put me in any danger," Naruto said wryly. Of course, he had a reason to believe he would never be in any danger, and a good one at that. Not that Homura or anyone else knew about it.

"This plan is stupid and you know it," Homura retorted with a glare. "We'll find another way to deal with this. We'll make another plan. One that doesn't involve you putting yourself in unnecessary danger."

Naruto was almost amused at how protective Homura was of him. None of the other Sekirei had said anything about his plan. Granted, none of them had a chance because Homura had begun shouting as soon as he told it to them, but none of them seemed to agree with his assessment either way.

"Hmph!" Tsukuimi huffed at the white haired male. "Do you truly have so little faith in your Ashikabi's abilities? How distasteful." The beautiful water user turned her nose up at Homura, who cast a glare on her that could have melted steal. Not that Tsukiumi seemed to notice or care. "Do not doubt my husbands strength, cretin. He will be fine."

"That's right!" Musubi chimed in, her left hand clenched into a fist in front of her face and her eyes glittering with an otherworldly sparkle. Seriously, it was like someone shot off a glitter canon behind her eyes. It was kind of disturbing. "Naruto-sama is strong. He even beat Musubi in a spar."

"That doesn't matter!" Homura shouted, causing Musubi to jump and Kusano to cringe in fear as she burrowed her way into the blond Ashikabi's side. Even Miya and Uzume looked startled, though Tsukiumi merely met the fire user's glare with one of her own while Chiho looked at Homura with worry. "He shouldn't have to fight at all! He should never be placed in any danger to begin with!"

Musubi quivered under Homura's harsh glare. With the light reflecting off his eyes his gaze really did look like they could start a fire by simply gazing at whatever he wanted to combust. It probably looked that way to Musubi as well, if the way the normally cheerful fist fighter was cringing and looking away from the angry glare was any indication.

"He heh," Uzume chuckled, drawing attention to herself. "You're sounding awfully protective of your Ashikabi." Everyone watched as Homura's face took on the shade of a boiled lobster at the cloth users implications. "Is there anything you want to tell us?" she asked, leering at the red faced man.

"It isn't like that!" Homura defended himself, instantly forgetting about his previous disagreement over Naruto's plan in the face of Uzume's attempts to fluster him. Attempts that worked completely if the way his face looked like it was about to spontaneously combust was any indication.

"Do you really have that little faith in me?" asked Naruto, his face marred by a frown as he got the argument back on track. "I am more than capable of protecting myself."

While it was true that none of them knew about his power, his real power, there were more than enough clues that anyone with half a brain would know that there was more to him than met the eye. It actually kind of bothered him that Homura did not think he was capable of protecting himself. Out of all his Sekirei, the fire user was the one who should know he was more than able to defend himself. While Homura may not have seen his fight against Yomi, he _had _seen the aftermath. That should have been more than enough to let the fire user know that Naruto was more than capable of taking care of himself.

"It's not about whether you can take care of yourself or not," Homura argued. "It's about what's right. It's not right for an Ashikabi to fight in a Sekirei battle."

"But it is right for Sekirei to be battling each other?" Naruto asked, a single eyebrow raised.

"Of course it is," Homura stated, sounding confused about why Naruto was asking him what he obviously felt should have been obvious. "That's what the Sekirei Plan is about."

"Ah, I see," Naruto nodded his head. "So because it's part of the Sekirei Plan it's perfectly acceptable for two Sekirei to fight each other until one is no longer standing. It's perfectly fine if that Sekirei gets ripped away from the one they are bound to, the single most important person in the world, the one they love with all their heart."

Naruto watched, amused as several winces met his statement from more than just Homura. Matsu, Miya, and Uzume in particular seemed to take his statements particularly harshly.

"Besides, I always thought you were against the plan anyways," Naruto continued. "You never struck me as the type who actually cared about the Sekirei Plan. You, out of all the other Sekirei, are the one I would have expected to not want to take any part in the Sekirei Plan."

"You say that like we have some kind of choice," Homura said bitingly. "It's not like we can just say we don't want to take any part in the Sekirei Plan. We don't have a choice but to compete."

Naruto gave the much younger male a blank stare.

"There is always a choice," the blond stated with the conviction of someone who had been in their shoes before. "Whenever someone says 'we don't have a choice' they're simply stating that they are too afraid to make the right one. They limit themselves by forcing themselves to think 'we have no choice, we must do this' because they're not resourceful enough or brave enough to do the right thing."

The blond male looked at each and everyone of the people within the room. Some, like Homura, Matsu, and Uzume flinched. Others like Miya and Tsukiumi simply stared at him curiously. And still there were a few like Musubi and Kusano who were looking at him like he was the very truth to the universe.

And then of course there was Akitsu, who was simply staring at him with the same intensity as always.

Out of all those affect, Uzume seemed to be the one who was affected the most. It was understandable. Unlike the others, she was the one who had the most experience with something like this, and the one who actually had not had a choice in what she did until he had come along to help her. At the time, Higa had her Ashikabi dead to rights. Chiho could not be moved because Higa's hospital was the only one capable of treating her. MBI's could have as well, but because Uzume had helped Matsu escape from their headquarters, it was unlikely she would have been welcome. So that left Higa's hospital, and the moment he had her Ashikabi within his grasp, there was nothing Uzume could do accept do what she was ordered to do until another option presented itself. That option being him.

Even than, it was very likely Uzume still felt incredible guilty over what she had done. What she had been forced to do. Naruto knew that she, as the veiled Sekirei, had taken out a total of two other Sekirei without giving her name or number as per the rules of engagement in the Sekirei Plan dictated. She had than left their bodies, brutalized by enough damage to warrant a level four deactivation, without guarding them until MBI came to pick them up.

"Do you honestly think Minaka could do anything if every Ashikabi and Sekirei suddenly decided they didn't want to play his game anymore?" asked Naruto. He didn't give them a chance to respond (not that they could) before speaking again. "Even if he decided to send out the Disciplinary Squad it would do very little in the long run, especially if everyone decided to band together. I doubt even the Black Sekirei you all fear so much would be able to do much if she were faced off against every other Sekirei in the plan."

Silence reined within the room as what Naruto said sank in. Naruto let the silence reign, knowing that while what he said may be possible, it hinged on everyone else in the plan being willing to work together, something that he already knew was an impossibility. The truth was, while it was perfectly possible that the Sekirei Plan would be ground to a halt if all the Ashikabi and their Sekirei banded together, there were many people within the plan who would not even consider that avenue an option for them because they had their own vested interest in letting the plan play out.

Izumi Higa came to mind immediately. The man was willing to coerce, black mail, and even kidnap an Ashikabi in order to further his goals. Someone like him would never ally themselves with another. Use them for his own purposes, yes, but actually allying himself with them, no. Never.

And then there was Mikogami Hayato. Naruto knew only a little about this Ashikabi, namely that he currently had the largest gathering of Sekirei winged. Twenty-two in total. This included number five, Mutsu, making him the strongest competitor in the Sekirei Plan.

He also knew that Mikogami would not even try to stop the Sekirei Plan from happening, much less ally with other Ashikabi to do so. From what little he had gathered from the young boy's profile, Mikogami considered the Sekirei Plan to be the ultimate game, and he was playing to win.

Out of the three Great Ashikabi, the only one who might be willing to work with others to stop the Sekirei Plan was Nishi Sanada, who Naruto learned through Matsu didn't give a damn about the Sekirei Plan one way or the other. The only problem was no one could ever find Sanada as the man liked to roam the streets of Shinto Teito and was never in one place for too long. Finding him would be difficult at the best of times, even with Matsu hacking into MBI's surveillance satellites.

And without those three there was very little chance for any plan to fall through. The three Great Ashikabi as they were called had over half the Sekirei population in their pockets if you included all of the Ashikabi Higa had under his control.

In short, an alliance between all Ashikabi and Sekirei was impossible... at least at the moment.

Naruto shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. They wouldn't do him any good, especially right now.

"But I digress," he spoke again, bringing all of the Sekirei around him out of their introspection. The large group of busty females (not including Homura who could be considered a busty male as he still had his male bits) focused on the blond again as he continued to speak. "Regardless of what you may think about this plan, it is the only plan that has any true chance of success, and as I am the only one with any experience in stealth, I will be doing my part."

Homura clenched his fist tightly, his entire arm shaking from the amount of force he was exerting on the appendage. The young fire using Sekirei looked like he was about to explode. An apt description for his current mental disposition considering his element.

He opened his mouth, no doubt to make some kind of retort, but Naruto spoke first.

"Matsu. What are the odds of success if I stay behind and allow myself to be 'protected' instead of doing what I can to help?" he asked, putting his hands up in the air and making quotation marks when he said the word protected.

Everyone turned to look at Matsu, even Homura, though he was glaring at the red head as if daring her to say something that would support the blond Ashikabi.

Matsu adjusted her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose. Her eyes fluttered closed a second later, and Naruto knew she was remotely accessing data on all of the Sekirei, both his own and Higa's, from her computer in order to properly calculate their chances for success without him.

"Without knowing your full capabilities I can't make a one hundred percent accurate estimate," Matsu replied after a moment. Her voice was once more taking on a more mature tone, something that had been happening a bit more often recently. "However, the chances for the mission being a complete success without your contribution is very small. Because the plan requires our forces to be divided, only two Sekirei will actually be able to head over to Higa's headquarters, and with the amount of Sekirei he has winged, even a single digit will be hard pressed to do much, especially if their Ashikabi is not their to let them use their Norito. I would say about a one in fifty chance of success."

Naruto nodded, as if he had already expected her answer. Which he had. He had already gone over all the variables in his head to create this plan in the first place, and had already calculated the chances for success before he had even proposed the plan.

"Couldn't we come up with another plan?" asked Homura. The fire slinging Sekirei was beginning to look desperate. He was starting to grasp at straws now. Sharp, pointy straws with barbed wire.

"No," Matsu answered. "Not unless you want the other plan to fail. These two plans must be executed at the same time if one plan has any hope of succeeding." The red head paused for a moment, her head tilting as a curious expression crossed her face. "Well, I suppose the plan to infiltrate Higa's corporate headquarters and rescue Yukari can work without the second plan being executed. However, the Sekirei that are no doubt watching number one hundred and seven to make sure he doesn't try to get help or disobey orders most likely have standing orders to terminate him should Yukari manage to escape."

"Which is why we're doing both plans simultaneously," Naruto added. He looked over at Homura, whose jaw was clenched in anger once more, still unaccepting of the idea even if there was no other choice. "Whether or not you accept it, I _will _be going on this mission. This isn't up for debate."

Even if Naruto wasn't needed he would have still gone on this mission. The blond preferred to be hands on when it came to any covert operation.

Even the task of keeping his existence a secret from the rest of the world was done mostly by him regulating and micromanaging the various people he had in place (Blackmailed) into helping him. He just didn't like leaving things to other people, people who were not as good as him, who could screw up if he were not around to guide them.

Even now, with his Sekirei, his naturally distrustful nature refused to let them do this mission on there own. They were not shinobi. They had no talent in stealth and espionage, which is what this mission would be about. All Sekirei, minus brain types like Matsu, were fighters. None of them understood the subtle art that people like himself thrived on. And if they went on this mission alone, it was almost guaranteed they would not be successful.

"Fine," Homura grit out through his clenched teeth. The white haired bishounen glared at him one last time before spinning around rather abruptly and exiting the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Well," Naruto said dryly. "That went about as well as could be expected."

"He is not a very pleasant person," Tsukiumi agreed with her husband.

"Maybe it's just that time of the month," Uzume said with a snicker.

"Uzume-chan," Chiho began in a chiding voice. "You shouldn't make fun of someone, especially when they're not in the room to defend themselves."

"You're right," Uzume said, looking almost contrite. Chiho smiled, obviously thinking she had gotten through to her normally upbeat Sekirei. That changed when the cloth user grinned again. "I'll make sure he's in the room the next time I say something."

"Uzume-chan..." Chiho groaned as she realized her Sekirei had not taken the lesson she wanted to impart at all.

"He heh," Uzume chuckled, "Sorry, Chiho-baby."

"Do you really think this plan will work?" asked Miya. It was the first time the landlady had spoken up since the meeting in which Naruto outlined his plan began. Throughout the entire conversation/argument her eyes had never left Naruto's face, focusing solely on him with an intensity that was almost as Akitsu-like in how hard she was staring at him. The only difference between the two was that when the snow woman stared at him, it was with adoration and devotion on a fanatical scale, when Miya stared at him, it was like she was looking at him through a microscope like some kind of experiment that had to be studied. Or perhaps a puzzle that she hoped to solve. It was hard to tell with her.

"Of course it will work," Naruto said, his lips peeling back as he gave everyone a grin that showed off his teeth and stretched all the way across his face, making his eyes squint. The smile made him look very much like a fox. "Trust me."

As one, everyone around him, Musubi and Kusano included (though they had no clue why), shuddered. They instinctively knew nothing good could come from that look. The group of six Sekirei plus one Ashikabi almost felt bad for the person who that grin was intended for.

Almost.

**XoX**

If Homura had been walking on the ground as opposed to roof hopping across Shinto Teito, he probably would have been stomping his feet in indignant frustration and anger. Ever since the meeting he had abruptly left when Naruto told him in no uncertain terms that there was nothing the fire user could do to persuade him from not taking part in the operation he had been incredibly angry and easy to agitate. There was even the beginnings of what looked to be a permanent scowl etched onto his face.

Uzume thought it was terribly amusing.

The normally star shirted Sekirei was no longer wearing her every day attire of tight fitting jeans and a purple shirt with a star in the middle. Instead she was wearing an outfit that looked like something out of an erotica movie. Pure white silk covered her body in strategic locations that just barely managed to cover the parts of her body that were considered taboo for anyone other than her Ashikabi to look at. There was a long length of cloth that went over the center of her breasts, covering the nipples. It wrapped around her neck and went down her back, then wrapped around her torso, with barely an inch visible along her front as it wove around her underneath the bottom swell of her bosom. It not only exposed a great deal of her breasts, but her entire stomach was bare for all to see, allowing anyone who looked at her to get far more than just a glimpse of her defined, flat abs and thin waist.

Her skirt-piece was incredibly short, only just covering her mound by about an inch or two and wrapping tightly around her incredible looking thighs and small, tight ass. Thigh high white boots followed. They stopped about two inches before the skirt ended, exposing a good deal of her lovely skin. Covering her hands all the way up to just a little below her shoulders were a pair of long white gloves.

Flailing out behind her as they were whipped up into a frenzy by their roof hopping were several long sheets of cloth. They were wrapped around primarily her arms yet didn't look like they were actually attached to any of her clothing. It almost seemed like they were just there, floating behind her without actually touching her. A normal human would likely think it magic.

"Gah! This is so stupid!" Homura ranted as they landed on the edge of a roof before just as quickly running along to the opposite side and jumping to another. He had been ranting like that on and off for the past half an hour. Uzume thought it was funny to see the normally cool and collected Homura ranting and raving like some kind of loon. "How are we even supposed to find those two in this city? There are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people here, and Naruto wants us to find one Ashikabi and Sekirei pair? How does he expect us to find two people in this entire city?"

"Aren't you like some kind of protector of Sekirei, or whatever?" It almost sounded like Uzume was asking a question, and it probably would have been a question had it not been rhetorical. "Shouldn't you be more than capable of finding Sekirei?"

Homura answered anyways. "I'm the Guardian of Unwinged Sekirei," he corrected with a scowl. "I protect Sekirei who don't have there wings from unscrupulous Ashikabi. Not Sekirei who have already found an Ashikabi."

"Relax Homura, jeez," Uzume rolled her eyes at the very annoyed fire slinging Sekirei. "I was just joking around. No need to get angry at me."

"Whatever," Homura grunted, clearly not up for any kind of teasing. That was too bad. Uzume would have liked to poke fun of him for getting so overprotective of Naruto that they actually had a lover's spat.

No. Scratch that. She wanted to tease him because he and Naruto had their first lover's spat. That would be infinitely more funny than making fun of him for being overprotective. She could only imagine the shades of red he would turn if she brought it up.

"So who are we supposed to be looking for anyways?" asked Homura after several seconds of silence.

Ooh, an opportunity.

With all the nonchalance of someone who had just been given the perfect opening, Uzume said, "You would know if you hadn't walked out of the meeting after you and Naruto had your little lover's spat."

Ah. There's that infamous shade of violent red. Uzume smiled to herself as Homura's face looked like his powers over fire internalized and sent all of the flames he could conjure straight to his face. Now if only steam would start pouring out of his ears she would have the perfect kodak moment.

No, wait. That's blackmail material, not a kodak moment.

That was ok though. She would rather have something to blackmail the white haired male with later than something she could 'ooh' and 'aww' at.

"W-w-what the hell are you talking about!?" a flustered Homura shouted, the stark redness of his face making a profound contrast with his white hair and pale skin. The young fire using Sekirei was so embarrassed he almost missed the next jump.

Key word being almost. It was a good thing that even when he was in the throes of supreme embarrassment and humiliation, he still had enough situational awareness to correct himself after almost tripping on the lip of the roof in order to properly make the jump.

He quickly caught up with the grinning Uzume and the solemn Akitsu, a scowl plastered onto his beat red face.

"We were not having a lover's spat!" He tried to deny what had happened. Rather vehemently, Uzume might add. "We were just arguing about his stupid desire to put himself in harms way when it's neither needed nor wanted!"

Uzume grinned. She had him. Hook. Line. And sinker.

"And how is that not a lover's spat?"

As Homura began to sputter and fumble over his words some more, the other member of the trio on this particular mission decided to speak up.

"We're looking for number ninety-five, Kuno, and her Ashikabi, Shigi Haruka," Akitsu stated succinctly with none of the normal hesitation in her voice. They were on a mission, and she was focused solely on the mission. She would not fail her Ashikabi-sama.

"Do we even know what they look like?" asked a frustrated Homura, though why he was frustrated was anyone's guess. Uzume thought it had something to do with all the pent up sexual tension the fire user must have. It was too bad he still had a penis. If he got rid of it then he might be able to convince Naruto to help relieve it.

Unless Naruto was into dicks. Then he could go up to Naruto after this mission and get that problem taken care of. Though Uzume did not think the blond Uzumaki was gay. Not with what she had seen of Matsu after he had gotten done with her. Even _she _got shudders of ecstasy from that, and he wasn't her Ashikabi! Or female.

That, and there was no way a gay man could write such descriptive porn.

Uzume made a mental note to remember that she still had her secret stash of Icha Icha that needed to be signed. With all that's been happening lately, she had completely forgot about convincing Naruto to sign them for her.

Oh well. They were living under the same roof, so she had plenty of time to make Naruto sign her dirty novels.

Thinking of her secret stash of porno, Uzume made a mental note that she still had to get her Ashikabi to read them with her. There would be nothing better than sitting down and snuggling under a warm blanket with her Chiho while they read some of the raunchiest sex scenes the world has ever known.

Hmm... actually, thinking about it, there was something better than that. Acting out those raunchy sex scenes with her Chiho would definitely top reading about them with her.

One step at a time, Uzume reminded herself. Her Chiho was far too shy for that right now. Baby steps were needed. First, she would convince Chiho to read some more books with erotica themes in it, then she would convince her to read more graphic books, eventually moving up to the Icha Icha series. After that she would convince her Ashikabi to enact those scenes with her. It would be difficult, as many of them required a dick, but she could always buy a strap on at a porn shop.

Maybe she could also convince Naruto to join? He seemed like a virile young man, and if what he did to Matsu was any indication he had a lot of experience with sex. If she ever wanted to enact those delicious threesome scenes she read in those books, she would need another person anyways.

"Ah." The noise came from Akitsu, who, without warning, stuck her hand into the fold of her Kimono and began ruffling around the area around her chest, almost like she was searching for something.

Or groping herself. The thought that the normally stoic and silent Akitsu might actually be pawing at her own breasts was a hilarious thought. Uzume almost broke into a fit of giggles, especially when she saw Homura's scandalized expression.

"W-What the hell are you doing!?" Homura's high pitched voice screamed out as his face burned brightly. This time steam was actually pouring from his ears. Imagine that. Uzume thought that type of stuff only happened in mangas. "Stop sticking your hand down your shirt like some kind of shameless scarlet woman right now!"

While Homura was freaking out about Akitsu's shameless action, Uzume whistled as she noticed something the fire user, in his near hyperventilating state, missed.

"You're not wearing a bra, are ya?"

Akitsu paused in her search of... whatever it was she was searching for. She looked over at Uzume, her gaze penetrating the other Sekirei's eyes for but a moment as the words the cloth user spoke registered in her ears.

Then she looked down at where she had stuck her hand into her kimono. The fabric of her kimono was parted slightly near the hand, revealing milky white and unblemished skin. The swell of her right breast was easily visible for all to see.

Also easily visible for all to see was the distinct lack of a bra strap.

"Ah."

A pause.

"I forgot."

"You... forgot?" Homura's right eye began twitching madly at the snow woman's answer. "How could you forget something like this!? People don't just forget something as important as a bra? That's like forgetting to wear panties!"

"Ah."

At the word 'panties', Akitsu reached down with her free hand, grabbing a fabric of the lower half of her kimono and pulling it up so that everyone within seeing distance had a clear view of her crotch.

She was actually wearing panties, Uzume noticed almost absently. A pair of plain white ones like she herself was wearing. But that observation was only secondary to another one she had made, one which was infinitely more funny than plain white panties.

Uzume giggled helplessly, one of her hands holding her stomach as she tried to keep hopping across the roofs while she watched Homura freak out. The fire flinging Sekirei was emitting a very high pitched and unmanly shriek of shock, outrage, and embarrassment at the sight of Akitsu's pantie clad mound. He actually sounded more like a girl than a guy.

Maybe it was that time of the month for him. Did guys even get that time of the month? Or did this have something to do with Homura's very noticeable female breasts? Whatever the case was, this had to be one of the most amusing sights she had ever seen.

Matsu would be so jealous when she regaled the red head with this tale.

As Homura began berating the snow woman on her lack of modesty, the cloth using Sekirei glanced over at the still stoic Akitsu and shook her head while unsuccessfully trying to stifle her giggles.

Seriously, Uzume didn't know if Akitsu just had no sense of modesty, didn't care, or was doing this on purpose in order to fluster Homura. Whatever the case was, she couldn't deny that it was one of the funniest things she had ever seen. Nothing could beat watching an affronted, abashed and red faced Homura yelling at Akitsu about not doing such 'shameless' acts in public.

Akitsu of course, had not listened to a word of what the fire user said. After she finished checking herself, she let go of the fabric of her kimono. The white skirt-like item of clothing fell around her shapely legs like a veil as it fluttered in a breeze.

She then turned her gaze on Homura, her face still as stoic as always.

"No," she said, shaking her head slowly. "I remembered."

The right eye twitch came back again, and it brought friends as the left one joined it. Whether the reason for this was because of Akitsu's words, the fact that she had once more stuck her hand within the kimono covering her bosom, or a combination of the two was anyone's guess.

Irritation and consternation soon gave way to curiosity when Akitsu managed to find what she was looking for and pulled it out.

'It' was a small slip of durable paper exactly two inches wide and four inches long. A picture. The snow woman handed it over to Homura, who took it from her and glanced at it.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Picture," was the succinct reply. Homura's eye twitched.

"I know what it is," he scowled. "I meant, what's so important about it?"

"That's the Ashikabi and his Sekirei."

At her words, Homura looked from the snow woman down to the picture. The picture showed two people, who Homura took were the Ashikabi and Sekirei pair they were looking for. As was the usual case, the Sekirei was a female while the Ashikabi was male. It was a slightly bitter reminder to the fire user how unusual his position as a male Sekirei with a male Ashikabi was.

The man, or perhaps boy would be a more appropriate term because he couldn't be older than twenty-one or twenty-two, was a very skinny with messy brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with a blue jacket over it and a pair of blue jeans that covered his legs and ended in a pair of plain black sneakers. He didn't look particular interesting. There were no noteworthy features about him. Just your average male. Nothing special.

The female on the other hand was only special in that she was perhaps one of the few Sekirei who could be called plain. She had none of the outstanding features (aka, large breasts, wide, shapely hips and mile long legs) that other Sekirei possessed. Instead she was very lithe. Tiny even. With her very petite frame, short, messy blond hair, and blue eyes, she could almost pass for a human girl. Her outfit consisted of a blue, long sleeved blouse with a white collar and a matching ruffled skirt, knee high black boots and white stalkings that stopped just above her knees.

"So these are the two we're looking for," Homura frowned as he looked at the picture for a few seconds longer before handing it to Akitsu, who slipped it back into her breasts. His eyes twitched, but he tried to ignore the woman's blatant use of her tits as a pocket and focused on the task at hand. "That still doesn't tell us how we're supposed to find them."

"Sound."

Once again, the answer came from Akitsu.

"Sound?" Homura blinked. "How are we going to find them by sound?"

Uzume rolled her eyes while Akitsu kept her stoic expression.

"That's number ninety-five's power," Uzume answered. "Or well, song. Or maybe it was voice. I can't remember. Anyways, apparently she has the ability to confuse other Sekirei and people with her singing voice." The cloth user shrugged. "Naruto went into this whole spiel about amplifying sound waves to damage the ear drums or something, but I didn't pay too much attention to him once he started speaking nerd."

Homura sighed at the very distinct lack of details in that answer, but he understood what she was saying well enough. And really, the only thing that mattered in all that dialogue was that Sekirei number ninety-five's power had something to do with amplifying the sound of her voice. It meant they would find Kuno and her Ashikabi by tracking her voice.

Of course, even though he now knew how they would be tracking number ninety-five that did not mean it was going to be a cake walk. The only way they would be able to actually find Kuno was for her to use the powers of her voice. If she didn't use them, or if she was defeated before she had a chance to use them, then they would never be able to find her.

Immediately Homura's mind went to what would happen if they didn't find Kuno and her Ashikabi. From what he understood, the entire reason they were even bothering with this operation at all was so they could rescue number one-hundred and seven, Shiina, and his Ashikabi. Shiina was apparently the Sekirei that Higa, who was using Shiina's Ashikabi as a hostage to force the number one-hundred and seven into doing his dirty work, had tasked with defeating Kuno. If they could not find Kuno, they would not be able to find Shiina.

And if they could not rescue Shiina, then rescuing his Ashikabi was a no-go because they did not know if there were any protocols put in place to eliminate Shiina should Yukari manage to escape.

In short, this was the most troublesome situation he had ever been in, and considering he was the guardian of unwinged Sekirei that was saying something.

**XoX**

Today was not his day. Hell, this entire week had been one of the worst weeks he had ever had!

It all started early on Monday morning. He had made to do his usual routine that morning, same as he did everyone morning. It was the kind of average routine most plain people with nothing that made them unique do; wake up, make breakfast, go to his prep school so he could learn how to do well on his entrance exams, come home, make dinner and then hang out with his girl before taking a bath and going to bed. That was what he usually did, and it was that routine which had been ruined the very moment he got out of bed and went to make breakfast.

On the way to make breakfast he stubbed his toe.

No, it wasn't the toe stubbing that bothered, not really. Yes, the toe stubbing had hurt, but it was what the stubbing of his toe had caused that really set the precedence for a bad day.

As he was hopping around on one foot, cursing and swearing about how people should learn to clean up after themselves (completely disregarding the fact that the mess he stubbed his toe on was his mess) so that he would not stub his toe, he tripped over a baseball bat and landed head first on his girl's stomach.

She had started crying. Loudly. So loudly in fact that all the glass on their windows had broken. The landlord had also heard the noise and came to see what was going on.

That was when the second bad thing that had happened that day. The landlord was a crotchety old man who was always complaining about his barbaric tenants, and always snooping in the business of his tenants, and always complaining about how lazy his tenants were and just being an ass in general. In other words, he was a complete douche bag.

Now this landlord had several rules that he expected everyone to follow to the letter. Don't damage the property, you break it you buy it, don't litter, keep your apartment nice and tidy (he would admit to skimping a bit on this one, that was what had caused his stubbed toe after all), don't play loud music, don't be loud in general, and most importantly, no members of the opposite sex are allowed to live in an apartment together.

Needless to say, when the landlord came in to see what was wrong and saw him trying to placate his distraught and crying girl, who had obviously just woken up and was wearing nothing more than a pair of Pajama bottoms and one of his overly large shirts, he had kicked them out.

And that was just the start of day one. Because he no longer had an apartment, he couldn't go to prep school and instead had to go apartment hunting. Unfortunately, he was running low on funding as he had used up most of his money to pay for prep school. That had been the whole reason he and his girl were living in that crappy apartment, it was cheap.

The rest of that day had been spent looking for an apartment with absolutely no luck. With very little in the way of money, no job to speak of, and no job coming in, no one was willing to rent out an apartment to him. That night he and his girl had been forced to sleep in a park.

They had also been forced out of said park when the sprinklers turned on.

So now, not only did he not have an apartment, but he and his girl were wet, cold, and hungry. After a nearly sleepless night they had been able to find a place to spend the night, an abandoned warehouse that was dark and dank and drafty. At least it meant they had a roof over their head.

When morning rose he had gone out to find a job. Thankfully his luck seemed to hold out here as he found a job as a construction worker. Unfortunately, the job not only required a lot of manual labor that left him too tired to do much more than sleep when he got home, it also didn't leave much time for studying for his entrance exams.

At least they had found an apartment, though it was even smaller than their previous one. Smaller, dirtier, and it wasn't located in the best part of Shinto Teito. Their first night there he had been kept awake by what he was sure had been someone murdering another. The sound of screaming and gunshots really only cemented that theory.

They had only been in that apartment for a good day or so before having to abandon it. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing because while he had hated that apartment for the single night he and his girl slept in it, it had at least provided a measure of safety, or perhaps the illusion of safety, something they were distinctly lacking right now.

Looking back behind him to see if they had managed to give their pursuer the slip, he saw no one but his girl. Kuno was running, stumbling, behind him, her short blond hair whipping around her face like a bunch of snakes in a feeding frenzy, her blue eyes wide and scared. She had a firm grip on his hand, clenching it so tightly it actually kind of hurt.

Who knew such a frail looking girl had such a firm grip?

Their pursuer was nowhere to be seen. This didn't mean much. They had lost him several times, and each time they thought they were safe, he would appear again. It was getting to the point where Haruka was sure the bastard was just playing with them.

He turned his eyes back towards where they were going. Right now he and Kuno were running through an alley way. It was dark, the high walls blocked the sun overhead, keeping the alley covered in shadow. Painted along the wall was some graffiti. There was nothing else in the alley, which was good. Nothing else being there meant there was nothing to hinder their progress as the pair ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

They burst out of the alley like a pair of bats out of hell. Haruka, Kuno in hand, made a sharp turn in order to head to his left. He was forced to stop quite abruptly, his eyes widening in fear.

Standing before them was the very person who had been chasing them for so long. His messy white hair hung about his pale face. His cold gray eyes were staring at them apologetically. Honestly, he looked kind of pathetic and depressed, but looks meant nothing when dealing with this guy. Haruka could inform anyone who asked from experience. This Sekirei was a terrifying monster. A being who could only be death incarnate.

Haruka looked behind him to see Kuno shaking in her shoes. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack. Clearly, being on the run for somewhere upwards of twenty four hours was taking it's toll on his girl. It was just another reason to despise the situation he was currently in. As well as the girly looking boy who had been chasing them.

"What do you want with us!?" Haruka shouted at the silver haired Sekirei even as he moved in front of Kuno so that he could protect her. Not that he actually thought it would make a difference. He was facing a Sekirei after all. But there was no way he was going to let this guy hurt his girl without at least trying to keep her safe. "We haven't done anything to you! So why are you chasing us!?"

"I'm very sorry," the young Sekirei was incredibly soft spoken for such a terrifying person. He even had the courtesy to bow to them. Not that doing so actually made any difference in Haruka's disposition. He was still trying to kill them after all. "But I must do this."

Credit had to be given where it was due. At the very least this guy was honest. That being said, it did not change the fact that the guy was now charging right towards him and his girl with the intent to harm, maim, and possibly kill.

Haruka tried not to let on to how frightened he was as he watched this seemingly innocuous young man charge towards him. More frightening than the simple charge was the fact that the area around him looked like it was dying. The concrete that he was stepping on became worn, old, fragile, with cracks and fissures appearing where ever his foot left the ground.

Was that what would happen to them if this young man got a hold of them? Would they whither and die? Dry up like a flower that had been left out in the heat to long? God he hoped not. That would be just his luck.

As the young man got closer to them, Haruka prepared himself for what was likely a hopeless endeavor. He couldn't beat this person. They were beyond him. Beyond humanity. Like something cooked out of a manga or the mind of a delusional child.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. Without warning, Kuno scampered in front of him. Haruka would have yelled at her for doing this. He had even opened his mouth to begin berating her for doing something as stupid as getting in front of him when he was trying to protect her from an enemy that had been doing their damnedest to kill them.

Fortunately, before he could, Kuno had already acted. Her own mouth opened wide, and a powerful, shrill scream emitted from it. The noise was unlike anything anyone would have ever heard. Her powerful vocal chords caused subsonic vibrations in the air that not only caused everything around them to shake and tremble and a few panes of glass to shatter, but were also murder on the ears, as the young man who had come after them was now finding out.

Shiina stumbled around like a drunken fool, his hands holding onto his now bleeding ears as he tried to block out the pain he was feeling. It was different from normal pains you would get from physical injuries like getting scrapes and bruises, or even breaking a bone. This was all internal. His eardrums felt like they were about to burst. All of his organs were trembling with such violence that he felt like he was going to throw them up.

He fell to the ground, unable to keep his body from collapsing as his mind became a jumble of dizziness and pain. Even after the sound attack had ended, Shiina still found himself on the ground, shaking and trying to regain his bearings, all the while wondering where such a powerful attack had come from.

"Hah!" Haruka was the first to recover from the attack. As the Ashikabi of Kuno, he wasn't effected by her powers beyond having to deal with the shrill noise when she used it. And while that certainly gave him a bit of a headache, it was nothing compared to what other people suffered from. "How do you like that!? I call that the Screaming Screech Cry."

"Haruka..." Kuno suddenly burst into tears upon hearing the name her Ashikabi had come up with for her attack. "Can't you think of a better name?" she asked, making it quite clear that she really didn't approve of that name. But then, who would approve of their one and only attack being called something like that?

It was just too bad for her that she was not assertive enough to really make him actually do as she asked. In fact, he wasn't even paying attention to her, busy as he was gloating over the currently still laying on the ground Shiina.

"I bet you weren't expecting that!" The young Ashikabi continued to gloat. There was a large grin on his face as he watched the young man struggle to get back up. If all that was required for them to beat this guy maybe he should have just Kuno shriek at him, he would have done that a long time ago.

"That was certainly unpleasant," Shiina admitted as he tried pushing himself to his feet. His arms quivered a bit, but the vibrations that were rattling his bones and internal organs were subsiding quickly. With just a little effort, he was more than capable of getting back onto his feet. "Still, I am afraid it has only delayed me from doing what I must. Please forgive me."

"Aw crap," Haruka swore as he saw the boy get up after Kuno's attack. That was the biggest problem with his girl. While her Screaming was good for distracting people, it wasn't capable of actually defeating anybody. At least, not any Sekirei. "I should have known that pathetic attack would have never worked."

"I'm sorry, Haruka." Great, and now he made his girl cry. That was just what he needed, guilt on top of facing what amounted to a death sentence. Could this day possible get any worse?

"Please try not to fight anymore," Shiina said as he began stalking towards them. Right, he had almost forgotten about that guy. This day couldn't possibly get any worse than it already was. There wasn't many things that was worse than getting killed. "I don't want to make this anymore painful for either of you than this is already going to be."

Ugh, how could anyone be so polite when they were about to kill you? Well, it probably didn't matter. There was no way Haruka was going to let this girly looking boy hurt his girl without at least putting up a fight. He probably wouldn't last more than five seconds, possibly not even that long, but he couldn't just stand around and do nothing while his girl was being threatened.

It was a good thing then that help arrived before Shiina could actually make it to them.

Several shards of what looked like ice rained down from the sky. Shiina was forced to jump backwards several times to avoid being impaled. The ice struck the cement, and each shard that did found itself buried up to the proverbial hilt. There must have been at least a hundred of them, all of which formed a nearly straight line towards Shiina.

As Haruka and the two Sekirei involved in this incident were busy staring at ice shards that had seemingly rained down from the heavens, Akitsu chose that moment to drop from the sky as well.

She swooped down, the long fabric of her kimono skirt flapping in the breeze as gravity dragged her to earth. The snow woman landed right beside Haruka and Kuno, one who tensed in surprise and the other who gave a cry of fright, her legs bent and her kimono pooling around her like a cloak as she crouched down low. It was a very dramatic entrance.

Slowly, Akitsu made to stand to her full height, allowing those around her to finally get a good look at her. While Shiina merely looked at the new player cautiously and Haruka tried to figure out who this girl was and what she was doing here, Kuno found herself staring at the woman's breasts as they nearly spilled out of her kimono with no small amount of envy.

"Are you Haruka and Kuno?" asked Akitsu, turning her head to look at the duo she was speaking to. Her steel gray eyes surveyed the pair. The pair, too dumb founded to actually speak as they were still trying to get over the fact that this girl had just dropped from the sky, nodded. "Very well. Please stay there and let me take care of this."

Her words had the affect of snapping Haruka out of his stupor.

"Hey! Hold on a minute!" He shouted, making the woman who looked like she was in a battle ready stance with frozen shards of ice now surrounding her as she no doubt prepared to bombard Shiina with them turned around and looked at him. "Just who are you anyways?"

Akitsu cocked her head to the side curiously, before saying, "I'm here to help."

**XoX**

They had been hopping roofs when the trio finally found out where Kuno and her Ashikabi were located via her very loud scream. The sonic vibrations caused by the loud sound could actually be seen as small distortions in the air, like ripples upon the water's surface.

Homura was grateful when they discovered that the two people they were looking for were closer to them than they realized. It would have been a pain if they had gone searching all over Shinto Teito only to discover that they were on the opposite side of the city from where they needed to be. Nothing would have sucked more than that.

"Alright, you two know what to do," he said to the other two Sekirei with him. Akitsu was staring at where the sound waves had just disappeared, and Uzume was paying more attention to the surrounding area. "Akitsu, since you're powers are elemental in nature and less destructive than mine, you'll be the one who captures number one-hundred and seven. Remember to not harm him too much. We don't want him to be deactivated."

"Ah," Akitsu paused, then nodded her head. "Right."

"In the meantime, Uzume and I will go after Higa's bloodhounds." Homura looked over at Uzume, whose face was now set into a focused glare. "Uzume, you're sure that Higa's Sekirei will be around here?"

"Oh yes," Uzume said, her lips thinning as she thought of the two bitches they were going to be putting down. "When Higa had been blackmailing me into doing his dirty work, he always made sure Toyotama and Ichiya were close enough to watch me and make sure I was actually doing my job. I doubt things will be any different now that he's suckered someone else into doing his bidding."

"Right," Homura decided it would be best to change subjects and focus on what they were going to be doing when he saw the look on Uzume's face. He'd never seen the normally cheerful Sekirei so upset. Or feral. She actually looked like she was really going to murder her target and enjoy doing it. "In that case, when we find them I'll separate them from each other and than we'll take them out at the same time."

"Good enough for me," Uzume grunted. "As long as I get a chance to take out one of those bitches I'm down with anything."

Homura nodded, but did not comment on her crass way of speaking or what she said. It was very clear to anyone that Uzume had a bone to pick with Higa's bloodhounds, something that the fire user could understand. Truth be told, after the number of Sekirei they had captured for Higa to forcibly wing, he had a bone to pick with them as well.

Putting a hand to his ear where his earpiece was located, Homura pressed the small button on it that would connect him to Matsu.

"_I take it the battle's starting?"_ came the voice over the line.

"Yes," Homura answered Matsu. "We've just found number ninety-five. Akitsu is moving to engage number one-hundred and seven, and Uzume and myself are going to find numbers sixteen and eighteen."

"_Alright,"_ Matsu said, _"I'll inform Naruto-tan that your phase of the plan is underway."_

Homura grimaced at the mention of her telling Naruto that they were beginning their phase of this operation. Doing so would mean that it was time for him to begin his phase, which was the last thing Homura wanted to happen.

Unfortunately for him, there was very little he could actually do. Naruto had made it quite clear that nothing he said would change his mind, and there was very little Homura could think up that would force Naruto into staying at home while his Sekirei completed this mission without him.

That didn't mean he had to like it however. He may have accepted that there was little he could do to keep Naruto from taking part, but that was it.

"Homura," Uzume's voice snapped the fire user out of his revery. "Get your head in the game."

"Right." Homura grimaced, before putting his focus back where it belonged. On the mission. There would be a time to get angry over his Ashikabi's complete disregard for his own safety later. "Let's go."

With those words, Akitsu quickly split off from the other two, traveling directly towards where they all presumed Kuno and her Ashikabi would be. Homura and Uzume continued moving along the roofs, but kept close to where the battle between their ally and number one-hundred and seven would be. Higa's two bloodhounds would likely be far enough away from the actual event that no one would see them, but close enough that they could watch from a safe vantage point.

It was only a matter of finding them before they could contact whoever was their immediate superior that their plan was going south.

**XoX**

"I don't like this," Tsukiumi groused as she, Naruto, and Musubi found themselves sitting outside of an open air cafe sipping their respective drinks. Well, Naruto was drinking, but he was the only one. Musubi was eating an ice cream cone, and making a mess of herself from the looks of things. Tsukiumi had some tea in front of her, but she was far too busy pouting to actually drink her beverage. "This waiting is annoying. We should just go in there and show them the error of their ways before demanding they hand the Ashikabi girl over."

Naruto looked over at Tsukiumi as he set down his steaming cup of green tea. The blond haired water user was sitting there, her arms crossed under her impressive chest, with a petulant look on her face. She honestly reminded Naruto of a child who had their favorite toy taken away. A very spoiled child who was used to getting her way in matter's such as this.

She also looked absolutely adorable. Naruto didn't know what it was about Tsukiumi that made her so cute. Well, he did, but he was surprised at just how cute she actually was when she was like this. It was honestly a little disturbing.

"Yeah," Musubi agreed with her sister Sekirei, pumping her fist in the air and getting melted ice cream to dribble down her chin in the process. "We should go in there and fight them! There must be a lot of strong people in there. Musubi can't wait to fight them all."

"And we will," Naruto told the two of them patiently. By now he had grown used to dealing with his Sekirei, and knew how the two of them worked. Tsukiumi was just complaining to make the time go by faster, and Musubi was simply excited and wanted to get right down to the fighting. "But we have to wait until Akitsu, Homura, and Uzume are engaged in combat with the Sekirei Higa has going after number ninety-five and her Ashikabi. It would be pointless to go through all this trouble to save Ku-chan's brother figure and his Ashikabi just to have him get deactivated in the process. Also, Musubi, you have some ice cream on your chin."

"Eh? I do?" Musubi tried to look down at her chin, but all she succeeded in doing was make her eyes go cross-eyed.

"Here," Naruto sighed as he picked up a napkin and leaned over to wipe the chocolate ice cream off her face. "Let me."

"Thanks, Naruto-sama!" Musubi chirped as the blond Uzumaki began carefully removing the melted ice cream from her face with gentle strokes of the napkin in his hand.

"I get that," Tsukiumi replied to his earlier words, all the while glaring at Musubi like she had commited some kind of crime as she and Naruto shared a tender moment between them. "I am just saying I would prefer it if we did not have to wait. And I dislike all this sneaking around. It feels so underhanded and dishonorable."

"There's not much we can do about that," Naruto responded with a shrug. "If we go in too soon we run the risk of having Higa give his Sekirei orders to terminate Shiina. Too late and we run the risk of Higa getting rid of Yukari because she has outlived her usefulness." And he could not allow either of those to happen. While Naruto personally did not care for either Yukari or Shiina, Kusano did, and so he had a vested interest in making sure the number one-hundred and seven was safe regardless of his own feelings on the matter. He didn't want to see the youngest member of his Sekirei cry over the loss of someone she thought of as a brother.

"Hmph!" Tsukiumi huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she looked at Naruto. The blond male was sure that if it were not for the fact that she was sitting down, he would have been faced with her signature pose, which Naruto had taken to calling haughty tsundere pose number one. "I suppose so long as we teach those ruffians a lesson they shall not forget, the actions we take before then do not matter. Very well, I shall wait until it is time for us to make our move. It is the duty of a wife to listen to her husband after all."

"And as Naruto's other wife Musubi will wait too!" Musubi added in her cheerful tone. It was highly likely that the shrine girl did not even truly understand what they were talking about. Despite all attempt to educate her on the world around her and the meaning of certain things, she still remained blissfully naïve.

"You should not say things that you know are not true," Tsukiumi snapped, unaware that Musubi obviously didn't understand that the naïve girl really had no clue what she was talking about. "There can only be one wife, and that is me! You, as the concubine, must listen to and obey either myself or my husband. That is how Shogun Harems work."

Naruto wondered where Tsukiumi had picked up whatever knowledge she had of Shogunate harems. Having lived long before Japane ever became a nation, Naruto had been around during the Shogun era, and he knew exactly how a harem during that period worked. After all, he had been well acquainted with many of the Shogun during the times he had traveled through Japan, including Tokugawa Ienari, who had lived during the late seventeen hundreds up to the mid eighteen hundreds and had a harem of nine hundred women. And while generally speaking, what she said wasn't necessarily untrue, it wasn't really true either.

She had probably picked it up reading manga or maybe watching anime or something. There were a number of romanticized tails of harems and the like in that particular media of entertainment. There were a number of books as well. It would also explain why Tsukiumi had picked up her dislike of Ashikabi's. Perhaps she had assumed they would be treated like those women in the manga's?

Though if that was the case, Naruto was not sure why she was complaining. In just about every harem style manga the female's were always the ones wearing the pants in that relationship, and more often than not the main protagonist was some loser who kept getting into situations where he was beaten by said female's.

Then again, that could very well be where she picked up her attitude. It was a very sound hypothesis. Tsundere's were one the most popular kinds of female protagonists in Japanese pop culture from what he understood. Naruto didn't know why exactly. He just assumed that most Japanese Males were secretly submissive with masochistic tendencies. It was the only thing that made sense when looking at all the different names for various forms of violent females that appeared in pop culture.

"Musubi is Naruto-sama's wife too!"

"Idiot! There can only be one wife in a Shogun Harem."

"Eh?" Musubi scratched the back of her head in confusion at Tsukiumi's words. "Why is that?"

Naruto sighed as he tried his best to ignore his Sekirei as Tsukiumi began trying to explain the intricacies of the inner workings of a harem when she herself did not even know how a real harem of the Shogun era worked. The two of them were beginning to attract an audience with how loud they were talking about it. Many of the people walking by were pointing at the two and whispering to each other in a conspiratorial manner. Those who were sitting near them had their noses crinkled in disgust.

Well, the women had their noses crinkled. They clearly did not like the idea of those two girls being in a harem. That, or they were just jealous because Musubi and Tsukiumi were far more beautiful than they would ever be. The man on the other hand were staring at the two women in lust, blood dripping freely from their nose. None of them even bothered trying to hide their reaction.

Which naturally earned them a smack on the back of their heads from the female's sitting next to them.

Naruto absently wondered if all Sekirei had trouble understanding how to be tactful. So far, all of the Sekirei he had met, minus perhaps Miya, drew attention to themselves like moth's to a flame. They were quite literally incapable of going anywhere without causing a scene, whether it was due to causing mass amounts of property damage from their fights, or from scenes like the one currently playing out between Tsukiumi and Musubi, they always did something that just made people stare.

Well, some people would likely stare anyways, Naruto amended. No straight hot-blood male would be capable of _not _staring at such an incredibly beautiful pair of ladies. And gods only knows what would happen if Naruto's entire flock went out together. He distinctly remembered that time before he ran into that prick Kakizaki when he, Akitsu, Musubi, Uzume, Kusano, and Miya had all gone to watch Sherlock Holmes. The amount of lustful stares they had attracted had been incomprehensible.

Hmph. It just went to show how little tact most men had. Naruto may be a bit more perverted than the rest of the male population, but at least he had the strength of mind to keep himself from drooling over every pretty female that came his way.

Of course, that could have just been because he could seduce just about any female he wanted, including wives and lesbians alike. It wasn't like he actually needed to drool over any hot female when he had that kind of talent.

"_Naruto-tan," _a crackling voice in his ear alerted him to the fact that Matsu had opened a line of communication with him. And if she had done that it meant Homura and the others had begun their phase of the plan.

"Is it time?" he asked, holding his hand to his ear so he could push down on the small button that activated the ability to speak through his earpiece.

"_Yes,"_ Matsu answered, and Naruto could hear the typing she was doing over the line. She was likely monitoring the fights going on with Homura, Uzume, and Akitsu. _"Homura-tan, Uzume-tan, and Akitsu-tan are all in combat with the enemy."_

"And what is the status of Haruka and Kuno?"

"_They're fine. It looks like they're just standing there, watching Akitsu battling against number one-hundred and seven."_

Naruto nodded, even though he knew Matsu wouldn't be able to see it.

"Alright then," Naruto said, "I guess that means it's time for us to begin our phase of the plan."

"_Right. Good luck."_

As the line between him and Matsu closed, Naruto looked over at Musubi and Tsukiumi, who had stopped fighting and were now staring at him expectantly. Both of them were wearing very similar expressions. Naruto could see the eagerness in their faces at the thought of finally being allowed to fight. The sight of the two staring at him so intensely almost made him laugh.

"It looks like Homura and the others have started," he informed them, standing up from his seat, leaving his cup of tea half finished. He placed a hand on the back of his neck and moving his head from side to side, causing his neck to crack.

"So then, it is time for us to do our part, is it?" Tsukiumi spoke with a satisfied huff as she stood up and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It is about time. Had I been forced to wait any longer, I would have been most cross."

Let it be said that Tsukiumi was not a very patient person.

"Yay! We're finally going to get to fight!" Musubi pumped a fist in the air in excitement. The girl was practically boiling over with joy at the prospect of entering combat. "I hope I get to fight a strong opponent."

"Hmph!" Tsukiumi crossed her arms under her impressive bust, a look of haughty arrogance on her face. "I doubt there will be any challenges in there for me. I am the strongest after all."

A shake of his head and a smile was the only response she got from Naruto. This girl, she reminded him of someone he had known a long time ago. Both of them did.

In fact, thinking on it now, a lot of the girl's in his flock reminded him of someone he could have sworn he had known a long time ago. There was something about them that felt so familiar, and it was beginning to bother him that he didn't know why that was, or even who they reminded him of.

A frown crossed his face at the thought. Naruto would be the first person to admit that he remembered very little of his life. Not that he could be blamed. When someone lives for thousands of years, they tend to forget more things than anyone else could ever remember. Faces became nothing more than meshed together blurs. People and places were nothing more than small footnotes that he rarely bothered looking at. Years passed by in the blink of an eye. The passage of time was hardly worth noticing to him. He was beyond time.

Sighing a bit, Naruto shoved those thoughts into the back of his mind and began focusing on their objective. His eyes strayed towards the place they were going. Higa's corporate office was a large building. With thirty two stories it wasn't the tallest building in the city, that honor belonging to the large clock tower that was MBI's headquarters, but it was still pretty imposing nontheless.

The building was made out of steel and glass panels that stretched across the entire building. Within those panels of glass Naruto could see various offices and maintenance rooms, at least on the first few floors. After the seventh floor, all the panels were made of one-way glass. Anyone inside of the building could see out of them, but no one on the outside would be able to see in. He suspected that meant they were doing something that was not quite legal in there. Given that Higa was a big player in the Sekirei Plan, Naruto assumed they were doing some kind of inhumane experimentation.

Or at least keeping the results there. It would be stupid to actually have any kind of experiments in a building so conspicuous. No, there wouldn't be anything like that. Most likely this was where all the results of what they had was kept. Filed information that Higa could use in the future for his plans to topple MBI.

Well, whatever. All that meant was that Naruto would have to do some careful investigating while he was in there to see what they had. Who knows, he might even find something useful.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is now done. The next chapters will be the actual fight scenes. There are going to be a large number of them. I have five different fights planned out, which is why I have the fighting separated from this chapter.<strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed. I would go into my spiel about how your reviews motivate me to write more, but I think everyone already knows that. In either event, I hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter. It will be the most action packed one so far.**


	24. Rescue Operation

**Chapter 24: Rescue Operation**

**XoX**

Akitsu watched clinically as all of the ice spears she had sent towards the white haired boy, Shiina, melted and dispersed back into water particles long before they could touch him. Confusion flickered in her eyes at the sight. This had never happened before. What sort of strange and unusual power did this boy possess that he could melt her ice so easily?

Her ice was not like normal ice. Not at all. Like all powers manifested by Sekirei, her ice was special. Not even normal fire could make her ice melt. There were only two ways for her ice to disperse. Either she had to will it to do so, or a Sekirei had to meet her power with a greater power.

That was what had happened here. Akitsu could feel some strange power in the air, like a strange hum that vibrated the oxygen molecules around her that caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end, she could feel the left over use of Shiina's powers before they slowly faded into the atmosphere. Yet at the same time, she could not understand what those powers were.

Despite her surprise at seeing someone destroy her ice without using any kind of visible form of Sekirei power, the look on her face did not change from it's normally passive expression as she stared at the much younger looking Sekirei with half lidded eyes.

"Please leave," Shiina begged, looking rather miserable. Akitsu felt pity for the boy. He was being used by someone who was holding his Ashikabi hostage. She could not begin to imagine what he must be going through. "I don't want to fight you, but if you get in my way, I will have no choice but defeat you for the sake of my Ashikabi."

Akitsu could understand his sentiment. To fight for one's Ashikabi was one of the purposes of a Sekirei. Her respect for the boy went up. Still...

"I cannot do that," she shook her head at him, hoarfrost began forming along the ground as more jagged daggers of ice appeared out of thin air. "My Ashikabi-Sama's orders were clear."

Her job was to capture the Sekirei before her, unharmed and still active. Her Ashikabi-sama was counting on her to do this. He had entrusted this job to her. And she would complete it.

"I see..." Shiina looked very disappointed about having to deactivate another Sekirei, especially one that he did not need to fight in order to save his Ashikabi. "In that case, I will have to defeat you too." After saying this, Shiina charged forward, his body coated in a light purple aura.

Akitsu did not hesitate to send multiple shards of ice at the Master of Decay. There were much more shards this time then there were the last time she had sent her attack at him. Despite the increased number in ice shards, the results were still the same. She watched as each and everyone of them melted and dispersed into liquid form.

It was barely noticeable, but a small frown appeared on Akitsu's face as she sent even more shards towards Shiina. Her eyes carefully watched as the boy continued to run towards her. She watched as her ice shards reached a certain distance from him, only to melt and disperse again as they reached the strange purple aura.

So the aura had something to do with it? What kind of power could just melt her ice like that? Ashikabi-sama had said number one hundred and seven's power was 'decay' so she had assumed it meant that the Sekirei would be able to make anything that was living deteriorate and age. She had not expected that power to be capable of doing the same to her ice as it was not alive like wood or grass or people.

Whatever the case was, it was clear that this strange power the number one hundred and seven possess was, in fact, capable of melting her ice. That meant she was going to need to change her strategy. Her first plan had been to shoot her ice shards at him, then use her control over ice to transform them into cuffs that she could use to bind him with. That wouldn't work if he could just make them melt before they reached him.

"World End Garden!"

Shiina reached Akitsu a short while later. The purple energy he had been storing up burst forth in thick tendrils of dark energy. Ironically enough, the tendrils of energy that lashed out at everything within reach, causing the ground, walls and concrete to become dull and cracked with age, looked almost alive with the way they moved and writhed about like some kind of amorphous monster made of oozing ectoplasmic matter.

Jumping backwards, Akitsu tried to make space between the two of them. Unlike number one hundred and seven, who seemed to need to be in close range for his powers to really work, she was not one for getting into such a confrontation unless necessary. And in a situation like this, where the Sekirei only needed to touch her in order to beat her, it would be preferable to win from a distance.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she jumped back several more times, creating a space of several meters between her and one hundred and seven. Once she was a comfortable distance away, she created more ice shards and sent them screaming towards Shiina.

They just melted, of course, but they weren't really that important. Just a minor distraction.

Kneeling down, her skirt-like bottom flowing and folding around her like a white waterfall and showing off her milky leg as said appendage appeared between the slit in her clothing, Akitsu placed her hands on the ground, palms down.

A thick sheet of ice quickly spread from where her hands met the concrete. A circle of an ever growing sleet of frost covered the ground, it's radius increasing with each second. Before long, it encompassed much of the battlefield, including the place where Haruka and Kuno were now hiding as they watched the fight from behind a building.

Akitsu would have wondered what they were still doing here, but she didn't particularly care. Her Ashikabi-sama had not specified what to do with them. So long as they did not interfere in her capture, she would let them be.

She focused her attention back of Shiina, who had slipped on the ice after trying to run towards her. The young Sekirei fell on his back before his decay powers could properly melt the ice. As he fell, the water made from her ice splashed against his clothes, soaking them. It seemed he was unable to dry his clothing off with his powers, probably because water didn't age or decay naturally. Good.

Acting quickly, Akitsu used her powers to freeze the water on Shiina's clothing. It wouldn't last long, but she was hoping that by covering him in ice, his body would begin to get cold and slow him down. If she could slow him down she may be able to find some way to capture him that did not involve deactivating him.

The water on Shiina's clothes started to crystallize as it turned into ice. It's effects were impeded, however, when Shiina released a burst of his own power. Soon the ice shattered off his body and melted into a pool on the ground.

As he stood up and began running towards her again, Akitsu frowned.

This looked like it was going to be a bit more difficult then she had originally realized.

**XoX**

Toyotama. That was the Sekirei Homura found keeping an eye on Shiina from afar. She was standing on the edge of a building just a few blocks away that offered a clear view of number one hundred and seven as he chased number ninety five and her Ashikabi through the streets. She had a smile on her face as she watched, like she was taking some sort of perverse pleasure at seeing others suffer.

A growl almost escaped his lips. He had never liked Toyotama, mainly because she was one of Higa's bloodhounds and had been responsible for a good number of Sekirei being captured and forcibly winged by her Ashikabi. It would not be inaccurate to say that well over half of Higa's Sekirei became his Sekirei due solely to this woman.

Running towards the edge of the building he was on, Homura launched himself in the sky just before he ran out of roof, hurling himself high into the air as he cleared the space between the building he had been on and the one Toyotama was on.

With a swipe of his hand, Homura sent a white hot fireball that coalesced into the air at the naginata wielding Sekirei. He envisioned the ball of flames smashing against the woman's head, burning the back of her head to a black mess and knocking her out of the game. More than anything, he wanted this Sekirei gone for the crimes she had committed against her own kind.

Of course, things were never that simple.

Toyotama had a very keen battle sense, which she soon proved, as the moment his fireball came close to hitting her, she jumped out of the way and let the concrete she had been standing on take the punishment meant for her.

With a growl and a wave of his hand, Homura dispelled the flames his fire had created as he landed on his feet.

"I should have known you would be the one doing Higa's dirty work." The fire user glared at Toyotama. He truly disliked this bitch, more so than he did anybody else. The only person he hated more than this woman was Hiroto Minaka, MBI's director, the Game Master, and the one who created this twisted plan in the first place. "You always did enjoy watching the suffering of others." She would have gotten along well with Karasuba, right before Karasuba killed her out of boredom.

Toyotama blinked several times as she stared at the white haired man, a dumbfounded look on her face. She actually stared at him for so long that he began to feel uncomfortable.

"What are you staring at!?"

"Homura? Is that you?"

An eye twitching was her answer.

"Who else would I be?" he growled at the woman. Was she trying to play him for a fool or something? Acting like she hardly recognized him. He hoped for her sake this wasn't her idea of a practical joke, though he doubted it. Toyotama wasn't the type for practical jokes, or joking at all.

Unless it involved torturing others that is.

"When did you gain tits?"

"What?"

Homura looked down at himself to see what the woman was talking about. It wasn't that hard.

There, sticking out of his chest were the decently sized breasts he had gained after reacting to Naruto. They were the only thing he could see as they blocked out the rest of his body. He couldn't even see his feet.

"Kya!"

Reacting with instincts he didn't know he had, Homura's arms crossed over his chest in an attempt to hide his modest breasts. What was going on here? He could have sworn he had used his chest bindings this morning? Had they come loose sometime during this search of Toyotama?

No. He couldn't feel his chest bindings at all! He hadn't forgotten to wrap his chest, had he? That couldn't be it. Not after all the times he had scolded Akitsu for not wearing panties. There was just no way he could forget something like this. Homura had been ritualistic in doing his morning chest binding ritual every morning. There was no way he would forget to do it today...

Although, he had been pretty distracted this morning. What, with Naruto being an idiot and all. Honestly, that man pissed him off to know end. Why couldn't he understand that an Ashikabi's job was to stand in the back where his Sekirei could protect him? Didn't he realize how worried he... they! Couldn't he see how worried they all got when Naruto put himself in danger?

A scowl worked it's way to his face. If he forgot to do his chest binding ritual this morning, it must have been Naruto's fault! Damn idiot! Making him get so worked up that he forgot something this important. Now he was going to have to go around looking like a woman until he could get back home.

"hehehehehahahaha!"

Homura's scowl deepened even as his blush spread from his cheeks to the rest of his face.

"What's so funny!?"

"You... you have tits!" Toyotama continued laughing at him, further increasing both Homura's rage and embarrassment. "Those..." she gasped, "... look good on you!" The naginata wielding Sekirei was soon holding her stomach, her weapon of choice cast to the side and her entire torso bent over as she tried to remain upright while giggling hysterically.

That was probably why she almost missed it when Homura threw a fireball at her.

It was a very big fireball.

The fireball that Homura hurled the woman's way was easily the size of a human torso and nearly twice as wide. Sort of like a sumo wrestler's torso. In any case, it was probably the largest flame Homura had ever conjured in one go.

Had Naruto seen it, he would have theorized that Homura's rage and embarrassment had given his powers a serious boost in strength.

Despite being nearly on her knees in hysterics, Toyotama had enough presence of mind to get the hell out of dodge. She rolled to the left, her hand latching onto her naginata and yanking it out of the cement roof as she dodged the large ball of fire.

Said fireball smashed into the ground with a loud roar akin to that of a raging beast as it exploded, sending a gout of flames and smoke into the air. Curiously enough, the flames did not last very long before dispersing. Even more curious was that the roof did not look like it had sustained any damage during the attack.

Such was the control Homura had over his flames now that he had an Ashikabi.

"Well," Toyotama smiled as she twirled her Naginata with both hands before setting herself in a combat stance, both knees bent with her right foot leading and her left foot in the back. The bladed staff was held at a slight angle, pointing at Homura and slightly downwards towards the cement roof as she kept it in a firm grip. "It seems you've gotten even stronger than we last met. Could that have something to do with those mammaries of yours?"

Homura let out a soundless shout of rage as he conjured more flames and sent them straight towards Toyotama.

First, he was going to destroy this woman.

Then, he was going to find Naruto and burn him into a crisp for giving him breasts!

"I guess that answers my question."

**XoX**

Uzume was still snickering as she jumped across the jungle of buildings. Watching Homura act like, well, like _that_had to be one of the most entertaining things she had ever seen. It was even more funny than watching Naruto and Miya bicker and trade barbs like an old married couple.

A soft smile works it's way to her face as she thought about all Naruto had done for her. He had not only rescued her Ashikabi from that jerk Higa, but had also cured her of the disease that everyone had been adamant was terminal. By the time Naruto had come along, all the doctors had said that her Chiho only had a few more years left to live, and that was with the treatments they had been giving her.

Of course, they could have been lying to her. She wouldn't put it past that bastard to make the doctors of his clinic lie to make her more easy to manipulate. But that was neither here nor there.

She couldn't help but feel grateful to the strange blond man who had come into the lives of those who lived in Maison Izumo, despite his occasional bouts of extreme moodiness, crazy ass mood swings and moments of depression. It was thanks to him that the boarding house was so lively now, at least indirectly. Really, it was his harem that was so damn funny. He almost had, like, one of every type of female that you generally found in those harem mangas she read.

Really, all he needed now was the mature, busty woman and the mother hen and he would be set.

Maybe he should add a yandere in there as well. Now that would be funny.

An explosion from some distance away caused Uzume to snap out of her thoughts and turn her head. Even from what had to be several kilometers away she could easily make out the large gout of flames coming from a rooftop before it was snuffed out.

"Looks like Homura's already found his target," Uzume's expression became a bit more serious. Just a bit. "Looks like I'd better step up my game. Don't wanna be left behind after all."

Her target was proving to be rather elusive. She had been searching for a while now, long enough that she had nearly encircled the entire area in her search but had yet to find a trace of the Sekirei she was supposed to take out of the game, or at least keep occupied long enough for Akitsu to do her job without interference. It was almost as if they knew she was searching for them and had made an effort to hide.

Which was preposterous of course. It wasn't like she was wearing glaringly bright clothes that anyone could see coming a mile away.

No, wait. She was. Dammit.

Leaping to the side as her own battle instincts blared out a warning, Uzume was just in time to dodge a foot that had tried crushing her skull in from above with a heel drop. Since it missed, the heel of the appendage ended up embedding itself into the cement, kicking up several fragments and creating a decent sized crater in the roof.

"Well, well, look who the cat dragged in," Ichiya taunted Uzume as she withdrew her foot from the crater she made and grinned. "A little bird that managed to escape my master's net. So you've thrown your lot in with another Ashikabi, have you? How lovely. That means I get to finally take you down for good. Please be sure to give me a good battle."

"Ichiya," Uzume rolled her eyes. "You're as bloodthirsty as ever. I guess that beating Naruto gave you didn't help knock any common sense in you."

Ichiya scoffed.

"Che, I'll admit that man was good for a human, but he hardly beat me."

"It was two on one and he held his own against both you _and _Toyotama." Uzume had heard about how Naruto had been able to fight off both Sekirei from the lightning twins, or the bondage twins, depending on who you asked. Apparently, the blond male had managed to hold his own against both Ichiya and Toyotama without sustaining serious injury, according to Hikari and Hibiki. They were actually pretty afraid of him now that they knew what he could do.

She would be too, if she didn't like him so damn much.

"Whatever," Ichiya looked slightly annoyed at her words being turned on her. "He got by on luck the last time. Next time we run into him, he won't be so lucky."

"There won't be a next time," Uzume stated confidently. "I'm gonna take your saggy ass out of the game."

Ever since Naruto had rescued her Chiho for her, Uzume had felt a bit protective towards the blond, even if he didn't really need protecting. He had become important to her. Certainly nowhere near as important than her Chiho, but definitely important enough that so long as it didn't interfere with her duties to her Ashikabi, she would gladly do anything he asked.

Well, _almost _anything he asked. There were some lines she just wasn't willing to cross.

Unless Chiho was crossing those lines with her.

Thinking about it, maybe she should see if she could talk to her Ashikabi about crossing those lines. Uzume was sure her Chiho wouldn't be hard to convince (though she might die of embarrassment). She practically worshiped the guy.

A foot nearly kicking her face in snapped her out of her daydreaming and had her jumping back several feet. Whoops. Looks like she got a little lost in her own world there. Focus Uzume, focus. Battle now, daydream later.

"You don't really think you can beat me, do you?" asked Ichiya, her voice and the expression on her face betraying her amusement. "You may be a higher number, but you're not a single digit. And when it comes to battle and combat, I have far more experience than you."

The thick, white cloths hovering behind Uzume began to waver in an unseen breeze as the Sekirei designated with the number ten prepared for battle.

"There's only one way to find out."

**XoX**

It was just an average day for those working at the main corporate office of Higa Izumi's pharmaceutical company. Most of those employees were sitting in their office, typing away on their computers as they cataloged various sets of data. A few others were rushing around the building, grabbing and giving files to those who were working the computers. It was a busy day, as always, and everyone was working hard to complete the work their boss had given them.

The main lobby was one of the few areas that did not have that many people right now. It was about what one would expect from a lobby belonging to a powerful pharmaceutical corporation. It was very spartan, with little in the way of furniture and décor. On either side of the twin doors were a pair of indoor palm trees and that was about it as far as color went.

Much of the room was made of glass, meaning pretty much the entire entrance was one large window. The exception to this rule was the back wall, which contained three elevators doors and a front desk. At the front desk there was a cute female who acted as a human directory for those newcomers who were coming in to do business for the first time.

There was also a small cafe through a door off to the side where several workers were sitting and eating sandwiches while drinking coffee and talking as they relaxed during their lunch break. They didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything other than their food and coworkers as the enjoyed the small amount of time they had off before they would be forced to get back to the daily grind.

(Un?) fortunately, that daily grind would soon come to a halt. Happening so quickly no one within the room stood even a small chance of understanding what was going on, a large stream of water that looked like it was ten times more powerful than that of a fire hydrant and looked eerily reminiscent to a geiser smashed into the doors, blowing them away like they weren't even there.

As the doors smacked into the far wall with a sound not dissimilar to thunder, two figures stepped in.

The first was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black dress and a white underdress that exposed her cleavage, brown boots and a black choker around her neck.

She was standing in a pose that anyone who had intimate knowledge of her knew was one of several signature poses that she possessed. This particular pose had her standing with her feet spread exactly shoulder width apart, her arms crossed under her impressive bust, back straight and head held high as she gave everyone in the vicinity a haughty smirk of superiority.

The other girl was just as beautiful as the blond. A brown haired cutey with a body that most super models would kill to have and a face that was far too innocent for someone her age to possess. Large breasts, lean waist, wide hips and killer legs that possessed both the muscles of an athlete and all the softness of a woman. This girl had it all.

Had the staff workers not been so shocked by the entrance, they probably would have made comments (or at least had thoughts of) on what a crime it was that such a cute face could belong on such a killer body.

This particular female was wearing what looked like heavily modified Miko clothing that was designed with sexy cosplay in mind, which really did not help add to the people's imagery.

Or maybe it did. It probably would have at least, had their minds not shut down due to the shock of seeing the doors to their workplace being blown away with the force of a semi truck going several hundred kilometers per hour by, of all things, water.

Tsukiumi smirked as she looked at all the monkeys gaping at her in awe, as they should be. It was only natural for those far inferior to herself to gaze upon her majestic and regal looks (as well as her totally awesome entrance) with awestruck gazes.

She opened her mouth to speak, having every intention to announce herself and give out a challenge –

"Who wants to battle!?"

– only to be interrupted by Musubi, who spoke first.

Tsukiumi scowled, a vein popping out on her forehead as she looked over at her partner in combat. The Shrine Maiden with a serious battle fetish was bouncing on the balls of her feet, hands clenched into fists under her chin and her eyes scanning the area as she no doubt looked for a strong opponent. She looked so similar to a hyperactive puppy that Tsukiumi could almost imagine a tail wagging behind her.

"Musubi," Tsukiumi ground out, causing the fist fighter to turn her attention away from searching for an opponent and towards the water user, a curious look plastered on her face.

"Yes?"

"Didn't I tell you to let me do all the talking after we made our entrance?"

Musubi blinked several times, her head tilting upwards as a single finger poked cutely against her lower lip. The girl looked like she was deep in thought, or at least as deeply in thought as someone like Musubi could get. Gods only knows what was going on through that air headed head of hers.

Battle. Love. Battle. Battle. Love. Love. Naruto-sama.

Yeah, something like that.

"Um, I don't know, maybe," Musubi blinked again. Her nose scrunched up cutely for several seconds before her eyes lit up in remembrance and she smashed the butt of her left fist into the palm of her right hand. "Now I remember. You did say that just before we came in!"

"Yes, and what did you just do."

"Ah! Auu..." Musubi moaned piteously as she realized what Tsukiumi was getting at. The girls head turned down and she looked at her blond sister Sekirei with large, dewy eyes and quivering lips. "I'm sorry, Tsukiumi. I didn't mean to talk, I was just so excited about getting to fight strong opponents."

Oh great. Now Tsukiumi felt guilty, like she had killed someone's puppy or something. That look was just too much.

"It's fine, Musubi," Tsukiumi reached up and began rubbing Musubi's head, making the much more naïve Sekirei perk up almost instantly and lean into her hand. She really was like a puppy, the blond mused. "What's done is done. Now, let us see if we can find anyone capable of doing battle."

"Okay!"

With deliberately sure and purposeful steps, Tsukuimi marched right up to the front desk, Musubi trailing behind her. Many eyes followed the pair. The co-workers were still very much in shock and were doing everything in their power to try and get some semblance of brain processing power to figure out what was going on whilst their jaws hung from the floor.

Unfortunately, the only thing coming up in their minds was the term 'couldn't compute' because their rational brains just could not come up with a plausible theory to properly explain what was happening.

"You!" Tsukiumi growled as she reached over the desk and grabbed two fist fulls of the shocked woman manning the front desk's shirt. She then proceeded to hall the girl into the air, lifting her up and over the desk so she could bring the woman's now petrified face close to hers.

Nose to nose, Tsukiumi gave the woman a glare that nearly had her crapping her pants. This lady was terrifying!

"Tell me where Higa's Sekirei are hiding!"

"Wha... wha..." the woman looked like she was trying to speak, but between feeling terrified for her life in the face of this volatile blond and confusion towards said blond's words, she could not even begin answering the question.

Of course, all this did was serve to irritate Tsukiumi further.

"Well!?"

When the frightened for her life female refused to answer, Tsukiumi dropped the woman in disgust. Damn monkeys! Couldn't they at least have the decency to answer her questions? Whatever happened to common courtesy?

"Come, Musubi," Tsukiumi said as she whirled around, her dress billowing out behind her like some kind of long trench coat a lot of characters in shounen manga often wore, and began marching towards the elevator. "It appears as though we will have to search the building ourselves."

"Right!" Musubi quickly caught up and began walking at Tsukiumi's side. She punched her fisted right hand into the open palm of her left, already feeling pumped up. She was ready to face anything throat at them! "I wonder which Sekirei are in here. I really want to fight a strong opponent."

"Hmph! It does not matter who we fight," Tsukuimi tossed her hair over her shoulder. "They shall fall before my power. After all, I am the strongest."

"The strongest?" Musubi looked confused by her sister Sekirei's words, as if something didn't add up. As they walked towards the elevator her confusion only became more pronounced as she tilted her head.

"Of course," Tsukiumi answered decisively. There was no doubts in her mind that she was the strongest Sekirei in the plan. And now that she had a husband she was even stronger. She would show these monkeys and her fellow Sekirei not to underestimate her strength.

As they neared the closed doors to the elevator, a ding sounded out, marking the arrival of one of the elevators. Both Musubi and Tsukiumi stopped as they looked at the door that had the small fixture that informed them of which floor the elevator was on telling them this particular elevator was on the first floor.

The doors soon opened, revealing four women inside. Each one of them looking vastly different from the business suit wearing men and women that had been seen inside of the building thus far.

The girl in front was wearing a white dress with what looked very reminiscent of a corset wrapped around her waist and tied in the back with a bow tie. The only reason Tsukiumi felt it wasn't a corset was because once it reached her hips, it split, flowing down and behind her backside to flare out behind her as an added layer to her dress. She also had a purple bow tie wrapped around her neck and a ribbon of the same color keeping her short, dark purple hair out of her face. Her general outfit sort of looked like some kind of strange maid uniform.

She was also carrying weapons. Within her hands were two bladed discs. Tsukiumi did not know what they were, but considering there were several more of the bladed discs hovering around the girl, spinning and whizzing like a buzz saw, she could determine they were meant to be thrown from a distance.

Second in line on Tsukiumi's sight was a very petite girl with small breasts and wide hips. She was wearing a mostly yellow jumpsuit. Only the very upper half of her clothing; the shoulders, neck and arms were a different color, black with a white stripe running up their length. On her feet were a pair of very large boots that traveled all the way up to mid thigh. This girl's hair was orange and she had wine colored eyes. Her expression was strangely melancholic, as if she were eternally depressed.

She had no weapons to speak of. A fist fighter then.

As the two walked into the lobby, the other two Sekirei, for that was all they could be, became visible.

One of them, the one that got Tsukiumi's attention first, had to be the strangest Sekirei she had ever seen. The first thing the blond water user noticed were the two tufts of light brown hair sticking up from the girl's short messy style hime cut like a pair of cat ears. The hair did not do much to frame her face, but the bangs she had managed to bring attention to the woman's steel gray eyes as they hovered over her face.

The outfit she was wearing was equally odd, in Tsukiumi's opinion. A bright red choker was attached around her throat. It looked more like a dog collar than anything else. Moving around her shoulders were a pair of white straps that held up what had to be the most unusual one piece outfit she had ever seen. It looked like a shirt, bathing suit combo, except for the fact that it had one legging similar to tights that went down her right leg all the way to her booted foot. The left leg was complete bare from the hip up. And on her arms were a pair of long, black armbands that went down to her hands with shorter white armbands that hid the higher end of the black bands when they stopped above her biceps.

In her hands were several whips made from some kind of black leather. They looked durable and obviously had something to do with whatever power she possessed.

Last in the line up was another unusual looking girl, a tomboy with short, messy black hair and green eyes. She was wearing what looked like it had once been the undershirt of a business suit until it had the sleeves cut off and the lower hem cut off until it went above her belly button. Wrapped around her neck was a black tie, and going around her torso Tsukiumi could make out two black straps that formed an 'X' across her stomach and attached to a pair of skin tight booty shorts. Her hands had a pair of gloves on that went up her forearm and stopped in the middle of her biceps, and her legs were covered by thigh high tights that disappeared into a pair of black shoes. She had no discernible weapon that Tsukiumi could see.

"Look at this," the one in front with the bladed discs said. She was obviously the leader. "Intruders. And they're so bold too, coming in straight through the front door like that."

"You!" Tsukiumi was instantly in one of her signature poses, the one where she planted her feet wide, placed a hand on her hip while the other pointed at whoever she was antagonizing. Naruto had taken to referring to it as Tsun-Tsun pose number five. "I, number zero-nine, Tsukiumi, demand my right of honorable combat! Come at me so that I may defeat you and prove myself to be the strongest!"

"Oh my," the one Tsukiumi had marked as the leader hid her mouth behind her hand as if to disguise her surprise. Of course, the insincerety of the gesture let everyone know that was not the case. She was likely trying to hide her smile.

The two blades that had previously been in her hand were now in the air with the other two, spinning around like a pair of buzz saws that were waiting to slice into something.

"You want a fight, do you? Very well." Grabbing the ends of her dress, the Sekirei curtsied to the blond water user. "I, number one hundred and one, Oriha, will oblige you."

"I wanna fight too! I wanna fight too!" Musubi, unable to contain herself, was now bouncing around life a hyperactive kid on a sugar high. Her eyes were bright and vibrant, and Tsukiumi thought she could actually see stars in her battle companions eyes. The shrine maiden looked like she might explode at any second. "Which one do I get to fight!? Ooh~ I hope it's a strong opponent!"

"Don't worry," Oriha sounded amused. "You'll get your opponent. Katsuragi! Why don't you indulge the big breasted Shrine Maiden."

The one in the yellow jumpsuit stepped forward, looking at Musubi who was now standing in a traditional boxing pose with an eager look on her face.

"I'm number eighty eight, Musubi! I'm a fist type!"

Katsuragi squirmed a bit, the melancholic look on her face never changing.

"Number eighty six, Katruragi. I'm a fighting type, I guess."

"Now, since we have a single digit among us, why don't we make the battle a little more interesting," Oriha smirked. "Kaie! Oshino! Help me give our guest a warm reception!"

"What!?"

**XoX**

High above the hustle and bustle of Shinto Teito, one woman found herself sitting on one of the many roofs that made up the city's skyline, enjoying a good bottle of sake. This particular female was a woman who could probably define the term 'busty', though calling her that would truly be an insult and understatement of just how busty she was.

Sitting down against the small wall that blocked the ledge of the roof, her back resting against the ninety degree rise as it climbed higher to create an eventual wall that went around several electric boxes and her left leg laying straight across the wall while her right dangled off the edge, the mature looking beauty raised the cup of sake in her left hand as if saluting to some unseen deity before partaking in her drink.

"Ah!"

A strangely sensual sigh escaped her lips as she finished off all the alcohol in her saucer. As if having already sensed her eventual need for more drink, the hand containing the bottle of sake had started rising before she had even finished. By the time the mature beauty had removed the saucer from her luscious pink lips, the sake bottle was ready to refill it.

"Nothing beats a good bottle of sake," the woman said with a small smile on her flushed cheeks. It was clear from the red staining her face that she had already partaken in quite a bit of alcohol. Despite this, she showed no other signs of being intoxicated. She didn't even have slurred speech.

Those who knew her well knew just how high she had built up her tolerance for alcohol.

"Still," she mused to herself as she watched more of her favorite liquid being poured into her saucer. "It would be nice to share a drink with someone on occasion. Maybe I should visit Izumo again and see if Uzume wants to get a drink with me."

The gorgeous woman with the ginormous breasts raised the saucer of sake to her lips, about to down the drink once more, when she stopped as something a few buildings away caught her attention.

"Ho? What's this?"

Wanting to get a better look, she stood up and squinted her eyes. With her excellent vision she was more than capable of seeing the blond figure running up the side of the wall.

Yes, running up the side of the wall.

She blinked once. Then she looked at the bottle of sake in her hand, before looking back at the male running vertically up the wall without any form of visible aid whatsoever, then back to the bottle of sake. When she had determined that, no, she was not hallucinating due to having instilled to much alcohol in her, the busty woman turned to look back up at the blond to see he was already nearing the top of the building.

"Well, this is interesting. I wonder how he's doing that?" A pause. "And why does he look so familiar?"

**XoX**

Naruto had thought long and hard about how he would infiltrate the building while his two Sekirei were causing a ruckus on the ground floor. There were many avenues open to him, but only a few that he would truly consider.

His first thought was actually going in before hand henged as an employee.

The idea had only lasted a second before he had discarded in. For one, he didn't know anyone who worked for Higa other than Kakizaki. Unfortunately, MBI's database only listed the names of those who were involved in the Sekirei Plan, aka, Ashikabis. More unfortunately, Higa seemed to have enough common sense to make his own database impossible to access remotely. It seemed the only way to get any information from his network was to access it at the source, aka, Higa's corporate office, which meant infiltrating the building through henging into an employee would have been pointless anyways.

The second option he had thought up was henging himself or one of his clones as some kind of bug or rodent. It was a slightly better choice than his first one, but only by so much.

While Naruto's henge was still flawless, whenever he used the jutsu, he released a lot of chakra, _a lot _of chakra. And while none of the information he had Matsu acquire on enemy Sekire suggested they had talent in sensing chakra, there was nothing to suggest they did not either. For all he knew, it could be a passive skill they attained with enough experience and practice like some of the shinobi in his time could. He didn't want to risk blowing his cover because he unleashed a kage's worth of chakra just to complete a simple henge.

Yes, Naruto was _that _paranoid.

That really only left option three: enter through the exit on the roof, find a vent to crawl into, and figure out which office belonged to Higa one at a time. It wouldn't be that hard, but it would be time consuming.

Still, he was a patient man, and there really weren't many other option that would guarantee he accomplished everything he wanted with minimal hassle. So, down the vents he would go.

Getting in from the top floor was ridiculously easy. The only problem he had was the locked door, but that was something a little wind manipulation could fix up. Even after all this time of having never used a single jutsu beyond henge, shadow clones and Fūinjutsu, Naruto's affinity for wind was so strong his ability to manipulate it was second to none. Sending the wind into the lock, Naruto quickly and efficiently used the wind to open all the bolts keeping the door shut. After that it was just a matter of finding a vent to crawl into that he could fit in.

As Naruto finished undoing all the screws in the nearest vent and began to crawl in, he sighed. He forgot how much he hated enclosed spaces.

**XoX**

Tsukiumi barely had time to squawk in indignation as one of the Sekirei, the one without weapons, charged her, while the one with whips stayed behind to lash out at her and Oriha sent one of her bladed discs at her. She almost didn't have time to dodge the attempt the short haired one made at punching her face in because she was so busy trying not to get hit by one of the many whips arrayed against her or those bladed discs.

As it was, she just barely dodged by creating a wall of water that blocked the whips from hitting her and shooting several condensed spheres at the blades as they soared towards her, allowing her to jump back and avoid the punch intended for her by a few inches.

"Undignified brutes!" she screeched in anger. "What is this meaning of this! Attacking me all together like a pack of cowards instead of one on one in honorable combat!"

Oriha smirked.

"Weren't you just telling us how you were the strongest Sekirei? Surely one as strong as you wouldn't mind having a bit more of a challenge than a simple one on one battle."

Tsukiumi growled in anger as her words were turned back on her. How she hated this strumpet for using her words against her. She would be sure to make the bitch pay for this insult.

"Fine! If you want to see how powerful than come at me, you dogs!"

"Hmph!" Oriha snorted at the woman's arrogance. This woman didn't think she would be able to take on all three of them just because she was a single digit, did she? "Let's show this girl whose in charge around here. Kaie!"

The one with the whips, who Tsukiumi could now identify as Kaie, lashed out with her many whips.

"Wind Slashing Whip!"

There were several powerful burst of wind from the many whips Kaie wielded. The wind bursts were shaped in crescent blades that followed the arc of the whips themselves. They moved towards Tsukiumi at an incredible pace.

But they were not enough to defeat the water user, who conjured a powerful wall of hardened water that managed to block the wind blades.

Much like Akitsu's ice was special, so too was Tsukiumi's water. Her ability did not just lay in the gathering of water from the atmosphere. She could also change it's density, making it lighter than a feather and just how fragile, or harder than diamonds. Not even lightning could pierce her water unless more power was put into the attack than her defense.

It was a gift all elemental type Sekirei had, the ability to manipulate their element to an extreme degree.

Unfortunately, while the water wall managed to block the wind blades, they also managed to conceal Oriha's bladed discs that came at her from behind. As it was, only instinct saved Tsukiumi from getting bisected. Even then, she still managed to get a cut on her clothing as she dodged the attacks.

Growling angrily, Tsukiumi pointed a finger at the disc blades, preparing to destroy them...

Only for Oshina to appear in front of her again. The fist fighter quickly lashed out with several fast, straight forward jabs.

Tsukiumi quickly wove through the attack combination. While she was not a fist fighter, she was still a single digit. As such, even though she did not specialize in close combat, she was still stronger physically than the girl before her. Had this battle been between just them, the water user was sure it would have already ended in her victory.

"Moon Chakram!"

A curse escaped Tsukiumi's lips as she was forced to once more dodge two of the bladed discs that damn woman sent after her. She swore even more when several whips attacked her out of nowhere and tried to force her into the direction of Oshino who was once more preparing to launch her bladed discs.

This was not how she envisioned this battle going. Not at all.

**XoX**

Homura scowled as the fireball he had launched at Toyotama was batted away from the girl by her over six foot naginata. With a loud 'woosh!' the fireball was launched into the air where it slowly dissipated harmlessly several dozen meters above them.

While he would not say the battle had been going poorly for him, it was not going very well either. He had yet to actually receive any damage, having done an excellent job at forcing the weapon user to keep her distance. However, neither had he given damage to the number sixteen either. Every time he would send his flames at her, she would either swat it away like she had with his fire ball, or disperse them with an intense wave of her naginata that generated a very powerful gust of wind.

Clearly the woman had been training.

"I hope this isn't all you have, Homura," Toyotama taunted her foe. Homura grit his teeth. The way she was acting, with that cocky little smirk on her face as she deflected or cut through his flames was really beginning to bother him.

"Don't worry," Homura was quick to send six more compressed balls of intensely burning flame towards the weapon user. "It isn't."

He watched as Toyotama dodged his assault with the ease and grace of an acrobatic, twisting and twirling around the small spheres of fire as she made her way towards him. The few fireballs she couldn't escape from were smacked away with her naginata, sending them spiraling out of control to either disperse in the atmosphere or explode in a decent sized conflagration as they hit a wall.

Suddenly, just as she was about to reach him, flames burst up from the ground in front of her, forcing the weapon using Sekirei to leap backwards. Like all the times she had done so, Toyotama's version of dodging was incredibly flashy, using a series of aerial flips and twists instead of simply jumping back like most normal people would have done.

Well, most normal Sekirei at least.

Homura narrowed his eyes. A possible weakness, perhaps?

Deciding to test this theory, the young man very quickly conjured several dozen fireballs. The compressed spheres of white hot fire hovered around him for but a moment before they were launched towards Toyotama with extreme prejudice.

Each time one fireball was launched, a new one would take it's place while Homura watched Toyotama's movements carefully, taking note of the way she moved and dodged in order to see if he couldn't find a pattern he could exploit.

The young woman really was quite graceful. She seemed to have a six sense for battle. It was like everything within a certain distance from her was visible even when she was not looking. The staff in her hand was a never ending blur of motion as she spun it in a complex series of patterns while dodging what attacks she could and liberally bashing away or slicing through what flames she could not.

Her movements were definitely flashy though. All that jumping and twirling when she could have just woven her way through with minute movements designed to dodge with as little effort as possible. Yes, her dodging contained a lot of unnecessary movement that wasted both time and energy.

And that was not even going into when she jumped. That was just plain stupid, especially when Homura was primarily geared for long range attacks. People were always vulnerable when they jumped. There was no possible way for them to avoid an attack that came their way, all they could do was either take it and hope for the best, or use their weapons to try and deflect, which is what Toyotama did.

Deciding to use a more widespread attack, Homura made a wide swiping gesture with his hand. Instantly, the air in front of him combusted into flames, which created a literal wave as they raced towards Toyotama with every intention of burning her to a crisp.

Showing just how skilled she had gotten within the past few months since they had last fought when he had protected Kaho from her, Toyotama jumped into the air to avoid the main attack and lashed out with a powerful slash attack with her naginata. From the weapon a large gust of wind created by the sonic vibrations of her incredibly fast attack emerged, cutting the flames with ease and causing them to disperse as if they had never been there.

Just before she landed on the ground, Homura sent another blast of intense flames at her. Toyotama's eyes widened in surprise, but even though she had clearly not been expecting this new assault so soon, her body was able to instinctively dodge it by ducking low and shoulder rolling across the roof the moment her feet hit the ground.

She could not, however, dodge the next attack, which came in the form of a giant flame erupting from underneath her.

Reacting quickly, the naginata wielder leapt into the air again, avoiding the gout of flames as it shot out from the roof. Even in the air where she was, the heat from the fire could still be felt and it caused her clothes to cake themselves to her body as she started to truly sweat.

While she was in the air, Homura launched another fireball at her. A much bigger one than normal.

Toyotama's eyes widened as she readied her naginata and swung at the flames. She managed to cut them in half, but that did little good this time. The ball of fire split in half, forming two smaller balls that quickly split up around her. They arced in from the side, creating a pincer movement that would force her to choose between protecting herself from one while getting hit with the other. It was a no-win situation for most people.

Most people. Not Sekireis.

Gritting her teeth, Toyotama swung her naginata again, this time using the force from her swing to rotate her body a full three hundred and sixty degrees. As her naginata sailed through the twin balls of fire, another small sonic vibration cut through both fireballs and forced them to evaporate.

Because she was so focused on fending off the first two fireballs, she completely missed the other one coming for her that Homura had launched a few seconds after she began her spin until it was right in her face.

Toyotama released a shrill scream of pain as the explosion of fire burnt the left side of her body and sent her sailing through the air. She landed with a loud crash several dozen feet from where she had been, then proceeded to roll along the roof like a rag doll until she was stopped by an electric box.

As she began to struggle to push herself to her feet, Homura began walking over to the woman with calm, decisive steps. He was certain this battle was now his.

Getting a good look at Toyotama, he could see that a good portion of her clothing was now gone, having been burnt away from his fire. The entire left side of her torso had a large second degree burn on it that looked red and nasty and swollen, but probably wouldn't even leave a mark once it was healed.

Of course, had that attack been done on a human, it would have done more than just lave a mark.

"Do you... think this is over..." Toyotama struggled to her knees. Her left hand managed to find her naginata, which she then impaled into the ground and used to pull herself to her feet. It was clear from the way her legs shook and wobbled that she was on the verge of collapsing. "I'm... not beaten yet..."

Homura shook his head.

"You can barely stand up, you've got a nasty burn on you, and you looked like death warmed over." Pun not intended. "This fight is over."

Toyotama's lips drew themselves into a thin line as she forced herself to stand. Despite her legs buckling and almost sending her back to the ground, she managed to hold herself up right even if it was just barely. Not even bothering to regain a combat stance, the number sixteen charged with an almost feral cry.

**XoX**

While Tsukiumi was left with nothing to do but dodge and hope she did not get hit, Musubi and Katsuragi were trading blows of their own. And while Katsuragi was looking just as depressed and despondent as ever, Musubi had the largest smile on her face that anyone would ever see.

She was having a blast! It had been so long since she fought that sword using girl, and while her spars with Miya were nice, they didn't quite have that extra something that fighting someone for real gave.

They also didn't come with the many lumps that fighting with Miya gave.

Stepping in past her opponent's guard, Musubi sent a straight jab towards the much less busty girl's face. The attack was avoided when Katsuragi sidestepped and leapt back. She then came in with a high kick towards Musubi's face that was blocked when the Shrine Maiden raised her left forearm. The attack sent her skidding back some, but she quickly got back on track and charged the other girl.

A quick one-two combination was met with Katsuragi blocking the attack with her forearms. In turn, Musubi was met with retaliation when the more kicking oriented fighting type went in for a front kick. Taking a single step forward, Katsuragi raised her left leg, then thrust it forward with the intent of hitting Musubi in the stomach with the ball of her foot.

Remembering her lessons with Miya, Musubi quickly dodged to the side, her forearm coming up and blocking the attack. She then twisted her arm, bringing Katsuragi's leg around her arm until it was being held between her arm and torso in a right grip. With her opponent's leg now captured, the fist type Sekirei moved in towards Katsuragi's face with a right hook.

Before Musubi's attack could hit, Katsuragi hopped into the air using her one grounded foot, then quickly twisted her hips so that she spun on an axis. The foot not trapped by Musubi came up with every intention of hitting the battle maniac in the temple before the fist reached her.

Forced to let go, Musubi jumped back several times to gain some distance, then set herself up in her combat stance again while Katsuragi did the same. The lull only lasted for a second before the two charged each other.

Musubi came in with a very quick one-two combination. A right cross straight aimed at Katsuragi's face and a left chambered punch that started in a cocked position from her torso and launched itself at the other girl's stomach at extreme speeds.

The first attack was blocked, the second was dodged when Katsuragi leapt to the side at the last second.

If she wasn't having so much fun, Musubi would have pouted at missing.

During their next engagement, Katsuragi was the one leading the assault. The yellow jumpsuit wearing Sekirei came in with a quick straight that Musubi dodged much like she would when Miya was thrusting her sword out, then launched a kick aimed at taking out Musubi's legs.

Unlike Musubi, who used only her fists, Katsuragi used her fists and feet. It was a bit dizzying for Musubi, who was simply not used to having people actually try to kick her. The only person who had used their feet when she fought was Naruto-sama, and they had only had the one spar.

Muu~ she needed to get Naruto-sama to spar with her more often.

Thinking about her spar with Naruto-sama reminded her of how easily he had defeated her. she had never been able to hit him, not once. Her Ashikabi had turned her own attacks against her somehow. It had been so~ amazing!

Could she do that here?

As Katsuragi came in again for another bout of hand to hand combat, Musubi decided she would attempt to copy the way Naruto-sama had fought her. It was incredibly stupid, but then, no one had ever claimed that Musubi was the brightest Sekirei around.

Katsuragi closed the distance soon enough. She took one step, two, then her body twisted until she was leading with her left foot. This was done so she could launch a side kick towards Musubi's ribs.

After taking her last step, Katsuragi chambered her leg diagonally across her body, then launched it very quickly towards the busty fist fighter. The attack was so fast Musubi barely had any time to think. So she didn't.

Having already tried putting her mind on what she had seen Naruto-sama doing during their spar, Musubi took a single step forward and then ducked. The foot, which would have connected with her floating ribs, sailed over her shoulder by a couple of inches. Close enough that she could feel the breeze it created rustle her hair, but far enough that she did not have to be concerned.

At this point there were many avenues for attack open to her. Musubi could have continued moving forward, lifting her body up and grabbing hold of the girl's leg so she could move as she came in with a devastating punch to one of the girl's vitals. She could have also used a leg sweep to knock Katuragi to the ground and finish her off there. There were a number of possible attack options, each one possessing there own advantage and disadvantage that would be dependent on how skilled her opponent was.

Musubi did none of these things, because Naruto-sama did none of those things when they sparred. Instead, she took a step back and got out of Katsuragi's attack range, just like Naruto-sama had done during their spar.

Katsuragi still had her leg up in the same position it had been when she launched her kick as she stared at Musubi, blinking. The fist fighting Shrine Maiden was now back in her traditional combat pose, brimming with confidence and happiness that very few would be able to have during such an intense bout of combat.

Slowly, as if confused about what had just happened, Katsuragi set her foot back on the ground.

"Why didn't you attack me?"

It was a simple question, but one that seemed to confuse Musubi, who tilted her head as she looked at Katsuragi.

"Was I supposed to?" She pressed her index finger to her lower lip, looking honestly curious. "I thought that was it. Though now that I think about it, I'm not sure how I'm going to beat you if I do that." Musubi moaned piteously as she realized she had a bit of a problem. "Mou, this is almost as hard as understanding modesty!"

Had this been an anime, Katsuragi would have surely sweat dropped. Since it wasn't, the girl just blinked several times.

**XoX**

Naruto almost growled in frustration as he began backtracking through the ventilation system as he continued his search for Higa's office. Really, how hard could it be to find the office of the boss of a corporation in a building with around five or six hundred other offices?

Really hard, apparently.

How long had he been searching for that stupid office anyways? Nearly ten minutes at least. While that might not seem like a long time to some, Naruto understood that most battles didn't last over five unless the two opponents were very evenly matched. His Sekirei were still fighting, he could feel it through the bond. All of them except for Homura, who he could only get a small sense of accomplishment from at least. That meant their opponent's were strong, at least strong enough to keep up with his Sekirei. And if they were that strong, then the battles could go either way.

In short, he needed to hurry up, find Higa's office, do what he came to do, find Yukari, then leave.

Thankfully, a pair of voices up ahead alerted him to the fact that he was getting close to another room. The fact that he recognized at least one of those voices let him know he was on the right track.

Stopping in front of one of the vent's exits, Naruto peered inside the room and could immediately tell this was the right one. First off, because it was much more extravagant than any of the other offices he had seen so far. It was also much larger, as in, three or four times larger. The last reason was most definitely because of the man sitting behind the ridiculously expensive looking desk.

Izumi Higa was sitting in a chair behind the desk with a computer on it, the index finger of his right hand was tapping incessantly on the wood top while the elbow of his left was sitting on it while he used the butt of his hand to hold his head. He looked very irritated.

"You mean to tell me three of my Sekirei can't take out even one of his?"

Naruto's head swiveled across the room to see who he was talking to, and immediately recognized the woman in question. She was kind of a nerdy looking woman (if nerdy looking women had incredibly large breasts) wearing glasses with square frames. Her mess gray hair was cut short with two bangs trailing down either side of her face and there was a strange dot on her forehead that reminded him of those Hindu guys he had seen before.

Or were they Budhists? He couldn't remember.

Her outfit was a little unusual as well, though not as bad as some of the other Sekirei he had seen. She was wearing what looked like some kind of gi-dress. The top half was unmistakably that of a purple gi. It was sleeveless, however, and there were an untold amount of ruffles sticking out from underneath the dress to make it look like she was wearing one of the strangest high collars he had ever laid eyes on. Wrapped around the middle to keep the gi-dress from opening up was a large obi in a dark shade of purple that had the same lighter purple ruffles that her collar had. The last article of clothing he saw her wearing were the armbands that started just below her shoulders, then flowed out into slightly ruffled sleeves that stopped just above her hands.

Naruto knew who this Sekirei was. Number twenty two, Kochou, a brain type Sekirei like Matsu. This was Kakizaki's Sekirei.

"That woman they are fighting is the number zero-nine," Kochou told Higa in a monotone voice. "A powerful Sekirei with control over water. The single digits have always been more powerful than the other Sekirei, barring the two members of the disciplinary squad. Even one single digit is enough to defeat or hold off two double digit Sekirei. There is also a good chance Uzumaki Naruto activated her norito and she is just using the stored power as a boost to her abilities."

Naruto found himself slightly impressed with the woman's ability to think up possible scenarios to explain why Tsukiumi was apparently giving Higa's Sekirei a hard time.

On a side note, Naruto would have to remember that activating a Sekirei's norito apparently gave them a power boost that did more than just allow them to use their strongest attack.

Who knows how strong Tsukiumi and Musubi would have been if he had given them their noritos before the start of this mission.

"Are single digits really that much more powerful?" Despite being apparently very agitated, Higa's face had a look of mild annoyance at best, like this was just a minor problem he found himself faving every day. It was probably a skill he picked up from having to deal with a large scale corporation.

As the conversation began going into the mechanics behind the first nine Sekirei's adjustments in order to explain why they were more powerful than the average double digit Sekirei, Naruto tuned them out and moved into his own thoughts. He already knew everything Kochou was going to tell the man anyways.

What should he do now? Naruto had been hoping to accomplish two things on this trip aside from rescuing Shiina's Ashikabi; hack into Higa's database, and gain a mole on the inside through the use of the _Sennō Sōsa no Jutsu (Memory Concealing Manipulative Sand Technique),_ a sealing jutsu that would allow him to make a person a literal slave to his will by helping him create a false memory and than erasing it until such a time came that he needed to use them again. That was how he kept a majority of his... employees in line.

He had been hoping to use the technique on Kakizaki, because he was Kochou's Ashikabi, which meant he could use the number twenty two to feed Higa falsified information, or information that was highly selective and would benefit Naruto in the long run. The blond had thought about using the technique on Kochou, but since he still didn't know everything about a Sekirei's physiology or their link to their Ashikabi didn't want to risk it.

Though Naruto supposed he could use it on Higa. Having a company head under his direct control would be nice, but there was a chance Kochou or one of his Sekirei would get suspicious that something was going on with their boss when he made a decision that he would not normally make.

Well, he supposed that wouldn't matter. They would probably still follow his orders to the letter.

The problem was he couldn't do that since Kochou was in the room with his potential new slave.

Not that she could stop him if she tried. Kochou, as a brain type, was not very strong. He could easily kill her, but then Higa's effectiveness as a potential pawn was downgraded. It might not matter in the long run, but until Naruto had a clear idea of what the end goal for the Sekirei Plan was, having as many eyes and ears in the city was important.

Well, he supposed he could just leave that for another time. That was only a secondary goal anyways. Right now he really just wanted access to their network and to find Sahashi Yukari.

Now if only his... ah, there it goes.

"What the –?" the sound of wheels sliding across the ground came from inside of the now darkened room. "What's going on?"

"It seems someone has cut the power to the building."

"I know that!" This time, Higa's irritation could not be masked by anything. "I meant how long will it take before the back up generator is running?"

"Approximately fifteen seconds."

Fifteen seconds on the dot later, the power was restored and Higa could see again.

By that point in time, Naruto was already gone, wondering how long it would take for one of his clones had to find Yukari's location.

**XoX**

Akitsu had a plan.

Well, not really a plan so much as an idea on how to capture Shiina without hurting and/or deactivating him.

Shiina's power was the power of decay. In a way, you could almost say his Sekirei power was the ability to age whatever he targeted. When using this ability, Shiina would often use it to create shields or short bursts that would make whatever was in front of him age and decay. That was why her water melted when it got to close. Shiina was using a burst of his power and sending it out to her ice shards before they came near him in order to make the ice 'age' so to speak. He was essentially accelerating the melting process by making the amount of time the ice could survive less.

However, in order to properly use this power, he had to consciously activate it. It wasn't a passive skill of any kind. Like all Sekirei his mind needed to be focused on the act of bringing his power forth and using it in the manner he wanted.

If she could disrupt his ability to think, he would be unable to call up his power.

This was what led her to her current action. While she kept as far away from the number one hundred and seven as possible, sending blunted shards of ice, creating slippery frost all over the ground and making large walls of ice shoot up in front of him to help impede his progress towards her, Akitsu used her power over ice in a far more subtle way than she had ever done before.

While Tsukiumi had the ability to pull water from the very atmosphere by gathering moisture, Akitsu had the ability to turn that moisture into ice by changing the temperature of the moisture around her to subzero levels. But that wasn't the only thing her ability could do. While she could not, say, make the moisture in the atmosphere hotter, she could make the moisture in the air colder.

For example, she could change the very moisture around Shiina's to be mildly colder than the standard temperature right now, to below freezing within seconds.

Which, by the way, she was doing.

Throughout the battle Akitsu had been slowly lowering the temperature around Shiina's head. To be more specific she had been lowering the temperature around his temples, causing an imbalance of hot and cold that would undoubtedly create a serious headache eventually. It was her hope that this would disrupt his ability to concentrate and make it so he could not use his powers to melt her ice.

For the first few minutes of the engagement after coming up with this plan, nothing had really happened. But as more and more time progressed, Akitsu began to notice a remarkable difference in the number one hundred and seven's ability to use his powers. Where before, he could call upon his decaying abilities on a whim, now he was incapable of doing it more than half the time.

Akitsu figured that when he could no longer activate his powers ten out of ten times, she would be able to capture him safely.

Watching carefully, Akitsu sent several shards of blunted ice hurtling towards Shiina. She observed as the young Sekirei tried to activate his powers and create those bursts that would melt her ice. Nothing happened, forcing him to roll along the ground in order to avoid the attack.

One.

This time, Akitsu created a sheet of icy frost along that ground that had her opponent slipping across his surface. His face was screwed up in concentration as he tried to use his powers.

Again, nothing happened. He continued to slide along the ground until it naturally turned back into concrete.

Two.

Rubbing his temples at the obvious headache he was getting from her powers, Shiina decided he would need to get in close. He began running at her, which caused her to raise her hand towards him, palm pointed his way, and send several dozen ice balls in his direction.

From the way his eyes widened, it was clear to Akitsu that he had not been able to use his powers that time either. She watched as he tried to dodge the attacks, though one ball struck him particularly hard in the chest, making him gasp in pain as he held a hand to what would no doubt be a large bruise later.

Shaking his head, Shiina tried to clear the ringing in his ears, before putting his hands on the ground just as Akitsu sent more ice his way.

"Death Wall!"

Nothing. Whatever he had been expecting to happen when he called out the name of his attack did not happen.

Three.

Shiina's eyes widened even more as he desperately rolled across the floor to dodge the pelts of ice the snow woman had sent his way. He managed, but just barely, and all it did was ensure he ran into Akitsu's next attack, a large wall of ice.

Over and over again Akitsu sent a number of attacks Shiina's way, watching as each and every time the boy failed to produce the desired effect. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, by the time the tenth attack failed to be produced, Akitsu knew she had him and acted with a speed that would have shocked everyone else due to how slow she usually was when not in combat.

Before Shiina even had time to contemplate what was going on, Akitsu created a set of ice manacles around his wrists and legs, and even encased his hands in ice for good measure.

Shiina fell to the ground as his feet became shackled together. Likewise, his hands became completely bound together in front of him as the ice forced them close. He began struggling to escape, but as more and more time passed with nothing happening, he seemed to realize his chances of getting free were practically zero.

Seconds later his body went limp as defeat settled in.

Akitsu walked up to him slowly. She made sure to keep her ice powers centered around his head to keep his headache there so he wouldn't be able to regain the use of his powers. Stopping in front of him, she looked down at the boy who was eying her curiously.

"If you're going to deactivate me then please do it quickly," he said in a defeated tone. "I have no desire to be used as a pawn against my Ashikabi again."

"Ah..."

A pause.

"Deactivate?"

There was another pause, this one by Shiina who was staring up at Akitsu like she had two heads and didn't have a lick of clothing on.

"You mean you're not here to deactivate me?"

"No," Akitsu replied succinctly as she looked around the city block she was standing in. Both the number ninety five and her Ashikabi had disappeared. They must have vanished sometime during her battle. Shiina looked at her with a little confusion and a little timidness.

"If-if you aren't here to deactivate me, then why are you here?"

Akitsu looked back down at him, her head tilting. After a second or two of her unnerving stare, she answered him.

"Orders."

Shiina blinked. That didn't tell him anything at all.

**XoX**

Six separate tendrils of cloth shot out from behind Uzume. Using her ability to control where they went, the cloth user sent them racing for Ichiya. The first one was dodged when the woman jumped to the left, but that really only forced her into the path of the next tendril of clothing Uzume had sent out.

One by one, Uzume tried to attack Ichiya with her clothing, only for the woman to dodge each and ever time. It was beginning to frustrate her. Seriously, how hard could it really be to hit this woman?

Apparently much harder than she thought. Uzume was throwing quite a bit of effort into defeating the fighting type to no avail. This woman really did have a lot of experience.

Ichiya quickly rushed towards Uzume. She was fast, Uzume had to admit that much. It was hard to actually track her because her body seemed to blur. Uzume just couldn't get a good bead on her.

Of course, while her speed was impressive, such an advantage came with a number of disadvantages. For one thing, moving so fast meant she was pretty much confined to a straight line. She wouldn't be able to do much more than make minute adjustments while moving forward. There would be no sharp turns, or abrupt about facing. If she wanted to change the direction she was moving, she would have to slow down.

Another disadvantage was that she was dealing with someone who was not limited to fighting with just her fists and feet.

Sending out all of the cloth tendrils that were normally drifting lazily behind her back when she was wearing her Sekirei outfit, Uzume did her level best to impede Ichiya's progress. She even went so far as to use her telekinetic ability to harden the cloth she was using to the same density and toughness as steel.

Ichiya jumped over the first one, managed to roll under the second one, the third and fourth were dodged by her rotating her body as she used her hands to push herself into an acrobatic flip. The fifth one she wove around with a unique corkscrew maneuver, and the seventh one was avoided by her using the steel on her boots to slide across the ground while she ducked low.

"Now I've got you – Woah!"

She never noticed the eighth one snaking it's way around her ankle from behind until it was too late.

The eighth cloth Uzume had sent out wrapped itself tightly around Ichiya's left ankle before hardening to the point that it was just as strong as steel.

Because Ichiya's left leg was no longer capable of movement but the rest of her body was, the close combat fighter's body was forced to follow Newton's first law. While her leg remained stationary, every other part of her flew forward, descending in an almost graceful looking arc before her face met the cement flooring of the roof with a loud and sickening crunch.

There were very few things Uzume had seen that were as satisfying as Ichiya lying face first on the ground with a small pool of blood coming out from under her body from an obviously broken nose.

Most of those things involved Chiho wearing a lot less clothing than she usually did.

Using her telekinetic abilities once more, Uzume lifted Ichiya with the cloth and flung her across the roof. She had to give the bloodthirsty bitch credit. While still completely dazed, the woman had enough sense to twist her body so that when she landed on the adjacent roof, she landed feet first.

Of course, immediately after landing she went down to a knee and held a hand to her bleeding nose, which pleased Uzume to know end.

Ichiya grimaced as she cracked her nose back in place, then had to spit out all the blood she had gotten in her mouth when she opened it. Standing to her feet, she looked out across the roof at Uzume, her face set in a bloodthirsty leer.

"It looks like this will be more fun than I thought."

She took a step forward, then another, and another. Just as she was about to start flat out running, the sound of 'Hit me Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears began playing, forcing her to stop and grumble.

Uzume raised her eyebrow when she heard the music coming from Ichiya. Aside from the fact that it was god awful and made her want to kick a puppy just to make it stop, it was also unexpected. And not just because she had not expected the hardcore bitch, number eighteen Ichiya had it as her ringtone.

Just where was that noise coming from anyways?

Then Ichiya pulled a cellphone out from between her breasts and Uzume felt a drop of sweat form on the side of her head. She quickly shook any strange thoughts off and began running towards the woman who now had the cellphone pressed tightly against her ear and was listening to whoever was on the other end with a growing frown. Now that she was focused on something else, Ichiya was completely open for her to attack.

While most people would consider attacking someone who was distracted by a phone call dishonorable, Uzume liked to think of it as an opportunity.

She soared through the air just as Ichiya was finishing her conversation. Uzume did not know what it was about, but she didn't particularly care either. The only thing that mattered was sticking it to this bitch for all the taunts she had given Uzume when Higa had been forcing her to do his dirty work.

Lashing out with a hand motion, Uzume sent a literal wall of cloth towards the fighter type Sekirei. The 'wall' was so densely packed with bleached white fabric that it actually blocked out the sun from where Ichiya was standing, casting the entire area in shadow. It would be more accurate to say that she was being confronted with a wave instead of a wall.

Ichiya began hopping back quickly in order to get out of range of the attack. The wave of cloth crashed into the roof she had been standing on with a loud bang, crushing much of the cement underneath it and creating an innumerable amount of cracks. Given how much strength Uzume put into her attack the force combined with gravity doing it's work, it was a wonder there still was a roof at all.

"Tch!"

Uzume tsked as she saw her attack missed. Ichiya was standing some meters away on another roof now, grinning at the cloth user with barely concealed bloodlust.

"As much as I would love to continue this, I've been recalled. It seems my work here is done." Ichiya waved. "But don't worry, I'll be back eventually and we can pick up where we left off." With nothing left for her to say, Sekirei number eighteen, Ichiya, disappeared as she jumped down from the roof.

Uzume frowned as she watched the other Sekirei retreat. She thought about going after her, but decided not to. There would be other occasions.

"I can't wait."

**XoX**

Everything had gone down the drain. Yukari couldn't understand how something so right could have gone so wrong so quickly. It was like every good moment she'd had in the past few days had come back to haunt her as some kind of reverse karma, or like Murphy had decided to fuck with her for shits and giggles because she had too many good things going on in her life.

She was almost beginning to wonder if she might be cursed.

It had all started when her onii-chan met _that _woman, that utterly gorgeous woman with the long raven hair and elegant poise. Even to this day, Yukari was not sure what to think about her. On the one hand, she was drop dead gorgeous and had a very nice rack, on the other hand, she was madly in love with her onii-chan. It was a lose-lose situation as far as she was concerned.

How could she compete with that!?

And speaking of, just where was her onii-chan anyways? She hadn't seen or heard from him in days, he was no longer living in that apartment she had first found him in when he had called her up asking for her clothes (for his new girl to wear, of course). It was like he had disappeared from the face of Shinto Teito!

Despite her not being too pleased with her onii-chan's new girl and his disappearance, things had eventually gotten better for her when she ran into her Sekirei, Shiina, the absolutely gorgeous bishounen who had quite literally fallen into her lap.

Ok, so maybe he hadn't _fallen _into her lap so much as she smacked into him and knocked him to the ground when he had been running from that blond bimbo who had been out to capture him for her sick master, but that was besides the point.

Yukari had never been one to believe in fate, but she could not help but agree with Shiina when he had said they were fated to be together and that their accidental meeting had indeed been a meeting of fate.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the delicious shivers those words caused to run down her spine. Or the way they made her loins feel like a furnace. Absolutely nothing at all.

Yeah right.

Anyways... After giving Shiina his 'wings' she had received a call from Hiroto Minaka, who had informed her of the Sekirei Plan and all it entailed. To learn that there was a secret tournament going on where super powered aliens who had crash landed in a space ship some several hundred years ago but were put into a form of stasis because their ships was damaged was taking place underneath the very nose of the normal, everyday citizens had been shocking. This was like something from one of her mangas!

Which would probably explain why she had used her shounen jump collection as a guideline for her to follow during this tournament. It was very fortunate she had decided to bring those with her from home. They were a godsend in helping her get ready for this tournament. All the information she and her Sekirei would need were contained within those pages, including proper dialogue and the actions she needed to take when in the face of overwhelming odds.

She and Shiina had even practiced sentai poses! It was awesome!

Once she had her collection ready to be used at a moments notice for when she needed reference (complete with footnotes and amendments written by yours truly), Yukari and Shiina had begun their search for her Sekirei's sister. Though, she wasn't his actual sister per se, just the girl he had received his adjustments with. Apparently, they were so close this Kusano girl was like a sister to him.

Which was fine with Yukari, really. So long as the girl didn't try to make a move on her Sekirei, everything would be just dandy between the two of them when they met.

So yeah, they started searching for Shiina's Imouto.

It had not been a very fruitful search. Yukari could not begin to guess how many miles they had walked, but she and her new Sekirei had done quite a bit of it. Walking that is. They had also interrogated a number of other Ashikabi to see if they knew where Kusano was. Of course, this was done after she and Shiina had thoroughly kicked their ass.

Some of those people she had questioned had been very belligerent, calling her names like flat chest and skank. The jerks. Those people received a solid kick in the nuts from her halter top boots. See how they like that!

Despite the number of people they had questioned, no one seemed to know where Kusano was. No one seemed to even know _who _she was. In short, they had hit a dead end.

Then _he _came. That dazzling, beautiful man with the light brown hair and piercing eyes, Izumi Higa. A bishounen amongst bishounen if there ever was one.

Too bad he was the biggest jerk wad she had ever met.

Considering just how many people whose gonads had a meeting with her boot due to them being jerks consisted of, that was saying something.

Higa had practically demanded she come with him, and when she had refused he had two of his Sekirei beat up her Shiina! The prick! How dare he hurt a bishounen! How dare he hurt _her _bishounen! She should have kicked him the balls just for that!

In the end, she had had no choice but to go with the jerk.

Which had led to her situation now. That Higa prick had taken her to his corporate office building and locked her in one of the unused rooms, which in turn was being guarded by at least two Sekirei at all times. Even if she wanted to, there was no way she would be able to escape from the room.

Well, not unless she was willing to risk a seven story drop. While she wanted to escape, she wasn't willing to commit suicide to do it.

Yukari had no clue what was going on outside of this room. No one visited her except one of the Sekirei guarding her and that was only to give her food or take her to the restroom. They wouldn't talk at all, no matter how many questions she asked.

Worse still, she had yet to hear about how Shiina was doing. Was he ok? Were they hurting him? What was that Higa doing to him?

That particular thought had briefly incurred images that were much better left unheard, X-rated didn't even begin to cover the images invoked with that question.

Shaking her head and the decidingly naughty images her last few thoughts invoked, Yukari stood up and marched over to the door. Without pause or hesitation, she immediately began banging on the door with her fist.

"Hey! I need to go to the bathroom, so open up already!"

A pause.

Nothing.

"Hey! Are you people listening to me!? I need to use the bathroom!"

Yukari frowned when, after nearly two minutes of banging, no one came to the door. Normally it would only take a few seconds, if only because the noise was annoying them. It was the one thing she could take perverse pleasure in because she knew they wanted to hurt her, but couldn't due to their orders that she remain unharmed.

"OI! What the hell are you people doing out there! I said! Let! Me! OU – eep!"

The door to the room swung open fast, startling Yukari and causing her to stumble backwards where she proceeded to trip over her own feet and land on her butt.

"Owch!"

Yukari rubbed her now sore bum. That had really hurt. She wondered if those idiots had done that had purpose because she was annoying them. Maybe they would claim it was some kind of accident and they hadn't realized she was standing so close to the door. Bitches.

"What the hell was that about, you bitch!" Yukari's head shot up so she could give whichever Sekirei was in charge of guarding her today a fierce glare.

And suddenly found herself short of breath.

The person standing before her was not a Sekirei, but a man. No. Not a man. A man would imply imperfection. This man was perfect.

His golden blond hair shone and sparkled as it stuck up in a messy bed of spikes like some kind of rock star. Two jaw length bangs framed a face that seemed a perfect mix between rugged good looks and bishounen pretty boy status. He had a straight nose and thin lips. His strong jaw gave him his rugged looks while his face held a boyishness that seemed to define the word bishounen.

And then there were his whisker marks. Three lines running horizontally across each cheek. They were, in a word, the cutest things she had ever seen. Which was more than one word, but Yukari wasn't one for semantics. Those whiskers added a strange sense of adorableness to his face that made her want to squeal 'kawaii!' and nuzzle her cheeks against his.

His cerulean blue eyes were bright and vibrant. They seemed to hold a strange luminescence that Yukari couldn't help but think was otherworldly. Or maybe that was a reflection of the light. Either way, she had never seen a more incredible pair of eyes.

The rest of his body was nothing to scoff at either. She couldn't see much do to the clothing he was wearing; a pair of dark blue pants and a long black sleeve shirt with orange accents that hid much of his body. Still, there were a few things she could make out that had to be taken into consideration.

He was tall for one thing. Easily towering a good two or so heads over her. He was much taller than any Japanese man she had ever seen. Though that was probably because he wasn't Japanese. He didn't have the look, and that blond hair was natural, she could tell because it was blond all the way to the roots.

If she had to give him a nationality of any kind, she would say he was probably American. His lightly bronzed skin was just another key feature that led her towards this conclusion. He had that California tan that made it look like his skin had been kissed by a thousand suns yet he had never gotten a sunburn in his life.

Truly, this man was a god amongst men.

"You know, it's not nice to call the person here to rescue you a bitch."

Kami, even his voice sounded like pure sex.

Then she realized what he had just said.

"Urk!" Yukari flushed in embarrassment as her blunder was thrown in her face. Think fast! Say something quick, Yukari! You need to save face! "Ah, ah ha! I'm... I'm really sorry about that. I thought you were, well..."

"You thought I was one of those Sekirei who had been guarding you, right?"

"Ah, well, yes," Yukari rubbed the back of her head from where she was sitting, a sheepish grin crossing her face.

Speaking of, just where were those Sekirei anyways? Yukari couldn't help but wonder why they had not stopped this living sex god from entering her room.

Oh well, not like she cared. If they weren't going to stop him from entering, who was she to question that?

"Well, you don't need to worry about them," the handsome blond made a dismissive hand gesture. "They're currently fighting my Sekirei at the moment."

"Ah, so you're an Ashikabi?" asked Yukari curiously. She knew there were other Ashikabis out there. She had met quite a few. She had fought most of them, and kicked a large number of those she fought in the nuts. This was the first time she had ever had a civil conversation with one.

She did not count her 'conversation' with Higa as civil.

"Yes," the blond answered, somewhat distractedly. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here."

He held out his hand for her to take. Yukari stared at the hand like it was something foreign. Then a blush lit her face like somewhat had set off fireworks on it. Almost shyly, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her up. When they let go, the handsome blond pressed a hand to his ear and began speaking into what looked like some kind of communication device. Blue tooth, maybe?

"Matsu, I've secured Sahashi Yukari. Please inform Tsukiumi and Musubi that they are to retreat now, regardless of whether or not they've finished their battles."

Yukari blinked. Then narrowed her eyes.

"How do you know my name?"

"I have a profile on all Sekirei and their Ashikabis," the blond stated almost distractedly. He didn't even seem to realize what he was saying at the moment.

Yukari to blink again. Wow. That must come in handy. If she had a list of every Sekirei and Ashikabi in Shinto Teito she would have been able to find Kusano much... more... easily...?

Wait a minute.

"Hey!" Yukari grabbed the blond's attention. He looked back over her, and Yukari flushed under the intensity of his gaze, but quickly worked her courage back up. "You said... you said you have a list of every Sekirei and Ashikabi, right?"

The blond raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Then could you... I mean, do you think you could..." Dammit! What was wrong with her? Asking a question shouldn't be this hard! Damn those gorgeous blue eyes of his! "What I mean is, I was just wondering. You see, me and Shiina are looking for a Sekirei. Her name's Kusano, and she's Shiina's little sister."

"I already know that."

A pause.

What did he just say?

"You do?"

Naruto grinned at her, causing Yukari to flush once more. Trying to hide her reaction, she pressed her thighs and began to squirm a little. That smile, it should be illegal.

And was it just her, or was it getting unbearably hot in here?

"Of course, why else do you think I came here to rescue you?"

….

….

"Eh?"

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, this chapter is now done. I know it took a while, but I hope it was worth the wait.<strong>

**Anyways, before I forget, I wanted to be sure to inform you all to check out my blog: Thoughts and Wonderings of a Fanfiction writer. This is where all of my answers to your questions, thoughts on my stories, update information and other random shit that pops into my head will be. I update my blog once a day. I've already updated today, so my next update will be tomorrow. The link is on my profile.**

**Now, please be sure to leave a review on your way out, and thank you for flying Shinobi Airlines.**


	25. Triumphant Return Home?

**Chapter 25: Triumphant Return Home?**

"Grr!"

A low growl escaped Tsukiumi's lips as the battle between her and the three strumpets continued. This dishonorable form of combat had been going on for far too long in her opinion. It was no longer just about how these trollops were disrespecting the sacred Sekirei traditions of dueling anymore. At the moment, Tsukiumi could care less about the traditions or anything else involving Sekirei and combat.

Right now she was just pissed about how long it was taking for this fight to end.

The battle between her and those three Sekirei belonging to Higa had been going on for the better part of fifteen minutes now, and while Tsukiumi had yet to actually sustain any wounds (she did have a few cuts on her clothing though), she had yet to give more than maybe one or two to her foes. Those wounds she had given were only received by her enemies when she caught them off guard, which had gotten much harder to do as time wore on.

Every time Tsukiumi found herself in an advantageous position, that loathsome woman who called herself Kaie would use her whips to heard her out of her superior positioning and into one that would suit Oshino instead. It didn't help that the girl wearing the corset dress, Oriha, was using her psychic control over her chakram to keep up the pressure by having them constantly attack her from all sides.

Just like right now. Two of the four chakram were zooming towards her in a pincer maneuver.

Tsukiumi had found out early on in the battle that Oriha only seemed capable of controlling two chakram at any given time. Tsukiumi was sure she would have done so if she could, as it would have made things much harder for her, but so far the corset wearing woman had yet to use more than two. Yet even though the battle had gone on for a long time now, Oriha still had yet to use more than two of those chakram

She didn't know whether that was because the girl just didn't have the mental fortitude for such a thing, or if there was some other reason. Quite frankly, she didn't care beyond what it meant for her.

"Water Whip!"

With an exaggerated motion like a composer conducting at an orchestra, Tsukiumi raised her hands into the air above her head, then slashed them down quickly. As she did, two whips formed from water appeared on her middle and index finger, which were pressed together.

It was a technique she had just now picked up from watching Kaie use those whips of hers. Tsukiumi had decided that if the whore was going to use them to attack her, then she would use her own whips to attack them.

The water whips struck home, smacking into the chakram and sending them careening off course.

Tsukuimi would have smirked triumphantly and given some kind of speech on how they could never hope to defeat her and should give up now. However, as had been the case since this battle started, Tsukiumi did not have time to give any of her prepared speeches denoting the futility of her foes actions. The moment the chakram were out of the way, Oshino was on her again while Kaie was deftly sending several whips around the close range Sekirei in an effort to keep Tsukiumi from dodging the one closing the distance with her.

Hand to hand combat was not Tsukiumi's modus operandi. She was an elemental type, and her element was water. All of her attacks were long to mid range. She possessed no close range attacks to speak of.

That did not, however, mean she was useless when fighting up close. Tsukiumi might not be a fist fighter, but she was still a Sekirei, and a single digit to boot.

As Oshino came in and threw a straight forward jab, Tsukiumi jumped back and lashed out with a very basic kick.

It was clear from the moment their attacks were launched that Oshino was the better fighter. Her form was more fluid, her movements more sure. In comparison, Tsukiumi looked like a child trying to copy the awesome kung fu she saw after watching a Jacky Chan movie.

Despite the clear difference in their skills, the two attacks clashed, foot meeting fist, and negated each other. While Tsukiumi was not as skilled a fighter, she was still a single digit and therefore much stronger than Oshino.

Her attack having been negated, Oshino took a step back to try and reassess the situation before going in for another attack.

She wouldn't get the chance. Not this time. Tsukiumi planned on ending this farce of a battle now!

Acting with more speed than Oshino was capable of keeping up with on her best of days, Tsukiumi swiftly stepped into her guard. Out of instinct, the close combat fighter's fist launched itself forward with a punch aimed for the water user's face. It was blocked by a forearm.

A hand came up, a single finger extended and pointed at Oshino. At the very tip of the finger was a tiny ball of condensed water that grew larger by the second as streamers of liquid coalesced around it and began adding to it as Tsukiumi pulled all the water she could from the atmosphere.

Eyes widening, Oshino tried to pull away, to yank herself out of Tsukiumi's grasp so she could move back, but the blond woman had an iron clad grip on her forearm. All she could do now was stare in horror as the ball of water grew bigger.

"Water Celebration!"

The ball of water shot forward and smacked Oshino in the chest at point blank range.

While this particular attack was not Tsukiumi's most powerful, it was strong enough that her opponent was sent flying backwards at the same speed as someone who had just been hit by a truck going over sixty kilometers per hour.

Everyone followed the trajectory of Oshino's flight in shock. The fighting type Sekirei flew through the air, quickly reaching the wall several meters from where Tsukiumi was standing and smacking against it hard enough to leave cracks in the plaster. She hung there for a moment, before her body peeled off the wall and fell to the ground on her front with a dull thud.

On Oshino's back, the Sekirei crest that marked her as a claimed Sekirei who had been given their wings slowly vanished.

Tsukiumi blinked several times as she stared dumbly at the now unblemished skin of one of her opponent's backs. Or was that former opponent now? The thought that she had finally defeated one of her hated enemies was, well, surprising. While Tsukiumi had always been sure of her position as the strongest Sekirei in the game, this battle had been going on for so long and she had been unable to truly do any damage to her opponents that the thought of actually defeating one was shocking.

Of course, her surprise only lasted for a second, long enough for her to realize what happened and begin to properly gloat over it.

"Ha!" she laughed, arms crossing under her bust as she stood with her legs close together, her feet forming a slanted T. It was another one of her haughty poses; Matsu called it tsun tsun pose number thirty two. Just why she called it that when Tsukiumi did not have thirty two actual poses was unknown. "Now do you see the futility of this battle? Even if you have me outnumbered three to one, you cannot win."

Tsukiumi gave everyone a smile filled with gleaming teeth.

"For I am the strongest."

For a moment, no one said anything. Oriha and Kaie were staring between Oshino's now still form and Tsukiumi as she struck her arrogant pose. They looked like they didn't know whether to be annoyed at Tsukiumi's conceited words and horrible sentai pose, or angry that one of their own had just been beaten.

"Oooo~h!"

On the other hand, Musubi was looking quite excited. Standing next to the blinking Katsuragi, who looked like she was unsure of what happened, with her fists under her chin and stars in her eyes, the buxom fist fighter seemed to be getting fired up from seeing Tsukiumi beat one of her opponents.

"Tsukiumi-san has already beaten one of her opponents!"

There you go.

"I must do my best to defeat my opponent as well," after saying this, Musubi got back into the straight forward karate stance that she favored. Across from her, Katsuragi seemed to have realized their battle was about to continue as well and got into her own fighting stance.

The two female's stared at each other long and hard. It looked like they were sizing each other up. They weren't, Musubi wouldn't know how to size up an opponent if someone pulled down a poster containing the statistics of a persons strength and weakness as well as strategies to beat them, and Katsuragi just wasn't the type to put in so much effort to learn about an opponent. Still, it looked like they were sizing each other up.

DING!

The pinging sound brought everyone's attention to the elevator doors as it opened up. Several blinks ensued as Naruto walked out of the elevator with Yukari staring at his ass behind him while her fingers twitched intermittently, as if she wanted to reach out and grab the blond's ass cheeks.

In the silence that followed his arrival, Naruto spoke up.

"I've got who we came for you two. It's time to leave."

"Like hell we'll let you leave!" Kaie shouted, losing whatever cool she possessed. She raised her hands, the long whips in her possession trailing along the ground.

Seeing that the trollop was about to attack her husband, Tsukiumi made to unleash another Water Celebration at the woman. There was no way she was going to allow some whore under this Izumi Higa's sway to lay a finger on her husband!

She needn't have bothered.

Before she could even think of actually following through on her thoughts, Naruto smiled, his hands coming out of his pockets to reveal two small black balls that looked strangely powdery.

"You don't have a choice."

Smashing the balls against the ground, Naruto was engulfed in a cloud of black smoke that soon expanded to engulf much of the room.

"What the hell!?"

"What's going on here!? Why can't I see!?"

Tsukiumi's eyes darted around, trying to see past the black smoke that now surrounded her. Where was her husband? What was going on within this horrible smoke that pervaded her senses?

"Tsukiumi."

"Kya!"

With admirable quickness, Tsukiumi whirled around, her hand shooting up to point towards the source of the voice behind her as water formed into a tight ball at her fingertips.

"Water Celebration!"

The water shot forth...

And then broke apart as it impacted against Naruto's fist.

"That wasn't very nice," the blond spoke with a frown.

Tsukuimi's eyes widened.

"Husband?" she gasped, surprised, before her eyes narrowed in RIGHTEOUS ANGER. "Why did you sneak up on me like that!?"

"Because we're leaving," Naruto said simply. "I didn't want our enemies to realize that fact until after w've gone." Though it was probably too late now. If that shout hadn't alerted them that something was happening then nothing would.

"Leaving?" Tsukiumi blinked, then scowled. "But I still haven't finished my battle!"

"Doesn't matter," Naruto shook his head. Tsukiumi opened her mouth to retort (how dare he say continuing her fight didn't matter!), but was beaten to the punch. "It wasn't honorable one on one combat, so the fight will not matter to the Sekirei Plan you covet so much. Besides, our mission was to rescue Yukari, which we have done. It's time to go."

Tsukiumi worried her lower lip between her teeth, her desire to keep fighting and prove her strength warring with her need to heed her husband's words as a proper Japanese wife should.

In the end, her need to listen to her husband won out.

"Very well," Tsukiumi tossed her curtain of long blond hair over her shoulder before giving her husband a small glare. "But I expect this to be the last time I am pulled from a fight."

"I make no promises," Naruto said, "But hopefully this will be the last time.

Tsukiumi frowned at her husband's choice of words, but decided it was the best she was going to get at the moment. At Naruto's urging she ran ahead of him, moving towards the building under the impression that he would follow behind her.

It would explain why she never saw Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

**XoX**

"Where's Tsukiumi-san?" asked Musubi as she and Yukari stood next to Naruto while they waited for their last companion to get out of the building belonging to Higa. The buxom shrine maiden was looking back and forth across the walkway as if expecting to find their wayward friend by doing so. The three of them were hiding within a small alley as much as they could so as to not be discovered by any of Higa's Sekirei that may rush out to find them, while still being able to be seen so that Tsukiumi could find them when she exited the building. "I can't see her anywhere."

As Musubi searched for Tsuikiumi, one hand raised above her head to shade her eyes from the sun as she twisting her entire torso left and right in exaggerated movements, Yukari was staring at the girl's breasts as they swayed back and forth across her torso each time the shrine maiden moved.

"So big..." the young girl was actually drooling as she stared at Musubi's breasts. Her hands had come up in front of her and were making creepy squeezing motions. It was obvious where her mind was going.

"I think she's still inside," Naruto ignored the pervert drooling over Musubi as he answered his first Sekirei. Tsukiumi was, in fact, inside of the building. She was arguing with his clone, but since Yukari was here and they were out in public he did not want to actually make any mention of his powers.

Especially since Musubi was the Sekirei currently with him. Who knew what ships her loose lips would sink if he said anything to implicate his abilities.

As if the mere mention of her was enough to summon her to them, Tsukiumi burst forth from the door, smoke trailing off her body like black wil-o-whisps as she ran out. At the same time, the shadow clone Naruto had created to convince her to leave while he grabbed Musubi, who was much easier to convince thanks to her scatter brained mind, and hauled her off along with Yukari, was dispelled, granting him knowledge on the conversation it had shared with the water user.

"Ah! There she is!" Musubi began to wave excitedly as she hailed her friend down. "Tsukiumi-san! Tsukiumi-san! Over here!"

Naruto sighed at the girl's enthusiasm. A quick glance around showed they were beginning to attract a crowd, a large number of people were stopping to stare at them. Several were pointing at them while a good number were whispering and looking back at the smoke that was just now beginning to dissipated near the door.

There were also a good number of male's staring at Musubi's chest, which was bouncing and jiggling with the same kind of enthusiasm Musubi herself was giving as she jumped and waved towards Tsukiumi to get her attention.

Not that he could blame those men for the lustful stares. Musubi had an amazing rack.

It still pissed him off though. Damn, he was really beginning to get overprotective of his Sekirei.

Musubi's amazing bouncing breasts aside, it looked like his desire for this to be a completely covert mission was shot to hell. Then again, it had probably been doomed from the very moment the plan was hatched. These Sekirei knew nothing about stealth and subterfuge.

Maybe he should have asked Homura to be a part of this mission. A man currently going through the worst case of gender-bending Naruto had ever seen he may be, but at least he knew how to be discreet.

Tsukiumi noticed them rather easily, not like it was hard, and quickly made her way over to them.

"There you three are!?" she exclaimed. "Why did you not wait for... me...?" she blinked several times, her eyes locking onto Naruto's before widening. "Husband!"

"Husband?" Yukari blinked at the title this blond babe had given Naruto. Did this woman really just call this sexy piece of man meat husband? They couldn't really be married, could they?

She cast a worried look at the hunk who had saved her, he didn't look like he was at all surprised by the title the blond bombshell had given him, then looked back at the the blond woman.

Then she looked at Tsukuimi's chest. They were big. Not as big as Musubi's perhaps, but definitely bigger than hers.

Yukari looked down at her much smaller chest, before glancing at both Musubi and Tsukiumi's breasts one more time as the beginnings of despair began to creep in. How could she possible compete with these two?

"But I thought that ―" Tsukuimi jerked her head back towards the door, then looked at Naruto again. It was almost amusing to watch her try to figure out what was going on. Since Tsukiumi was the latest member of his flock and she had come in after all the initial craziness with his powers being revealed had happened, she did not know about his powers.

"Is something wrong, Tsukiumi?" asked Naruto, tilting his head to the side.

"But you were just ― and I saw you in ―"

Naruto mused that watching Tsukuimi as she tried to figure how he had come out ahead of her when she had raced outside before his clone was almost like watching a train wreck, except a lot funnier.

Ok, so maybe Naruto would have found a train wreck funny as well, but he was pretty sure he was the only person in the world who would be amused at something that would cause the death of countless people.

Tsuikumi was still trying to come to terms with what she was seeing. She was so sure that Naruto had been behind her. And yet here he was, standing in front of her and it was clear he had been waiting for her.

Tsundere protocols activated.

"Grr! How did you do that!?" she demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto. "I know for a fact that you were right behind me when I left that building. So how is it that you managed to get in front of me?"

Heedless of the growing anger in Tsukiumi, Yukari was having her own problems.

_'Oh god, what am I supposed to do now!'_ wailed Yukari, her despair only going noticed by Naruto, who took note of the look of horror on her face but didn't say anything.

Whatever this girl's problem was, it was her's to deal with. He had nothing against the girl, but that didn't mean he was just going to help some random stranger that he only rescued because she was Shiina's Ashikabi.

_'That babe called the hunk her husband! Are they really married? And what about this other chick?'_ She cast another glance over at Musubi, who seemed to be paying absolutely not attention to what was going on around her. She looked like she was off in her own little fantasy. _'Is she married to the hunk too? Is that even legal!?'_

Well, she supposed it could be given the circumstances. These two women were undoubtedly Sekirei. Not only had they been fighting several of that bishounen bastard's Sekirei when she and the hunky Naruto had gotten to the ground floor, they were also wearing cool looking cosplay outfits.

They could be nothing else but Sekirei with clothes like that.

Back to the point. This was not how such events were supposed to turn out. The super sexy hero, after rescuing the young damsel was supposed to take her to his place where they would spend the next several hours having hot, passionate post rescue sex. He wasn't supposed to already have a wife... or two! It said so in all of the Shoujo manga she had that involved these kinds of situations!

"I have no clue what you're talking about."

"What do you mean you have no clue what I'm talking about!?" Tsukiumi shouted, a vein pulsing on her forehead. "I know for a fact that you were behind me, but now you're here when I did not see you get ahead of me! How did you get out here before I did?"

"Naruto-sama's been out here with Musubi the whole time," the Shrine Maiden finally hopped into the conversation. She was completely oblivious to the anger Tsukiumi was exuding like a fire hydrant on full blast. "Naruto-sama was the one who grabbed Musubi's hand and brought her outside with him!"

"That's not possible!" Tsukiumi argued. "He was talking to me! And I did not see you anywhere near him at the time! There is no way what you say could be true!"

"Eh!?" Musubi looked almost depressed that Tsukuimi did not seem to believe her. Or maybe she was just in shock. "But it is true!"

"Liar!"

"Hey!" Musubi puffed out her cheeks in a manner that would have been most adorable on, say, Kusano. Not to say that it wasn't utterly cute, because it was, but it was something most people would expect to see on someone, well, younger. "Don't call Musubi a liar!"

"I just call them like I see them, concubine!"

"Concubine?" the argument halted as Musubi tilted her head to the side and blinked several times. She brought a finger up to her lips, her nose scrunching up cutely in thought. "Now where have I heard that word before? Is that like modesty?"

Even Naruto could not help but gape at the girl for her naivety. While the blond had not actually been working on teaching her what she would need to know to live in regular society, he would have thought she would have gotten some of this by now. Really, how hard could it be to understand what modesty was and why it was important?

"Or maybe it's like discretion. Mu~!" Musubi knocked on her own head with a fist and poked her tongue out between her lips. "Figuring all this stuff out is hard."

**XoX**

Walking down the empty street of the suburbs, Yukari found herself unsure of where to look; the combination of traditional Japanese and Modern houses, the two large pair of breasts that bounced with every step the blond and brunette bombshells took, or the hunky sex god who was walking alongside of them.

She was also tempted to glare at the blond woman, who currently had her arms wrapped around one of said hunky blond sex god's arm, but that desire was partially over ridden by the way the woman's breasts bounced as she walked.

Deciding to go with the safest route for now, her eyes quickly traveled around the street, surveying their surroundings.

The residential district they were walking through was very nice. The road and sidewalks were clean and free of debris, a large wooden fenced blocked off most of the houses, allowing the people living there some privacy. The houses themselves were also very nice, expensive too from the looks of them, though not in the same level as the bishounen bastard's ridiculously expensive looking mansion.

Was this were the hunk and his two Sekirei lived?

Looking back over at the two blonds and the brunette, Yukari found herself burning with curiosity.

"Um... excuse me?" Yukari said somewhat bashfully. It was completely outside of her usual character, which was often loud and brash to the point of being somewhat obnoxious. Not to mention perverted. However, it was very rare that she found herself in the presence of a sex god.

Thinking back on it, this was the first time she had ever found herself in the presence of a sex god. Even her own Sekirei, Shinna, and that bastard Higa had nothing on this perfect piece of male ass.

When the blond male of the trio turned to look at her, a single eyebrow raised, Yukari found herself flush under his gaze. It was beginning to get unbearably hot.

She put two fingers into the collar of her white shirt and pulled it loose, hoping that it would send some cool air down there to get rid of the heat that was pooling in her shirt.

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do for the other kind of heat she was feeling at the moment.

"Uh..." Yukari's mouth opened, but only a single monosyllabic noise came out. She would have cursed herself for acting like a damn idiot, but it was just so hard to concentrate on anything but those perfect blue eyes currently staring at her.

No. Wait. She could also focus on the perfect face those blue eyes were set into. If only she could see what was hidden underneath those clothes as well...

"Yes?" Naruto finally asked after an intermittent amount of silence in which the young, eighteen year old college student's face began to grow redder and redder. Was that blood coming out of her nose?

"Ack!"

Yukari jerked back as if scalded by his voice. Dammit! How could she allow herself to act so stupid in front of this hunk? Ugh, get a grip Yukari!

"Ah... I... I was just wondering," Yukari finally managed to stutter something out that didn't sound like it was caveman speak. "This place we're going to... is this where you live?"

"It is," Naruto said, still looking curious.

"Ah... I see," she looked back up at Naruto, then quickly looked away, her face red. "And... will Shiina be there as well?"

Naruto looked at her for a second longer before nodding.

"Yes. Before finally finding you I received a call from Matsu..." he noticed the confused look on Yukari's face and realized she didn't actually know who Matsu was. Seeking to correct this, he added, "Matsu is another one of my Sekirei."

"Oh, I see..." Yukari nodded. "She's another one of your..." she trailed off, her eyes widening as realization struck. "YOU HAVE ANOTHER SEKIREI!?"

"So loud," Tsukiumi scowled at Yukari as Naruto winced. His ears were particularly sensitive to noise. Damn chakra enhanced senses. "This is one of the reasons I never liked you monkey's very much. You're always too loud."

That's the pot calling the kettle black.

Yukari scowled at Tsukiumi, but quickly focused her attention back on Naruto.

"So, wait, just how many Sekirei do you have?"

"Six."

"...Six..."

Within the confines of her mind, Yukari conjured up an image of six, beautiful, busty Sekirei, each one even sexier than the last and every single one of them as bare as the day they were born. The poor girl's perverted brain conjured up images of those girls in positions that not even the X-rating would be able to show them in. Each image was more erotic than the last and all of them had caused Yukari's brain to become more and more fried as it moved further and further down the gutter.

"...Six..."

"Is she ok?" asked Musubi, looking at the girl whose eyes had glazed over with some concern. Naruto, too, looked over at the girl and just sighed when he saw blood begin leaking from her nose. It seemed he had finally met a female version of Jiraiya amongst humanity. She was going to get along splendidly with Matsu. "She looks kind of tired or something."

Tsukiumi took one look at the girl and huffed.

"Who cares if that monkey is tired or not. She's just some lowlife whose only saving grace is who her Sekirei is."

"That's not a very nice thing to say..." Musubi muttered.

"Hehehehehe... six..."

**XoX**

When the group of four finally arrived at Maison Izumo, it was to see Miya standing out front with a broom in her hands as she swept the front porch. Or at least, it _looked _like she was sweeping the porch. Considering she was not moving from her position and had already noticed there approach, almost as if she had been keeping an eye out for them, Naruto guessed that she had probably been waiting for them to arrive.

The purple haired beauty looked up as they approached, _almost _as if she had not known they were already coming, the pleasant and amiable smile she almost always wore in place.

"Welcome back," she said simply. Her eyes quickly flickered to Yukari, though no one amongst the group except for Naruto noticed. She looked back at him, her delicate left eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "I take it your trip was successful?"

That was Miya speak for 'did you accomplish what you said out to do?' without her sounding overly nosy. It was also a way for her to pretend like she didn't know what was really going on, even though Naruto knew she had recording devices in almost every room, including Matsu's.

Except for his. Naruto did not like having someone spying on him, something that annoyed Miya, probably because there was nothing she could do about it. There was no way the prim and proper landlady could ask him about the recording device that had been in his room unless she admitted to having placed it there in the first place.

Sometimes, having to keep up appearances was counterproductive to what you wanted. It was a lesson Miya was learning well.

Of course, even if Miya were willing to admit that she had planted those recording devices in his room Naruto still wouldn't allow them to remain there. As much as he respected Miya, he valued his privacy to much to let her do something so invasive.

"It was," Naruto smiled before gesturing to the black haired female with a hand. "Miya-chan, I'd like you to meet Sahashi Yukari."

At the mention of her, Yukari stopped taking long glances at the backside of Naruto and his girls and looked up at Miya. When she finally did get a glimpse of the youthful and gorgeous purple-haired landlady, the younger girl's eyes widened.

By the gods! Not another one! Just how many beautiful Sekirei did this guy have?

"Hello," Miya gave Yukari a respectful bow. "My name is Asama Miya. I am the proprietor and land lady of Maison Izumo."

"Land lady?" Yukari looked at Miya, blinking dumbly for several seconds as her brain processed the term and put it into a format that was understandable. "So then, you're not the hun ― I mean, Naruto's Sekirei?"

Only Miya and Naruto managed to catch the girl's slip up. Neither of them decided to mention it, however, as they did not want to see what kind of chaos might ensue... at least for the moment. There was no telling what Tsukiumi would do if she found out that Yukari was at least physically attracted to her Ashikabi. Or her husband, as she so often called Naruto.

"Oh heavens no!"

Miya raised her arm to cover the smile on her face as she giggled very demurely. It was all very ladylike. Just what one would expect from a woman like Miya.

"Has he been telling you that?" Her gaze flickered over to Naruto, her eyes crinkling in a way that informed everyone her smile had widened. "Should I be concerned about my chastity, Naruto-kun? I hope you haven't made it your new mission to seduce me so that you can use me to satisfy your beastly urges."

"B-Beastly urges!?" The words came from both Yukari and Tsukiumi, though for completely different reasons.

"Eh heheheheheh..."

Yukari's mind went down the gutter very quickly and instantly began conjuring up fantastical images, none of which were below an X-rating, featuring Miya and Naruto having an illicit love affair. As her mind grew further and further down the gutter, blood began trickling out of her nose as her hands made strange squeezing motions.

On the other end of the spectrum was Tsukiumi who, judging from the intense blush on her face and the way her mouth had slackened and her eyes had widened, was clearly on the verge of going into shock. The idea of her husband seducing Miya and using her to satisfy his urges had clearly damaged her fragile mind.

Musubi just tilted her head and raised a single finger to her lip, a confused look on her face.

"Great," Naruto sighed as he stared at Yukari, who was giggling like Jiraiya on his most perverted days and Tsukiumi as she looked between him and Miya, an accusing finger pointed in his direction. "I think you broke them."

"Oh my, did I really?" Miya smiled that 'cat that got the canary' smile. It was one that only ever showed up on the kind and endearing woman when she had successfully flustered someone with her words. In other words, when she managed to play a prank using mind games instead of physical means.

"That ― how ― what?"

"Eheheheheh... so naughty..."

Naruto looked at the two broken girls, then turned his gaze on Miya, then back to Yukari and Tsukiumi. He raised a single eyebrow as if to say 'are you really asking that?' to which Miya responded with a giggle.

Standing by his side, the only Sekirei not broken decided to voice her obvious confusion.

"What are beastly urges?" Naruto's eye twitched. Must not face palm, must not face palm. "That doesn't sound anything like modesty or discretion. Is it something that tastes good?"

Amidst Miya's giggling laughter, Naruto face palmed.

**XoX**

Naruto's eye was twitching as Miya led him and the three girls with him into the living-slash-dining room. The reason it was twitching might have had something to do with the satisfied smile on Miya's face. In fact, he would say that was a very good reason for his annoyance...

But mostly it was because of how possessively Tsukiumi was clinging to him.

After getting out of her initial shock, she had clung to Naruto's arm like some kind of limpet, almost reminding him of a bigger, bustier version of Kusano (he just thanked the gods of ramen that she did not have the tiny titans sharp teeth or propensity for biting). She had then told Miya that she would not allow the woman to steal her husband.

Tsukiumi should have stopped there, but the water user being who she was had to continue with her tirade even when it became clear she was just digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole.

Which was proven with her next statement.

After telling the most powerful Sekirei in existence that Tsukiumi would not stand for her 'husband stealing ways' she had then proceeded to call Miya a tramp...

That had been a mistake.

Tsukuimi along with Musubi and Yukari had then been subjected to the hanya mask from hell. This particular mask had been rather gruesome. It had been bleeding out the eyes and mouth, and strange hissing sounds had been exuding from it. The snake coming out of it's mouth like some kind of eldritch horror creature had only been the icing on the cake.

Needless to say, Tsukiumi had been rather terrified. Since then, she had been clinging to his arm, her entire body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Strangely enough, she somehow still found the courage to glare at Miya.

Must be a tsundere thing.

Of course, the other reason why he was so annoyed could have been due to who was clinging onto his other side.

Much like her blond counterpart, Musubi was attached to his arm. It would have been nice as his arm was being pressed in between the valley of her very large breasts, but all that enjoyment was overruled by the fact that she had a vice grip on his arm. Not even chakra reinforcement seemed to be capable of matching the strength of a woman when she was utterly petrified.

And then there was Yukari...

Naruto glanced over the eighteen year old Ashikabi. Yukari was hidden behind Musubi, where she had secreted herself after Miya had unveiled her hanya mask. She had been there ever since.

This would not have bothered him very much in most circumstance, but that was before the girl had decided to start blatantly groping his Sekirei's breasts. Even now Yukari had her hands full of the large globes Musubi called boobs, and she was squeezing them intermittently every few seconds. It was getting annoying.

Even more annoying was the fact that Musubi did not even seem to notice.

And just why was Miya letting Yukari continue her boob squeezing anyways? Shouldn't she have gotten the hanya treatment by now?

Unless of course Miya was letting this happen to annoy him. Which he could actually see her doing.

As they entered the room that served as both living and dining room, Naruto took a quick glance at the occupants there.

Homura was leaning against the wall several feet away, arms crossed under his breasts... which was really awkward to think about but whatever. While he was an interesting character to note, he wasn't the person who got his attention.

Akitsu was also in the room. She had been sitting in seiza near the table, but as soon as Naruto entered she had moved, standing up and walking over to him so she could stand by his side.

"Good work, Akitsu," Naruto said, speaking in regards to her accomplishing her task of getting Shiina to Maison Izumo without seriously injuring him. The last thing he had wanted was for the number one hundred and seven to meet Kusano looking like someone had just beaten the crap out of him.

"Ah..." a pause. Akitsu's cheeks became twin beacons of pink. "Thank you, Ashikabi-sama.

Naruto nodded at her words as he turned his gaze back outside to where both Kusano and Shiina were sitting out on the veranda bawling their eyes out as they held each other. It was actually pretty sweet, and kind of annoying. Naruto had never been all that good when dealing with crying children, and he disliked it when they were so loud.

Mostly he was annoyed at Shiina, who he felt was being a lot louder than Kusano, but that could have just been because he wasn't Naruto's Sekirei.

There was another occupant in this room, however, one he had only seen before once, but knew who she was due to the profile's he'd had Matsu create.

Sekirei number zero three, Kazehana, was sitting with her back against the wall and a bottle of sake in her hand. While one of her legs was straightened and laying flat against the floor, the other had been positioned to form a triangle with her foot planted on the tatami mats. Because of that, Naruto had a clear view of her black thong panties.

He had to admit, it was a very nice view. The way the small strip of black fabric stretched across her mound and showed her outer lips was incredibly arousing. Even though this woman was not his Sekirei, he couldn't help but appreciate the sight.

"Hmm?"

Said Sekirei finally looked up from her sake bottle as Naruto walked in with the others. Her eyes locked onto Naruto, who met her gaze with his own. After a second or two of staring, the clearly slightly sloshed Sekirei stood up.

She made her way over to Naruto with surprising grace for a woman who was clearly drunk, stopping in front of the whiskered blond and gazing at him curiously.

Tsukuimi did not like how close Kazehana was to her husband and straightened up as she tightened her grip on Naruto's arm and glared at the number zero three.

"Who are you? And why are you standing so close to my husband?" she demanded in the same imperious voice she always used. When Kazehana did not answer her and instead placed a hand under Naruto's chin and tilted it so she could look at him more clearly, a vein began pulsing on the tsundere water user's forehead. "Are you listening me!? I said get away from my husband!"

"Be quiet Miss-panty-flasher," Kazehana said almost absently. Her tone was very husky, definitely the kind of voice one would expect from such a mature looking woman. "Can't you see I'm busy at the moment."

She tilted Naruto's head up to observe his face from a different angle. Naruto wondered about what this woman was looking for. He also wanted to know why he wasn't doing anything to stop her. Usually, he would have not let someone he didn't know touch him like this, unless he was seducing them. For some reason though, he didn't mind Kazehana using her hands to move his head this way and that as she studied him with a curious gaze.

It must have been because he had a clear view down her shirt. Those tits she was sporting were quite clearly Tsunade sized. It had been a very long time since he had seen a pair of breasts that big. Not even Musubi had breasts that big.

"Hmm... how interesting..." the woman murmured as she stared at the blond, her gaze narrowing.

"P-P-Panty-flasher!?" Tsukiumi shrieked in outrage. "Ho-How dare you! Insolent! To call me a name that only that damn Homura ever called me!"

Still leaning against the wall, Homura coughed into his hand several times.

"Well," he said to Tsukiumi. "You've got to admit, with that dress you do flash your panties a lot."

"I don't need to hear it from someone like you!" Tsukiumi bared her teeth at the fire user. Naruto wondered when she would realize that the person she was arguing with was Homura. For some reason, she had yet to make the connection, which was startling since Miya had actually called him Homura at least once in her presence. Granted, Tsukiumi had not been listening at the time, but still...

"Someone like me," Homura muttered angrily. "Just what is that supposed to mean!?"

"It means exactly what I said!" Tsukiumi retorted hotly. By now the two were glaring at each other and it looked like sparks might start flying from there eyes. "Someone like you who doesn't even wear a bra has no right to question my choice in clothes!"

"Bra?"

It was at this point that Homura looked down at his chest once to see that, yes, Tsukiumi was right. He was not wearing a bra.

Naruto watched in amusement as Homura's face began to turn red. His face was so red it looked like the fire that the Sekirei was so well known for using had built up underneath his skin. This was soon followed by steam actually beginning to pour out of his ears, a possible reaction that only he could do because he was the Sekirei of fire perhaps?

"Kya!"

The squeal that emitted from Homura was surprisingly feminine. Or maybe not so surprisingly given that he was turning into a woman. And just how long was that process supposed to last before he fully transformed anyways?

Homura cast Tsukiumi a glare so intense that if looks could burn, Tsukiumi would have been turned to ash. Of course, given who this was there was a very real possibility that looks could burn, which begged the question of why Tsukiumi wasn't already a pile of ash. Homura must have the forgiveness of a Saint.

"You're not supposed to look!" he hissed in anger. His words, however, did not effect Tsukiumi beyond making her narrow her own eyes at him.

"And you are not supposed to look at me," she huffed, crossing her arms under her bust and adopting one of her tsundere poses. "Now you understand how I feel!"

"Grr!"

The glares between the two intensified. It looked like they might come to fisticuffs at any moment.

"Now, now," Miya smiled amiably at the pair, her eyes crinkling in an almost pleasant manner. Almost pleasant because the dark aura building up behind her was anything but pleasant.

Homura and Tsukiumi both stiffened in horror as dark purple miasma leaked from Miya's body, looking almost like the souls of damned as they rose from the River of Styx in the Underworld while trying to claw their way out of their agony and suffering. They were incredibly thankful that the hanya mask had yet to make an appearance, but everyone had no doubts that if the two Sekirei kept fighting, the terrible abomination that the beautiful purple haired landlady could conjure on a whim would make it's appearance.

"I believe both of you know my rules," Miya stated, her smile looking as enchanting as it was terrifying. "Violence is forbidden within Maison Izumo."

"Ah... ha... ha..." Homura gulped, sweat trickling down his brow as he tried to edge away from Miya. It was too bad the wall he had been leaning against was blocking his path and making him incapable of doing so. "Sorry, Miya. It won't happen again."

"What she said," Tsukiumi mumbled from where she hid behind Naruto. It was a testament to how frightened Homura was that he did not say anything about Tsukiumi called him a female.

Likewise, both Musubi and Yukari were hidden behind the two blond's, clutching each other as they shivered in fright.

"Oh man, this landlady is really scary," Yukari said as she held herself to Musubi, taking the opportunity she had been given to rub the girl's impressive assets against her less impressive ones. Those damn things made her feel so inadequate as a woman, yet at the same time she just couldn't help but be drawn to them.

"Uh huh," Musubi nodded her head, not even noticing the way Yukari was basically molesting her. Or if she did, she wasn't saying anything. "Land Lady-sama is really strong."

"That's not what I was talking about..."

"You're scary as always, Miya," Kazehana chimed in. Aside from Naruto, who was not affected by the woman's presence at all, the number zero three seemed to be the least affected. It would make sense as she was on the original Disciplinary Squad with Miya back when the Sekirei were in danger of being captured by foreign governments who wanted to use them to create super soldiers.

"Kazehana," Miya sighed as she watched her old teammate take a swig out of her sake bottle. "What have I told you about drinking in Maison Izumo?"

"Eh? I kinda forgot," Kazehana said, smiling as she took another long drink. "It's been a while since I've been here."

Miya just sighed. Naruto had the feeling this was something she was used to seeing from he former squad mate. Not surprising really, according to his files, Kazehana had always been a heavy alcoholic.

It was ironic really. Kazehana reminded him of a black haired version of Tsunade, right down to her horrible drinking problem and ridiculously large chest. The only thing she was missing was the gambling addiction, but it would not surprise him in the least to find out that she had one.

"ONII-CHAN!"

Just then Kusano rushed in through the open doorway that led out onto the veranda. It seemed that all of the noise had finally alerted her to the fact that her onii-chan was back.

Naruto quickly knelt down just before Kusano could smash herself into his legs and scooped the tiny girl into his arms.

"Hello, Ku-chan," he said softly. "Have you been a good girl?"

"Um! Ku-chan's been a good girl," was the reply he got from the tiny terror with control over plants.

Not long after he found himself holding the girl, a strangely warm feeling encompassed him. It was a strange but not unpleasant sensation, one he had been growing used to when in physical contact with his Sekirei.

They were also very familiar. These sensations he was feeling were the metaphysical manifestation of his Sekirei's feelings for him through the bond, or so he believed. While he could always feel them to some extent, even when doing everything he can to block them out, the feelings he received when in direct contact with them were magnified so much that it almost felt like he was being physically embraced by their feelings and emotions through the bond. It was a very unusual but pleasant feeling, and was actually the reason his sleep during the night was so untroubled these days.

"Onii-chan, Ku-chan, Ku-chan missed onii-chan so much."

Holding the tiny little blond with one arm underneath her knees so that she could sit on his forearm, Naruto placed one hand on Kusano's head and began to carefully stroke her hair. It felt a little awkward at first. Even with the amount of time that had passed since he had been living in Maison Izumo this was still not something he was used to.

How long had it been before winging Kusano since he had held a child in his arms? It's been so long that he had almost forgotten what it felt like.

_'Daddy, daddy! Look at what I can do! Isn't it pretty?'_

A grimace encompassed Naruto's face as he was bombarded with images of things he had experienced in the past. Of a precocious little girl with blond hair and green eyes and almost invisible whisker marks on her cheeks. Like video reel being played behind his eyes, Naruto remembered what had happened over fourteen hundred years ago. The straw that broke the camels back when it came to Naruto's belief that humans could understand each other.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?" Naruto looked up to see Musubi standing in front of him, a concerned look on her face. In fact, every seemed to look somewhat concerned. Tsukiumi wasn't even yelling at Musubi to get away from him, which went to tell Naruto how worried she was. And Miya once again had both eyes open as she studied him, while Kusano was clutching him tightly as if to tell him everything was ok. Even Homura looked like he wanted to walk over to him to comfort him and was only just able to hold himself back.

Even Kazehana was staring at him, though hers was more a look of idle curiosity than concern.

"What's up?" asked Naruto, blinking as he saw the surprisingly mature look on Musubi's face. It was so not Musubi that he actually had to stare at her for several seconds to make sure it was really her.

"Are you ok?" she asked, her hands reaching up to hold his face. Naruto was very pleased that he did not flinch away from the sudden touch. "You felt... really sad for a moment there."

Naruto was only surprised by her words for a moment. Of course they would have felt that. They were his Sekirei. The bond between them was a two-way street. It was so easy to forget that when he was so busy dealing with his own side of the bond.

Closing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath.

"I'm fine," he said once his mind was sufficiently calm. It was easier now to regain composure than it had been recently. He must be getting used to all the craziness that permeated his life now.

Naruto wasn't sure that was a good thing.

Opening his eyes once more, Naruto stared into Musubi's naïve yet strangely mature brown eyes. His hands reached up and grabbed hers, pulling them off his cheeks so he could bring each one to his lips.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. Musubi smiled at him. Once more Naruto was struck by how un-Musubi that smile was. It was almost like there was someone else inhabiting his Sekirei's body.

"You're welcome."

The moment shared between the two was eventually ruined when Tsukiumi growled at them. Or, to be more specific, when she growled at Musubi.

"What do you think you are doing, concubine!?"

"Concubine?" Musubi blinked.

"Don't you know that it's improper for someone of your position to be so close to someone's husband when their true wife is in their presence!?"

"Hey!" Musubi placed her fists on her hips and puffed up her cheeks as she glared at Tsukiumi as angrily as she could. She did not look very angry at all. It probably had something to do with her being so adorable. "I'm a proper wife too, you know!"

"You don't even know what a proper wife is!"

"So what? Just because I don't know what a proper wife is doesn't mean I'm not a proper wife!"

"Of course it does! How could you be a proper wife if you don't know what it is!"

"And there they go again," Naruto sighed as the two began their argument over who the 'proper wife' was between them. He looked over at Miya. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

"So long as things do not get violent, I see no reason to stop them," Miya raised a hand to her face to hide her smile behind the sleeve of her kimono as she giggled. "Besides, those two are so lively they make this quaint little boarding house entertaining."

"Lively, that's one way of putting it," at the sound of her voice, those who were not involved in the 'battle of the wives' looked over at Uzume as she entered the room with Chiho leaning against her. While the frail looking girl still could not walk on her own, she was getting stronger each day. "Hey, bro. I see your mission was successful."

"Was there ever any doubt?" asked Naruto. Uzume grinned as she shook her head, then looked over at Yukari, who had gone over to Shiina who was now fussing over her and making the girl flush red.

"Course not," she said, giving him an appraising smile. "After all, if you could rescue my Chiho from that jerk, then there are no doubts you would be able to rescue some other Sekirei's Ashikabi."

"U-Uzume-chan," Chiho flushed under her Sekirei's heated gaze, her cheeks turning into bright pinpoints of light that could have lit up the night.

"Oh, almost forgot!" Uzume quickly turned her attention back to Naruto, her hand going into her back pocket. A second later, a small orange book was being thrust into his face. "Could you sign this for me please?"

Blinking several times, Naruto saw that the book Uzume had thrust into his face was actually one of the books he had written; Icha Icha Schooldays, an erotic novel about a young college student who finds himself caught up in a life of mystery and intrigue after joining an occult club that focuses on sex rituals. It was a story that was loosely based on his time posing as a college student in England back when he went under the name Naruto Namikaze. That was the newest of the Icha Icha series currently out on the market. He had only published it four months before coming to Japan.

"Uh... sure," Naruto replied. Uzume shoved the book in his hand and somehow magically produced a pen. No, wait, she had hid it between her cleavage. Never mind. "Didn't know you were into these kinds of books."

"Are you kidding me!" Uzume cried out in shock. "The Icha Icha series is the best! Do you know how many ideas I've gotten from those books that I plan on doing with my Chiho when she's all better?" They both studiously ignored the cry of 'Uzume-chan!' coming from said Ashikabi. It was such a typical response from the girl that by now it had pretty much become background noise whenever Uzume and Chiho were together. "I really want to do the scene from chapter five."

"Isn't that the threesome scene?" asked Naruto, tilting his head as he tried to remember which scene she was talking about. It was so hard to remember these days since all his books tended to blend together now. "The one where Kline is abducted by Lucrecia and Argo and used in a sex ritual meant to release a Succubus that had been sealed in the University's basement?"

"Ah!" That was Chiho gasping as her face burned red.

"Oh my!" And that came from Miya, who pressed her hands to her cheek to try and hide the blush staining her cheeks. "My house really is turning into a den of debauchery. What would my dear husband think if he could see what has become of his house?"

"Hate to break it to you, Miya, but if Uzume has been reading these books long enough that she's actually a fan, then Maison Izumo has been a house of debauchery for a while now," Naruto informed the youthful landlady, chuckling as he watched the woman blink when she realized that he was right.

"Oh? Is that so..." Miya looked over at Uzume, who suddenly looked liked a dear staring down a shotgun. "Ufufufu, maybe I should have a little chat with Uzume-san about what is and isn't appropriate in Maison Izumo."

"Urk."

"Now, now," Naruto decided to save the poor girl... this time. "You only said explicit acts are forbidden, not books, and it's not like the book is harming anyone. So long as Uzume doesn't let someone under age read there should be no problems." Meaning so long as she kept it away from Kusano everything would be fine.

…

Maybe she should keep it away from Musubi as well.

Absently, Naruto drew the books away from Kusano, who had tried grabbing it while he was signing it. The girl pouted at him, a strange 'giiiii!' sound issuing forth from her mouth. Naruto gave her a consoling pat on the head that did not really seem to help the little girl's disposition.

"I suppose I could let her off this time..." Miya frowned and looked as if she was thinking really hard about whether or not she should really let Uzume off. She was probably doing it so the girl in question would sweat a little. And it was working. "... though if she brings it out of her room again, I may have to punish her."

"Ack! I'll be good, Miya! I promise!" Uzume waved her one free arm frantically in front of her face in a warding gesture. She did not want to be subject to the hanya again! "I swear that book won't leave my room again!"

"Very well then," Miya smiled and once again all seemed right with the world. "Please be sure to put it back upstairs where no children can find it."

"E-eh heh, sure," Uzume quickly grabbed her now signed Icha Icha book, lifted Chiho with her other arm, which caused said girl to squeak, and high tailed it out of the room.

"You know, that wasn't very nice, Miya."

"Was it?" Miya placed both hands on her cheeks and adopted a look of mock innocence and compassion. "Oh dear, maybe I should go apologize."

Naruto snorted, but didn't say anything.

"And I am telling you, you cannot be a proper wife!"

"Can to!"

"Cannot!"

"Can to!"

"CANNOT!"

"CAN TO!"

Naruto and Miya both blinked. Almost simultaneously, their heads turned to look at Tsukiumi and Musubi. Throughout the entire conversation that had taken place, the two had continued their argument and were now nearly nose to nose as sparks flew between them. Naruto didn't think the two would come to blows, but maybe it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Miya?" Naruto looked at his companion of the moment who turned her eyes on him. "You want to get this?"

"I suppose I should, shouldn't I?" Miya sighed heavily, as if she was about to suffer under some great burden.

Then she smiled, and a dark aura exuded from her body as she began walking over to Tsukiumi and Musubi.

"I believe I have told you two this before..."

Naruto sighed as Miya began to properly chastise the two Sekirei, who were now clinging to each other in fear as the dark miasma surrounding the purple-haired landlady's body began to take the shape of a hanya mask. Miya really did enjoy frightening people with that thing far too much.

"Ah, excuse me."

The voice that reached his ears was very soft spoken and almost unfailingly polite. It was also an unfamiliar voice, one he had not heard before.

Turning his head, Naruto found the Sekirei number one hundred and seven, Shiina, standing before him. It was the first time Naruto had gotten a really good look at the boy aside from his profile. Shiina was a very androgynous looking boy, he could probably pass as a girl just as easily as he could pass for a boy.

His clothing was normal, for the most part. He was wearing a long sleeve white colored shirt with black accents and khaki shorts. Unfortunately, that was where the normality ended. Moving over his shoulders were two black straps that crisscrossed behind his back, before moving around to his front where the pair of black straps were attached to what looked like a small black skirt with slits on either side.

As Naruto studied the boy intently, Shiina flushed a bit and shrank into himself, a sure sign of his insecurity. Regardless of this, he continued speaking.

"I just... I wanted to thank you for rescuing Yukari-Sama from Higa," the young boy was saying, right before he bent at the waist in a full bow. "Without you, Yukari would still be in that mans hands and I would be doing his dirty work. Thank you for very much!"

"It's fine," Naruto mumbled, turning his head to the side. "It's... not a big deal or anything. And I didn't do it for you." Shiina looked up at him, blinking. "I did it for Kusano. You're important to her, she said you were like her brother." Naruto scratched the back of his neck with his free hand while Kusano buried her face in his shoulder, flushing with happiness. It almost made it hard for him to concentrate, feeling such intense joy singing across the bond was incredibly distracting. "I wasn't about to let that guy use someone so important to Ku-chan."

"I see," Shiina's smile, surprisingly, became incredibly warm as he looked between the two blonds. "Ku-chan really found a good Ashikabi. Thank you very much for looking after her. I... I was so worried when I heard she had escaped from the labs." The number one hundred and seven held a hand to his chest. "But now that I've seen you, I know Kusano is in good hands and can rest easy."

"Ah..." Naruto shifted a little, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. "It's... you don't have to make a big deal out of it or anything..."

"Ufufufu..."

Naruto's eye twitched as Miya walked over to them with the grace only someone of her stature could pull off. Behind her, Musubi and Tsukiumi were still clinging to each other and looking pale as ghosts while Homura shook his head at the duo, a bit of sweat trickling down his face as well.

"My, it seems Naruto-kun has a difficult time accepting praise... ufufufufu."

"Shush you," Naruto mumbled, his cheeks burning a bit. Miya giggled a little more, the sleeves of her kimono covering her mouth in a gesture of elegant poise. Naruto grumbled a bit more. He didn't see what was so funny.

Just then, the sound of thumping came from the hallway. Naruto, Miya, Yukari and Shiina all turned to see Matsu opening the Shoji screen door as quickly as possible without breaking it. Miya looked set to scold the red head for her lack of decorum when Matsu began speaking with a haste she only had when something was wrong.

"You're going to want to turn on the news and see this."

It seemed Naruto would not be getting a break any time soon.

**XoX**

"Ladies and gentlemen of Shinto Teito," the words came from the man on the television screen that everyone in the household was surrounding. Said man was none of then the white haired, cape wearing figurehead of MBI. As always, the man's eyes were completely obscured by his glasses. "This is Hiroto Minaka, President and CEO of MBI speaking."

Naruto frowned as he looked at the people around him, those who would be affected the most by whatever this man had to say. Musubi and Tsukiumi had managed claim a seat on either side of him, and both were holding onto one of his arms as they paid close attention to the words of Minaka.

Well, Tsukiumi was paying attention at any rate. Musubi _looked _like she was paying attention, but Naruto was not so sure she actually was. And if she did, he doubted she would understand anything that was said.

Plopped down on his lap as she stared at the screen with unusual intensity as she made more strange noises was none other than Kusano. Even if she was paying attention, Naruto doubted the tiny girl would understand the significance of whatever was said here.

Sitting at his feet as she leaned against his leg, Akitsu was paying close attention to every word being said on the television. Like always, her face was blank. There was no telling what she was thinking.

Homura and Kazehana were off to the side, one sitting against the wall as she drank sake and looked at the television screen with an expression Naruto would expect to see on a jilted lover. Meanwhile, the other had his hands clenched into fists as he glared at the man on the television screen like he was trying to make the man burn by looking through it.

Miya was also there, standing in the background stock still as she stared at the screen with a look few people could ever possess. Right next to her was Matsu, who had been the one to inform them that Minaka was making an announcement.

The only other two people in the room were Shiina and Yukari, both were looking at the television, though with different expressions. Uzume and Chiho were not there. Naruto assumed they were sleeping.

"I am here to announce that MBI has seized the capital." The blond turned his attention back to the screen as Hiroto Minaka began to speak again. "Today the entire city has fallen under MBI's jurisdiction."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"What are you trying to pull Minaka?"

Minaka spread his arms out in an encompassing gesture, as if he were some grand orator about to unveil the greatest secret of the Universe.

Or a megalomaniac about to inform everyone of his plans for world domination.

"With MBI at the helm, we shall usher in a new age of the gods that begins here!"

* * *

><p><strong>Alright. Finally finished. This was more of a transition chapter than anything else. Still, I hope it was an enjoyable read.<strong>


	26. Assigned Spaces

**Chapter 26: Assigned Spaces**

* * *

><p>"This is an outrage!"<p>

Izumi Higa was not very happy. Not at all.

Everything had been going so perfectly for him in the beginning. After he had become a part of the Sekirei Plan, he had begun using his vast wealth to acquire both knowledge and power. It was his intention to use the Sekirei Plan to increase the power, wealth and reputation of his pharmaceutical company above that of MBI.

He found great irony in the fact that it was Minaka's own little game that would elevate the status of his company above the one created by none other than Minaka himself. Truly, there would be nothing sweeter when he won this Sekirei Plan and stole all of the technology used by Minaka to put MBI on the map.

It had always bothered him how MBI had just come onto the medical scene less than twenty years ago and managed to become the top company in the world. Their new technology had put them on the map, allowing them to outpace Higa's own company, which at the time had been in the hands of his father. In less than a year, MBI had become the world's largest and most powerful company, and Izumi Pharmaceuticals was more or less left in the dust.

Truly, that man was a fool for starting this Sekirei Plan for his own entertainment. It was clear Minaka had lost his what was left of his mind. This game of his was not only a gross waste of money but also time.

Well, as they say, one man's lunacy was another man's gain, or something like that. He would get as much information as he could on this Sekirei Plan and amass as many Sekirei for himself as he could. Those he could not wing because they had already gained their wings, he would acquire the allegiance of through bribery and blackmail.

He had managed to gather a sizable task force of Sekirei under his direct command and an even more sizable task force of Sekirei and Ashikabi. Everything had been going according to plan.

At least it had.

Until _he _had appeared. Uzumaki Naruto. The man who ruined almost all of his most recent plans. Not only had he gotten the number ten's Ashikabi out from under his nose, he had now managed to steal the Lead Adjustor's daughter in the same manner. Worse still, it had happened in this very building while he and his Sekirei were still there!

How had that man even managed to infiltrate this place? His security had been top notch. The most advanced and powerful that money could buy. Yet it had all amounted to nothing. Naruto had managed to sneak in, avoiding both his security system and his Sekirei that had been guarding Yukari and leave right out the front door.

It was truly vexing.

"You let them escape! You let them escape with one of my most valuable pieces and you didn't even chase after them!"

"We tried, Higa-sama," one of his Sekirei had the gall to defend herself. He couldn't remember her name. Oriho? Maybe. It wasn't like her name mattered. She was just another pawn to be used and tossed aside when she was no longer valuable. "But by the time we managed to get outside they were already gone."

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" Oriha flinched. Good. She should feel ashamed over her failure. "Had you not all gone to confront those two Sekirei in the lobby, none of this would have happened."

"But one of them was a single ―"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Higa ignored the way his Sekirei flinched at his words and ran a hand through his hair. He was beginning to lose his composure. Clearly, this Uzumaki Naruto was becoming a larger problem than he was worth. That would not do at all.

"All of you leave," he gestured to his Sekirei. They all looked unsurely at each other for a moment, but in the end they left. They knew their place. What they had with Higa was nothing more than a business agreement, at least that's what he told them.

When they had all disappeared, the only people left in the room was his aid, Kakizaki, Koucho, and himself.

"This Naruto character is becoming a problem," Kakizaki stated the obvious as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. "We will need to take care of him soon."

"I know," Higa leaned back in his chair and thought about the problem for a moment. Really, the solution was simple, but he did not want to waste so many resources on a single Ashikabi.

Still, it wasn't like he had much choice.

"I want you to put an alert to all of our Ashikabi that they have withstanding orders to defeat Uzumaki Naruto and his Sekirei. They are to use any means necessary including the killing of Uzumaki himself."

"Minaka is not going to be pleased about that," Kakizaki commented.

"Minaka is a fool and his opinions do not matter," Higa said irritably. "I want Uzumaki out of this game for good."

"Very well."

Higa closed his eyes and sighed as he leaned back in his chair. The Sekirei Plan was starting to become nothing more than a headache for him. It had been ever since Naruto had come into the picture and he had tried to acquire his allegiance.

Hopefully, those under his command could deal with him, but if not, they should at least weaken him to the point where he not be a problem anymore.

Neither Higa nor Kakizaki nor Koucho noticed the extra potted plant sitting by the door as it's ;eaves lightly shook in the small breeze generated by the air conditioning.

**XoX**

"Naruto-kun, are you almost done with those vegetables?"

"Just about. Thank you, Akitsu."

"Ah."

A pause.

"You're welcome."

Within the kitchen at Maison Izumo, several people were working with quiet diligence and surprisingly efficient teamwork. There was very little noise as the group worked to make dinner except for the chopping of vegetables, the sound of the tap running, and the boiling of the stew in the pot.

Naruto found himself cutting up numerous vegetables with the stainless steel Chef's knife. As he sliced and diced the vegetables, wielding his knife with all the expertise of a Samurai, the act of his knife continuously hitting the cutting board made a staccato _'tut, tut, tut, tut' _noise that echoed within the mostly silent kitchen.

Over to his left was Akitsu, who was, as always, standing at her place by his side. She was methodically washing the vegetables that Naruto would cut... and taking at least a minute too long for each one, but Naruto didn't let that bother him. There were not many things in this world that he could not deny anything to. Akitsu was one of these things.

"Ku-chan can cut the veg veg! Let Ku-chan cut the veg veg!"

Kusano was another.

At least most of the time.

"Sorry, Ku-chan," Naruto said, moving his hand with the knife away from Kusano's outstretched ones as she tried to grab the knife. The tiny girl was sitting on his shoulders, so it was very easy to do. It helped that she didn't have a very long reach because her arms were so short. Ah, the benefit of being an adult compared to a child. "But young girls shouldn't be playing with sharp objects. You could get hurt."

"Jiiiiii~! Onii-chan's being a meanie," even though Naruto could not see it, he knew that Kusano had one of the most adorable pouts on her face. "I should bite you."

Naruto blinked.

"What?"

"Ufufufu," Miya giggled, one hand raised so that the sleeve of her kimono adequately covered her mouth in the most demure of fashions. The other was calmly stirring the pot she was using to make dinner. "It seems like little Ku-chan likes playing with dangerous and sharp objects. I hope you're not responsible for this, Naruto-kun. Why, if you were, I would have to punish you. Ufufufu."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea why Kusano loves sharp, pointy objects. Although," Naruto eyed the beautiful, purple haired woman standing just a few feet away from him. "It may have something to do with how our landlady seems to enjoy threatening people with that katana of hers so much."

"Miya has a sword!" Kusano said, as if trying to emphasize Naruto's point. "Mu~ Ku-chan wants a sword too."

"Sorry, Ku. You're a bit too young to be using a sword right now. Maybe when you're older."

"Jiiiii!"

"Hmph!" Miya huffed as her words were turned against her. She went back to stirring the pot as Naruto came over and dumped the chopped vegetables in. Naruto just chuckled as he went over to the kitchen and gave the board to Akitsu so she could wash it.

"Now, now," he teased the landlady. She looked like she was close to actually pouting. It was actually kind of cute. "It's not very becoming of a lady to huff in such a manner. Really Miya," he shook his head in mock disappointment, "you should learn to be a bit more ladylike, like Akitsu here."

"Ah!" Akitsu blushed. Miya's right eye gained a slight twitch.

"More ladlylike, hmm?" she muttered a tad harshly. It was completely out of contrast with her beatifically smiling face.

"Um!" Naruto nodded his head, gracing the landlady with his own wide, innocent smile. Not that it was fooling anyone. "Yes, it seems Miya-san is having trouble acting like a demure and proper woman. She definitely needs some help." His eyes looked up at the ceiling as he got into a 'thinking pose'. "Maybe I should ask Tsukiumi if she can help Miya-san act like a proper housewife."

Miya's right eye began to twitch a bit more. He had her beat and they both knew it. Naruto wondered if she would bring out her hanya mask now that she had lost in their little game today.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME LIKE THAT YOU MONKEY!"

Whether Miya would or would not have retaliated in the only way she could became moot when Tsukiumi shriek of outraged reached their ears. The two blinked several times, then turned their gaze towards the closed door that led into the dining room.

"Hehehe... it's your own fault for having such large knockers on you!" Came the sounds of a very familiar perverted young woman.

"Kn-KNOCKERS! WHAT KIND OF TERM IS THAT! AND HOW DARE YOU USE IT ON ME! MISCREANT! HEATHEN!"

"Oh my," Miya mumbled, "it sounds like something's happened to Tsukiumi-san."

"Judging what I'm hearing of the conversation, she's not arguing with Musubi or Homura," Naruto added with a tilt of his head. Had she been arguing with one of those two it would have either been about who was Naruto's 'true wife' or 'why Homura had no room to talk about Tsukiumi's apparent need to wear a high, panty flashing skirt'. "There is also the other person talking. At a guess, I would have to say Yukari is the one behind this." If the monkey commented had not made it obvious, then the perverted giggling and words spoken did.

"Perhaps you should go see what the problem is," Miya suggested with a pleasant smile. "I'll need help setting the table and it looks like someone just volunteered."

"Right," Naruto could have argued that since it was her house, she should be the one to go deal with this new problem, but since they were his Sekirei, it really was a problem he should probably solve on his own.

Entering the dining room showed him about what he had expected to see. Tsukiumi was standing on one side of the room, her eyebrows twitching dangerously, a large vein pulsing on her forehead and her face flushed a bright red as she held her shaking and clenched fist near her face in what he guessed was supposed to be a menacing pose but really just made her look silly. On the opposite side was Yukari, who was grinning deviously as she hid behind a clueless Musubi, her hands already groping the Shrine Maiden Sekirei's breasts.

Shiina and Kazehana were also in the room. The white haired boy looked very worried for his Ashikabi and apologetic towards Naruto's Sekirei. Meanwhile, Kazehana was lounging against the wall with a bottle of sake in her hand as she enjoyed the show.

Naruto sighed.

"Can anyone explain what happened here to me?" he asked in a voice loud enough to gather everyone's attention to him.

"Husband!" Tsukiumi snapped as she pointed over to Yukari. "That foul, loathsome monkey has tried to take my chastity!"

"Take your chastity?" Yukari grinned from her place behind Musubi. "All I did was grab those large melons of yours." Almost as if the mention of 'melons' triggered some kind of instinctive reaction in her, the young Ashikabi's hands began groping Musubi's chest with increasing roughness. "Although, these babies are much better than yours. Maybe I should just stick with Musubi-nee-chan."

"Better than mine!?" Naturally, the only thing Tsukiumi heard in that entire speech was about how inadequate her breasts were compared to those of her rival's. "I'll have you know that my breasts are not only large, but they are also perfectly firm!"

This proud declaration was followed by several seconds of silence in which Tsukiumi went over the words she had just spoken in her head. Judging by the way her face began to grow red, she had realized just how bad her statement sounded.

"I-I mean... not like it should matter to you! Monkey! Insolent! O-Only my h-husband is allowed to... to... ah..." It was an interesting experience, watching Tsukiumi devolve into a fit of blushing and stuttering. It was even more amusing because of what Naruto knew would come after.

Tsundere protocols activated.

"You shouldn't be touching other people's breasts anyways!" Mount Tsukiumi exploded with tsun tsun wrath. "It isn't proper for a flat chested little girl to go around touching another women's bosoms! Now you shall pay for trying to taint me with your perversion!"

"Flat chest little girl, am I?" Yukari's face darkened. Then she began to laugh. "Kukukuku..."

Yeah, like that.

Not that Tsukiumi noticed, busy as she was gather water and chakra to the tip of her ring finger, which she had pointed in Yukari's direction to unleash her primary attack. Nothing would stop her from unleashing all her righteous, female fury on this perverse monkey ―

"Ufufufu..."

― Nothing. Except for Miya.

Heads turned towards the doorway to the kitchen, where one Asama Miya stood wearing her patented smile. The area around her seemed to darken as a mass of hatred and malevolence built up around her in the form of a strange pressure that made the other Sekirei shake where they stood.

"... Yelling while you are indoors," the pressure increased as the darkness behind Miya began to take shape. "Blatantly inappropriate and lewd acts." The hanya mask formed behind her, it's eyes bleeding as a loud hissing began to emit from it's mouth. "And Violence are not permitted within Maison Izumo. I believe I have already told you two this."

Naruto watched on with growing amusement as the members of the household began to get increasingly frightened. Kusano was gripping handfuls of his hair as she buried her face into his head in order to escape the scene that looked like it had been taken straight from an eldritch horror in front of her. Tsukiumi had long since collapsed to her knees, her arms hugging her torso as she shook uncontrollably. Yukari and Musubi were holding onto each other for dear life, both looking scared out of their wits. Even Kazehana had stopped drinking and was staring at the hanya mask with wide eyed horror.

THUMP!

Matsu also dropped from the ceiling when the hanya was unleashed, her fear such that she was unable to keep a good grip on her secret hiding spot on top of the rafters.

"Now, Tsukiumi, Yukari, you two will help me set the table," Miya continued in a tone that was so pleasant it would make people think she wasn't even aware of the hanya mask behind her or it's effects on her tenants. "Is that acceptable?"

The two gave very quick nods. Neither were able to speak at the moment, it seemed.

"Good," with those words, the darkness vanished, the stars all realigned and the hanya mask disappeared as if it had never existed. Everyone except Naruto gave a sigh of relief. "Now come with me. You two have work to do."

"Yes Miya-san," Tsukiumi and Yukari almost spoke in unison, their fear being so great it actually gave them a level of empathy with each other. Naruto thought it was one of the most amusing things he had ever seen. Right up there with that time Artemis and Athena had been arguing about who got to sleep with him up when Aphrodite decided to sex him up right in front of them while they were still arguing.

That particular incident had eventually degraded into a foursome.

Ah. Good times.

**XoX**

Dinner that night was eaten in relative silence, the only sound being the clinking of chopsticks and the chewing and swallowing of food. This probably had something to do with the two who Naruto was sure would have made the most ruckus being surprisingly silent.

Or maybe not so surprisingly, given what Miya had done to them. Naruto didn't actually know what it was Miya had said or done when they were helping her set the table, but whatever it was, it had shut them up good. Neither Tsukiumi nor Yukari had said so much as a single word since dinner started.

With the two characters who would have caused the most ruckus being completely silent, Naruto was left with nothing but his own thoughts to entertain him.

Naturally, his mind was thinking on Minaka's latest move. The man in question had finally decided to move onto the next phase of the Sekirei plan. He did this by locking down all exit points leading out of Shinto Teito. Hundreds of soldiers were now stationed at the airports and along the roadsides that led out of the city. In order for anyone to leave, they would now be subjected to extensive screening by MBI's soldiers.

This was done with the intention of ensuring that none of the Sekirei could leave Shinto Teito. It looked like Minaka wanted all of the Sekirei to remain within MBI's grasp. Or more like he wanted to force all of the Sekirei and their Ashikabi to participate in the Sekirei Plan.

It was a very sound strategy all things considered. Naruto had to applaud the man for his resourceful thinking. By creating blockades around all exit points, it not only kept all the Sekirei in, but all the unwanted quantities out. No doubt this was done as much to keep foreign forces from trying something like acquiring a Sekirei of their own as much as it was to keep those involved in the Sekirei Plan confined to a central area.

This wouldn't stop most of the Sekirei who were determined not to participate. Naruto projected there would be at least some who tried to escape anyways, but that's what the Discipline Squad was for. He doubted anyone short of Miya and maybe one or two others would be capable of evading much less defeating the Discipline squad. And only Miya would be able to defeat Karasuba if they decided to send her.

Not that they would be able to stop Naruto if he wanted to escape. It wouldn't be that hard, especially since he had several Hiraishin points located throughout the world in case he needed to make a quick getaway. But both Musubi and Tsukiumi desired to participate in the Sekirei Plan and he would not be a very good Ashikabi if he denied them this chance.

Besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. It was either participate in this plan or wander the world again.

It had been fourteen hundred years since the last time he truly settled down in one area. Needless to say, the idea of being a wanderer had lost it's appeal several centuries ago.

"Naruto..."

A blink. Naruto looked up at the sound of his name being called and saw Homura staring at him oddly. How long had the fire user been staring at him?

"Yes? Were you saying something?"

"I was asking if you were alright?" Homura sounded exasperated. "You've been staring at your food for over ten minutes now."

"Ah..." Naruto had not realized he'd been so lost in thought. Wow. He really was an old man. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

"Like?" asked Uzume, who had paused in her attempts to convince Chiho why she should let her feed the girl via mouth to mouth, much to said blushing girl's eternal embarrassment.

"Just thinking about Minaka's latest move," Naruto admitted. The atmosphere became slightly tense at the mention of what Minaka had done. The only two who didn't seem effected were Musubi and Kusano. The Shrine Maiden was smiling her wide, innocent smile as she fed the green girl who had somehow managed to get food all over her face and dress.

Wait. Kazehana was looking pretty relaxed too, sitting there as she chugged her sake straight from the bottle. At least she was paying attention, unlike the other two.

Homura narrowed his eyes.

"What about it?"

"Hmm?" Naruto tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Homura scowled at the blond.

"I mean, what do you think about his latest move?"

"Well, as far as strategic maneuvering goes it's not bad. A little on the unimaginative side, but still a decent strategy." Naruto ignored the way Homura glared at him, as if complimenting Minaka in any way was the worst sin he could commit. "He's managed to not only keep all Sekirei locked inside of the city without any means of escape, but also managed to find a legal way of keeping any foreign forces out, including the JSDF."

The JSDF or Japanese Self-Defense Force was the unified military force of Japan that had been established after the post-World War II Allied occupation of Japan. They were divided into three forces; the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force).

Due to his position as an immortal that was essentially trying to keep his existence hidden from the rest of the world, Naruto had the logistics of each force within the JSDF along with a list of the top ranking officers and several thousand pages worth of blackmail/threat material to use should someone go snooping where they didn't belong.

Just like he did for every other Nations military and government.

"How could you compliment anything that madman does!?" asked Homura. If glares could be transformed into physical attacks, Naruto was sure he would have been reduced to ash by now. "Nothing that bastard does can ever be a good thing! He's just playing his sick games and using us Sekirei for his own amusement!"

Several people stared at Homura in stunned silence, namely Tsukiumi and Musubi who were not aware of the shemales intense hatred of Minaka.

"Be quiet, Homura," of course, there was someone among them who was not affected by the white haired Sekirei's rage. Kazehana was still leaning back as she sat at the table, a bottle of sake in front of her. Despite her voice not changing from it's lackadaisical tone, there was a hint of steal to her voice. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Tsukiumi blinked. "Homura?"

"And I suppose you do?" Homura asked scathingly.

"More than you," Kazehana replied before taking a deep swig of her sake. She finished with a loud 'pah' of satisfaction. "I know more about the Sekirei plan and Minaka than you ever could. There are things at play that you know nothing about. So don't go talking like you're some hero whose protecting everyone from the evil villain."

"Che," Homura looked very annoyed by the wind user's comments, but didn't say anything. He obviously knew that there wasn't much he could do about someone of Kazehana's caliber.

Sitting beside him, Yukari and Shiina were looking back and forth between the two, one with worry and the other wondering if she would get to see some clothes ripped off.

Throughout the small argument, Tsukiumi was looking at the white haired fire user with increasingly wide eyes as she finally connected the dots.

"Homura!?"

She stood up rather abruptly, almost knocking over her food as she did so.

"Oh my..." Miya muttered, covering her mouth with a hand as Tsukiumi got food all over her clothes.

"Yes?" asked a still annoyed Homura.

"Y-You – but that's – there's no way you can be Homura!" Tsukiumi pointed a finger at Homura as she shouted. "Homura doesn't have breasts!"

A vein began pulsing on Homura's forehead as his face began to burn. The young gender bent male looked like he might end up catching fire any second now.

"Yeah, well, I do now," he muttered bitterly. "And don't talk about my breasts!" He snapped off as an after thought.

"But that's – it's not – how could –" Tsukiumi seemed to have trouble comprehending what she had just learned. Her mind was stuck in a constant loop as she tried to put the image of the person before her with Homura. Unfortunately, her mind wasn't able to properly compute this information, thus all she could do was stare at the fire user with a slack jawed expression.

"Wait," Uzume sat up, "You mean to tell me you didn't know this was Homura." She snickered. "Oh wow, talk about sad. Hey bro," she looked at Naruto with a grin, "why didn't you tell her that the person she knew had a sex change?"

"I did not have a sex change!?" Homura growled out. Tried to growl out. His voice ended up squeaking in the process.

"Sure you didn't," Uzume chuckled, "And I haven't been trying to convince Chiho-baby to help me seduce the bro here so we can reenact the threesome from chapter five of Icha Icha Schooldays."

"U-Uzume-chan!" Chiho flushed with embarrassment. Uzume gave her Ashikabi an amused grin, which vanished the moment she felt the malevolent presence begin to suffocate her.

"U-zu-me," Miya smiled ominously at the brunnette cloth user. Uzume paled.

"Gah! I'm sorry! I forgot! It will never happen again, Miya-sama!"

"Uhuhuhu, this is just like a soap opera!"

As tensions were broken and the dining table became a riot of activity, Tsukiumi, who had been standing around looking like an idiot, finally managed to comprehend that Homura and the breasted Sekirei before her were, in fact, one and the same.

It was too much for her mind to handle.

The water user's eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she fell backwards in a dead faint. As her body hit the floor, Naruto sighed and just ignored the general chaos around him. Same as Musubi and Kusano, though he suspected they were ignoring it because they didn't really know what was going on.

Or maybe they had just gotten used to the insanity found at Maison Izumo like he had.

**XoX**

"Now that dinner is done and all of you are here, I have decided it's time to inform you about your new sleeping arrangements." Those were the words Miya used to start what sounded like it was going to be a long combination of lecture and orders.

It was about an hour after dinner and Naruto's Sekirei plus Kazehana, Yukari, Shiina, Uzume and Chiho and minus Kusano and Akitsu had all been ordered ― by Miya of course ― to gather and wash the dirty dishes.

Tsukiumi had protested, claiming she wanted to be with her husband to ensure that no one tried seducing him while she was away. Given that she was glaring at Yukari and Miya when she said this, it was clear to everyone who she was talking about.

One hanya mask later and Tsukiumi and the others were all washing dishes in the kitchen. Naruto had noticed that the landlady had become much more liberal with her use of the hanya mask. He had pleasantly informed her that if she used it so much everyone would eventually become desensitized to it.

Naturally, she had just smiled and told him that she had no idea what he was talking about.

After the dishes had been clean, Yukari and Shiina left. They did not live in Maison Izumo and had their own things to do. Yukari had seemed very disappointed by this fact.

Before they left, however, a blushing and slightly stuttering Yukari had given Naruto her number and told him it would be okay if he called her. Since they were friends and all.

He totally did not believe her.

And maybe it was just him, but he could have sworn Shiina had given him a borderline dirty look when he was saying goodbye to Kusano.

Must be a Sekirei thing.

Were Sekirei territorial over their mates? Probably. At least, so long as the one mating to their Ashikabi was not another Sekirei. Then they seemed to be all for it.

"Sleeping arrangements?" Tsukiumi's voice was questioning as she looked at the large board sitting on the tripod that Miya had brought out. Just where she had gotten it no one knew. It was better not to question where she got something in any case. Asking questions the beautiful, purple haired landlady had no intention of answering often led to a serious migraine. "Why would I need to learn about a new sleeping arrangement. Naturally, I will be sharing a bed with my husband."

"And Musubi will be sharing a bed with her husband too!" Ever the enthusiastic one, Musubi had to add her own input.

Tsukiumi scowled and turned to look at the Shrine Maiden. "You will not be sleeping with Naruto because you are not his wife! You are a concubine! And concubines do not get to sleep with the husband when their wives are around!"

"Hey!" Musubi puffed up her cheeks. "Musubi is Naruto-sama's wife too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

As Musubi and Tsukiumi glared at each other, sparks almost literally flying from their eyes as a physical manifestation of their rivalry, Homura sighed.

"This argument is beginning to get a little old."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Uzume said with a grin as she leaned back on her arms, unknowingly thrusting her chest out. Or perhaps not, Naruto corrected his own thoughts when he saw Chiho casting discreet glances at her Sekirei's chest, her own face doing an impressive imitation of a tomato. "I think it's pretty amusing."

"I second that," Naruto added with a raised hand.

"Ah." A pause. "Me too."

"Uhuhuhu, it's just like a soap opera!"

Homura rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. "Whatever, I don't care anymore. I don't."

"While you might not care, Homura, I do," Miya said with a frown. "I still have to give you all your new sleeping arrangements."

"That reminds me," Naruto blinked as he looked at Uzume, Chiho and Kazehana. "Why are you three still here? As far as I know, these sleeping arrangements don't affect you girls?"

In response to his question, Uzume grinned and pointed at the glaring Tsundere water user and incredibly naive Shrine Maiden.

"Fair enough," Naruto conceded, before looking at Kazehana.

"What?" she gave him a sultry, if slightly drunken smile. "Do you not want me here?"

"I don't really care if you stick around or not," Naruto informed her with a shrug. "I just wanted to know why? Call it idle curiosity."

"Well," Kazehana looked thoughtful as she took another swig of sake. "I guess I'm just here because you guys seem interesting. I haven't had much entertainment for a while now, and it looks like Maison Izumo has gotten very entertaining while I've been away."

"So you're here for the same reason Uzume is," it was a logical conclusion. "That's fine with me."

"Excuse me."

Naruto turned back to look at Miya, whose pleasant smile was beginning to look a tad... strained.

"Yes, Miya-chan?" Naruto gave her a blindingly brilliant smile. It was so blinding and so brilliant anyone with a single brain cell would have been able to tell it was fake.

Miya certainly did, if the slight vein on her forehead were any indication. Still, she kept up her pleasant demeanor, even though dark purple miasma began leaking off her body like a cracked sieve.

"As I was saying," she continued in a voice that was far too pleasant to be real. "I need to give you and your Sekirei your new sleeping arrangements."

"Alright, alright," Naruto looked over at the glaring pair of Sekirei and decided it was time to break them up. "Okay, you two! Enough arguing. Sit back down and listen to what Miya has to say."

"Yes husband/Okay Naruto-sama!"

Tossing one quick glare at each other one more time for good measure, Tsukiumi and Musubi sat back down. It was actually kind of impressive how the two actually listened to Naruto despite him not using any kind of hanya reinforcement like Miya often had too.

The landlady in question probably would have wondered why Naruto was so capable of controlling his Sekirei with a simple command ― as well as why he never decided to control his Sekirei until now ― but did not have much inclination to do so when she still had yet to give out the new sleeping arrangements.

Naruto gave a nod, satisfied that they were done for now, then turned his attention back to Miya. "Better?"

"Much," Miya smiled pleasantly. "Thank you, Naruto." Turning her attention to the table at large, Miya began what was obviously a prepared speech. "Now then, because of how many people we now have sharing a single room, I decided to divide you into separate rooms." Before any of the Sekirei could protest, Miya continued. "Homura has her own room..."

"I'm not a female dammit!"

"...So she won't need to worry about this," Miya continued as if Homura had not shouted. "Matsu also has her own room. Kusano will be sleeping with me, same as usual. That means you three, Akitsu, Musubi and Tsukiumi, are the ones this will affect."

Miya pointed towards the board, which showed a map of the second floor of the house. On it was the number of each room with the name of the person sleeping in it, though only Naruto, Uzume, Chiho and Matsu had their names on the board right now. Naruto's name was located inside of room 202, Chiho and Uzume were in 203 and Matsu was in 201. Below the map of the second floor Miya had written each day of the week vertically across the board. Room 204 was empty.

"As you can see, there is only one extra room in Maison Izumo. Rooms traditionally house up to two people, so two of you will be sharing one room while the other gets to sleep with Naruto."

At this, all the Sekirei minus Homura and those who did not belong to Naruto's ever increasing harem perked up.

"As Naruto's proper wife, it is only right that I be the one to sleep with him," that was, of course, Tsukiumi, who was glaring at everyone around the room, daring them to contradict her.

"Musubi is Naruto-sama's proper wife too! She should get to sleep with Naruto-sama!"

"You are not his proper wife, wench!" Tsukiumi stood up and got into one of her more common poses, the one where she spreads her legs wide, places one hand on her hip while the other was pointing at whoever had earned her ire. In this case, Musubi. "I am his proper, legal wife, therefore I am the only one who can sleep with Naruto!"

"Settle down you two," Naruto butted into the argument before it could become worse. As funny as it was too watch these two fight over something as mundane as who his proper wife was, he was not in the mood anymore. This whole situation had already taken too long as it was. "Miya and I came up with a plan that should satisfy everyone."

Miya nodded her head in concurrence. "Because all of you are Naruto's Sekirei, and therefore all deserve an equal amount of time with him, we have decided it would be in the best interest of everyone if you took turns sleeping in his room." Her countenance darkened. "Frankly, you girls are lucky that I am even allowing you to sleep with him at all. I do not generally condone members of the opposite sex from sleeping in the same room, but as you are all his Sekirei and all share a connection, I feel it is your right to be allowed in the same room as your Ashikabi."

"However," all of Naruto's Sekirei gulped as the area around Miya became increasingly dark. "This is not just a right, but a privilege. Should I find that any of you have abused this privilege, I will no longer allow you to sleep in the same room as Naruto. Furthermore, all of your rights shall be taken away and you will be forced to watch while the others get to decide who should get your day with him. Is that understood?"

Naruto's Sekirei all gulped as they nodded along with fear in their eyes. They weren't sure what frightened them more; possibly not being allowed to sleep with their Ashikabi, or being subject to Miya's incredible evilness.

"Good," Miya smiled, her eyes crinkling pleasantly as the aura of sheer dread disappeared. "Now, this means that each of you will have a different day to sleep with Naruto," the landlady continued. "Because there are six of you, that leaves one free day for Naruto. I have decided that whoever is on the best behavior each week will be the one who gets to spend the Sunday night with him."

Almost as one, Musubi and Tsukiumi turned to each other. Sparks of rivalry began to fly as their competitive side came out. Both were determined to be the one who would get to sleep with Naruto on Sunday, and they had no intention of letting the other come out on top.

On the other end of the spectrum, little Kusano was simply imagining what it would be like to have her onii-chan all to herself. Thankfully, she was still very much a child, and all of the images in her head were completely G-rated.

There shall be no mention of what Matsu was thinking about doing with her free time with Naruto. It would be in the best interest of everyone if they never saw what was in her head.

The only one amongst the flock that was not satisfied with the sleeping arrangements was no Homura.

"I refuse to sleep with Naruto," he declared, crossing his arms under his decently sized bust. "No way, no how. Someone else can take my night as well, because I have no intention of spending the night with him."

"Wow," Uzume snickered, "You just got burned bro."

"I can't tell you how depressed that makes me," Naruto responded dryly.

"Homura!" Tsukiumi scowled at her one-time rival. "You would deny your Ashikabi's attention? After all the times you harped on me about finding my own Ashikabi? Are you really that much of a hypocrite?"

"Oh my," Miya muttered, holding a hand to her cheek as she watched Homura's face turn a shade of red that had yet to be discovered. It looked like his entire face had been lit on fire.

Well, he _was _the Sekirei of fire. It only made sense.

"Hypocrite!?" Homura hissed angrily, his face burning with a mixture of anger, humiliation and shame. Naruto was surprised steam hadn't begun pouring out of his ears. "How dare you call me a hypocrite!"

"Well," Tsukiumi sniffed in a haughty fashion, "what else am I supposed to call you? You, who always made sure that all Sekirei got to be with their Ashikabi and is now denying the chance to be with her own Ashikabi."

"For the last time, I am not a girl!" Homura shouted. "I'm a man! A MAN!"

"Oh my." Miya sighed. "It seems emotions are running hot today."

"Bad pun, Miya," Naruto said, chuckling a bit in spite of himself, "really bad pun."

Miya let out a lovely giggle as she demurely hid her lips behind the sleeve of her kimono. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyways, it's fine, Tsukiumi. Homura doesn't have to sleep with me." A grin made it's way to the blond's face, though he masked it quickly. "To be honest, I'd actually prefer not sharing a room with him. I mean, sure, he's got a pretty decent rack and everything, but I would much rather sleep with someone who didn't have all that junk down in their trunk."

While Homura went completely red at Naruto's words ― whether from anger of humiliation had yet to be determined ― Uzume began laughing hysterically. "Hehehehe! All that junk in their trunk! Hahahaha! That's a good one bro!" She quickly fell onto her back, her arms wrapping around her stomach as her legs kicked into the air. "Hehehehe! Oh! I think I need to pee!"

"Uzume/U-Uzume-chan!" The shout came from more than just Chiho this time. Miya had also spoken out loud, looking honestly disbelieving at the young woman's lack of mouth filter when it came to her bodily functions. Likewise, Homura had shouted as well, though whether his was from Uzume's comment on her need to release bodily fluids or her amusement at Naruto's crass joke was unknown.

"Sorry, sorry!" Uzume snorted as she tried to regain control of her giggling. It didn't work and a second later, the brunette Sekirei was laying on her back, laughing.

"I don't see what's so funny!" Homura scowled, the red from his face having now expanded dowto his torso and arms.

"O-Of course you don't... hehe hahaha!" Uzume raged on, causing Homura's scowl to deepen and his blush to spread further across his skin. Naruto worried that his powers might actually be damaging the fire user's body.

Considering Homura nearly killed himself via self immolation, he would not be surprised if the same thing happened again.

"So with Homura not taking a day, that leaves two days that the other Sekirei get free, right?" said Naruto, trying to get things back on track. Which was ironic considering it was his words that had caused Uzume's outburst in the first place.

"I suppose it does," Miya frowned in thought. "I guess this means we'll need another way to determine who gets Homura's day, though I suppose I could just say whoever is on their best behavior will get both days..."

"We could do it this way, whoever is more helpful around the house will get the time Homura would have gotten," Naruto offered. This would give his Sekirei more incentive to help Miya around the house, giving her some time to herself that she would have otherwise used cleaning or taking care of the laundry. As far as Naruto could see it was a win-win situation for her.

It was actually a rather ingenious idea, if he did say so himself.

All of his Sekirei perked up at his idea. Minus Homura, for obvious reasons. They looked even more inflamed when Miya said, "It does sound like a good idea. Very well, whoever is on the best behavior will get to sleep in Naruto-kun's room on Sundays, and whoever helps out the most around the house will get Saturdays, as that was going to be Homura's night with him."

"In that case, I, Tsukiumi, shall prove to you that I am not only the strongest Sekirei in the game, but also the most deserving to be with Naruto." It was not a surprise to anyone, except maybe Musubi, when Tsukiumi made this declaration. She even went into a pose for it and everything.

"Ah! Musubi will prove that she should be with Naruto-sama too!"

Tsukiumi turned to the bouncing busty Shrine Maiden with a scowl. "No you will not! I am the only one who will get to be with Naruto!"

"Ku-chan too! Ku-chan will prove herself to onii-chan!"

"Can it, brat!" Tsukiumi turned on the green girl, pointing a finger at the much smaller blond. "You are but a child! You will not be taking away my time with my husband!"

"Grrrrr~!" A surprisingly loud growl escaped Kusano's throat as she glared at Tsukiumi, who returned the glare just as fiercely.

Naruto couldn't help but feel amused that Tsukiumi was actually having a glaring contest with a child. Did she actually feel threatened by the tiny girl? Or was her competitive nature simply not allowing her to back down from a challenge no matter who made it?

He didn't know, but it was funny to see nonetheless.

"Ufufufu! A soap opera I'm telling you!"

Naturally, Matsu was enjoying watching the scene unfold before her far too joyfully. Though this too was expected.

Naruto assumed the red haired, perverted hacker was just doing what she could to remain entertained. From what he understood about the woman, she had been cooped up in that hidden room for several months (maybe even over a year) before he had even arrived in Shinto Teito. Remaining hidden in one place for so long had to be grating on the nerves.

He made a mental note to create a disguise so Matsu could get out more.

"Ah..."

The quiet sound emitting from Akitsu's voice had everyone pause. This was the first time she had spoken in a while, so it was not surprising that most of those present was actually startled enough to hear her speak that all conversation ceased.

Slowly, the heads of all those in the room turned to look at the white haired snow woman, who was seated very demurely directly behind Naruto ― she had moved there after she finished eating, though even Naruto was at a loss as to when. He hadn't even noticed her move! While her face was just as impassive as always, there was something in her eyes that caused Naruto's other Sekirei to straighten up.

It was steel. There was a determination in her eyes that was not usually visible when not in combat. It was pretty intimidating.

"I will be sleeping with Ashikabi-sama."

The declaration was met with a moment of silence. A moment which truly only lasted for a moment because Tsukiumi apparently did not like Akitsu's words.

"You will do no such thing! The only person going to be sleeping with my husband is me!"

"I'm his husband too, you know!"

"You shut up!"

As all of Naruto's Sekirei once more descended into a large argument over who would get to sleep with the blond Uzumaki, Miya and the male in question shared an amused yet exasperated look while Homura seemed to have drifted into his own world and Uzume simply sat back with a grin on her face as she enjoyed the show.

The only one not watching the show was, surprisingly, Kazehana, who was keeping her eyes on Naruto.

"My oh my..." she knocked back the bottle of sake and finished what was left in a single gulp. Smacking her lips, she felt a smile creeping onto her face. "I was right... what an interesting young man."

**XoX**

It was late in the evening when Naruto found his way to the veranda to sit down. The day had been quite eventful, what with the rescue of Yukari and Shiina and all the craziness that came after. Things had just now settled down with the eventual assigning of which days his Sekirei would have to sleep with him.

Naruto had to hold back a snort at the thought. Honestly, assigning days to be with him? Even on the rare centuries where he actually acquired his own harem, he had never had to assign women days.

Then again, he usually had a lot more than just six women to please.

It helped that he could be in more than once place at a time. Speaking of which, maybe he should begin showing more of his abilities? At the very least, revealing that he could literally split his body at least six times would prove useful...

Then again, maybe not. If he revealed this ability to one of his Sekirei he would have to reveal it to all of his Sekirei, and he wasn't quite ready to let Musubi know anything more than he had already shown her. Who knows when she would end up revealing that kind of information to a potential enemy?

Probably when it was most inconvenient for him. That was usually how this type of situation worked out.

Yes, it was better to just not reveal anything at the moment. Safer too.

"I thought I might find you here." Naruto did not turn his head as Miya walked up to him and sat down on the veranda just a few inches away. "The girls are nearly done washing up. If you wanted to get cleaned after them I could draw another bath for you?"

"Thank you," Naruto turned his eyes towards the youthful landlady and smiled. "But I actually already took a bath before dinner." He wondered what Miya would say if she found out he had a clone help make dinner half the time before he used the Kawarimi to replace himself with his copy.

She would probably make some comment on how he could use the ability to unleash his beastly urges on her and the other Sekirei.

"Hmmm..." Miya eyed him for a moment, both of her amethyst orbs focused on him. Naruto wondered if she saw things differently when searching his face like that.

A second later, her eyes crinkled and she smiled again.

"That's fine, but next time, please inform me when you want to use the bathhouse. That way I can draw it for you."

"Hmmm..." Naruto hummed thoughtfully, a tiny grin creeping on his face. "You're being awfully thoughtful. I wonder, would you go out of your way like this for any of your other tenants? Or are you offering to do this just for me for some reason?"

In the pale glow of the moon, most people would have missed the light tint of pink that crept onto Miya's cheeks. Naruto, with his enhanced vision, did not.

"I would do this for any of my tenants," Miya declared, turning away from the blond so he could not see her blush. A little too late for that. Then again, she probably didn't know how good Naruto's eyes were.

"And yet, you did not draw the bath for Akitsu, Tsukiumi and Musubi," Naruto pointed out. He was amused to see the color on her cheeks spread down her neck.

How interesting. Was it embarrassment she felt? Or something else? And if so, why?

"I would have done it for them too," Miya defended herself. She was being honest there at least. Naruto could tell that much. "But by the time I had managed to put Ku-chan to bed, they had already drawn the bath."

Naruto let out a soft hum as he turned back to stare out at the moon. It was a full moon, so the light it cast was much brighter than usual.

Hard to believe that thing had once contained the body of a Primordial God.

"Naruto?" Miya's soft voice startled him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see the woman giving him a curious look. "What do you really think of everything that's happened?"

"You mean with Minaka and the Sekirei Plan?" at Miya's nod, the blond leaned back on his arms and looked up at the moon again, his expression contemplative. "Well, I already knew it was going to happen, so I'm not too surprised by it. Though it did happen sooner than I expected it to."

"As for what I think, as I said, it was a smart move on his part. Not only does he keep all external and foreign forces out, but he keeps all Sekirei in. This means that the Sekirei won't be able to spread the battle outside of Shinto Teito, thereby localizing the battle to a single city. This will ensure that the existence of Sekirei remain a secret. To be honest, it benefits the Sekirei right now more than Minaka."

"You mean from forces that might want to kidnap and experiment on them?" asked Miya. Naruto gave a nod.

"I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if the existence of Sekirei became known to various world governments. You were there when the group of foreign nations tried to invade Kamikura Island, number zero one."

Miya gave him a mild look, a single eyebrow raised. "Dare I ask how you know this?"

Naruto snorted. "Oh please, don't act like you didn't realize I knew who you were. It's not that hard to figure out for anyone who can actually use that organ in their head called a brain. You're the wife of the former head adjustor for all the Sekirei, who just so happened to adjust the first five that were released. You hold both the respect and fear of Matsu and Kazehana. You tend to know a lot more than you should about Sekirei if you were just a normal landlady, wife of Asama Takehito or not. Not to mention all the tenants here aside from myself and Chiho are Sekirei, and that's not saying much since we happen to be Ashikabi.

"And then there is your presence," Naruto continued to the intrigued Miya. "Your presence is something that cannot be masked to those who are sensitive to it. You might be able to hide yourself underneath the guise of an unassuming landlady, but anyone who is sensitive to such things can feel the power inside of you, lurking just beneath the surface."

"Besides," Naruto added with a small grin, "I already knew you were a Sekirei. You've admitted as much to me before. Considering your power, I can't imagine you being anyone but the number zero one, the first and most powerful Sekirei amongst the one hundred and eight that were released in Shinto Teito."

"Hmph," Miya huffed a bit as Naruto categorically destroyed the aura of mystery that surrounded her origins. "You make it very hard to keep things a secret, Naruto-kun."

"You're just upset that you can't pretend to be a humble yet all knowing landlady with me," Naruto teased lightly. "You can't fool me. I know you enjoy playing the omnipotent landlady who teases and berates her tenants as if they were her children." He gave a self-satisfied grin when he saw her blush. "I've already got your personality down to a T."

"You seem to be able to pick up on a lot of things like this," Miya commented, holding the sleeves of her Kimono to her face as she turned away again.

"Learning how to read others is a necessary skill for me," Naruto said. "I wouldn't have survived as long as I have otherwise."

"Really?" Miya looked back, a single eyebrow raised in curiosity. There was an offer in her tone, he knew. She was giving him the chance to tell her more about him.

But he didn't take it.

"So I take it that large landmass up there is where you Sekirei are from?"

Miya frowned at Naruto, clearly recognizing the tactic was being used to divert her attention away from him and onto something else.

Still, there was not much she could do. If Naruto did not want to talk about himself, Miya could not force him to. And even if she could, she would not.

So she looked up at the sky, already knowing exactly what he was talking about. Most people would have missed it, the large landmass with the large wings that was mostly hidden behind the moon. They were highly unusual wings. Each wing had ten feathers, and the largest feather on the top held a ying-yang symbol on it near the base. Coming together, the ten feathers were connected to a light symbol in the general shape of a birds profile. The two birds connected to the feathers were facing each other, the points of their beaks coming together in a kiss.

She was not surprised Naruto could see it. Then again, she was not surprised by much when it came to him these days. As much of an enigma as her blond tenant was, she was beginning to get desensitized to the things he could do.

"Yes," Miya answered, deciding to be more forthcoming with information about her kind. Maybe it would even convince Naruto to open up if she extended the olive branch first. "That is the last piece of the world we Sekirei came from."

"I had always wondered why it was you all came here," Naruto mused softly, almost to himself. "Ostensibly, the Sekirei are supposedly aliens who came here to search for their Ashikabi, the person they are most compatible with. But that would only make sense if you had been forced to leave your home planet for one reason or another."

"I had suspected the reason you all left your home planet was due to a war, or series of wars that had left the planet inhospitable, though I'm beginning to think there was another reason for leaving."

Miya found herself getting more and more intrigued by his words. She wondered how close he could get to the reason her people left their planet.

"And that is?"

"As I understand it, a Sekirei needs their Ashikabi in order to survive and copulate. It's a natural part of your species, and I suspect there is some kind of coding within your DNA that means without an Ashikabi, a Sekirei cannot produce a child, meaning that without Ashikabi, your species would die out."

He looked over to Miya for confirmation. She affirmed his theory with a nod, causing him to continue.

"Going off that, it's reasonable to assume that your planet at one point had Ashikabi living within it. However, something happened, war I suspect, and it caused all of the Ashikabi to be eradicated. Without a means to continue producing offspring, the Sekirei were forced to leave the planet in search of one that had Ashikabi on it." He watched Miya as she fully turned her attention on him. "And you came here."

"Yes," Miya confirmed, "We came here."

"Hmm..." Naruto eyed the giant mass of land floating within the moons shadow with interest. "So what's the story behind that? It doesn't look like your average spaceship."

"It's not," Miya admitted quietly. Naruto's attention turned to her. "That ship, if you wish to call it that, is actually the last surviving piece of the Sekirei home world. I don't know how they managed to remove it from the rest of our world, this was all before my time, but I do know that much."

"I see, your guys' technology must be incredible if you can move pieces of your planet with you."

"I suppose," Miya muttered softly. Naruto grew concerned when she saw her look up into the sky with regret.

"Something wrong?"

"No," Miya shook her head. Naruto's frown grew.

"You can't lie to me, Miya," he told her, making the woman look away from the moon and at him. "You're looking at a man who has lied for most of his adult life. A man whose entire life is one big lie. I can spot a lie miles away, and I can see through yours." Miya flinched at being caught. Strangely, she did not flinch when Naruto rested his hand over hers. "What's wrong?"

A breathy sigh escaped her mouth. She could not lie to him. Maybe it was because he had caught her so easily, or maybe it was because she needed someone to talk to. Either way, she told him.

"While that mass of land used to be my home, it has since been turned into something else," her lips thinned. "Minaka has managed to take control of it and plans on using it in the Sekirei Plan. I do not know what he intends on using it for, or what stage it will be used in, but I do know that all of the defeated Sekirei have been sent up there."

"I see," Naruto looked back to the floating mass of land. He wondered if the level five deactivation of his ― Mitsuki? Or was it Mitsuha? He couldn't remember ― was also up there. From the way everyone spoke of the levels of deactivation and his own investigations via interrogating Matsu, he had learned that most of the defeated Sekirei who had a level four and below deactivation could be reactivated with the proper stimuli. Just what that stimuli was, he didn't know.

Would they bother keeping the corpse of a Sekirei that couldn't be reactivated?

"There you are, Naruto!"

Naruto and Miya quickly jerked their hands away from each other at the sound of the voice. Both turned to see Tsukiumi standing there, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She did not look pleased to see the two of them together.

"Husband," she said in a tone that Naruto actually recognized as belonging to a wife. He was surprised she could make that kind of tone considering she had never wanted an Ashikabi before him. Then again, she was very proper, so maybe it was to be expected. "What are you doing with the landlady?"

"Talking," Naruto answered as he climbed to his feet. "I take it you and the others are done bathing?"

"Yes," Tsukiumi answered, "We just finished a little while ago and I came to come get you."

Naruto's lips twitched slightly as Tsukiumi crossed her arms under her bust ― which did some very pleasant things to her breasts, as he could attest to ― and tapped her foot on the ground. She came to get him because they had managed to work out a schedule and as today was Wednesday, that meant it was her night with him.

"Alright," Naruto looked over at Miya. "You gonna stay here?"

"For a while, yes," Miya replied, her eyes crinkling as she smiled. "I originally came out here so I could have some peace and quiet, but since you were here I didn't get that. Now that you're going to bed, I'll stay out a while longer."

Naruto snorted, knowing a lie when he heard one, but didn't say anything to dispute her.

He turned to Tsukiumi and offered a smile as well as his arm.

The blond haired water user flushed slightly and looked away. Not that this stopped her from taking his proffered arm and snuggling it into the valley of her bosom. She was very possessive of him when she wanted to be.

"What were you and Landlady-san talking about, Naruto?"

Was she fishing for information? Naruto looked over at the woman on his arms and almost chuckled when he saw her looking away from him. She was definitely trying to gather intel from him, probably trying to find out if Miya was going to become a rival for his affection or something.

"Just trivial topics mostly like cooking," Naruto barely restrained a chuckle when he saw Tsukiumi's nose wrinkle in distaste. She did not like doing things like cooking, he had learned early on, feeling that such tasks were beneath her. "She also asked me about my thoughts on the Sekirei plan."

Now that did get Tsukiumi's attention.

"And what are your thoughts on the Sekirei Plan?"

"None, really," Naruto admitted, nearly causing Tsukiumi to trip. "To be honest, the plan doesn't interest me one bit. I'm only really willing to go through with the Sekirei Plan because you and Musubi are interested in it."

"So you are only involving yourself in the Sekirei plan for us, your Sekirei?" asked Tsukiumi, who Naruto was surprised to note was looking a little flush and seemed to be breathing a bit more heavily. Was the knowledge that he was only willing to participate in this plan because she and Musubi wanted to really that big a deal?

Apparently so, if her reaction was anything to go by.

"I wouldn't be a very good Ashikabi if I denied my Sekirei what they wanted." It was kind of a hypocritical statement, he knew. Naruto still refused to give them their 'wedding night' as they had taken to calling it. Still, he would at least give them this, the chance to prove themselves.

"I-I see..." Tsukiumi looked away as they walked up the stairs. The rest of the trip to the room was surprisingly quiet. Or maybe not so surprisingly. Tsukiumi seemed a bit to stunned by his words to say anything. That, or she was embarrassed. And Naruto wasn't really feeling any inclination to break the silence, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

They entered their room and Naruto shut the door behind them. When he turned around, it was to see Tsukiumi staring at him, her left arm reaching across her torso, under her bust, to grab the elbow of her right arm. As soon as Tsukiumi saw that he had noticed her staring, her cheeks pinkened and she looked away.

It was this act that had Naruto's breath once again stolen from him as he realized just how gorgeous the creature in front of him was. Her long strands of silken blond hair fell, cascading down her back like a blond wave of the elemental she was known for wielding. Her bangs hovered over her expressive and vulnerable blue eyes while two longer strands of shiny, silken hair framed a face that defied the term angelic.

And that was to say nothing about the rest of her. Compared to the likes of Matsu, Akitsu and even Musubi, Tsukiumi's nightgown was very modest, a pale blue gown that went all the way down to her bare feet. Despite this, the material was light, not quite translucent, but light enough that he could make out the curves of her gorgeous figure; those large, firm breasts that had her nipples visible from underneath the fabric that moved into a small waist complete with flat, toned abdominal muscles. The sensual flare of her wide, shapely hips and small, firm rear end that flowed into a pair of long legs that were surprisingly muscular yet did not detract from her feminity. That combined with the glow cast upon her by the pale light of the moon, creating a startling halo effect, she truly looked like some kind of otherworldly creature.

Damn. Tsundere's really were the epitome of adorably erotic.

Just how those two words could ever be used in the same sentence was beyond him.

And on that note, he must be a masochist or something for thinking such things about a tsundere.

"Naruto," was it wrong that he felt the way she spoke his name to be far more intimate then when she called him husband?

"Yes?"

"Are you ― what I mean to say is, do you worry for me?"

That was a very loaded question. And random. To him at least. Most would have felt such a question easy to answer, but not him.

The truth was, Naruto didn't know how to answer such a question. If he were honest, there were moments when he felt it would be better if she and the other Sekirei he had winged were deactivated in this game. The sooner it happened the better because that would mean he wouldn't have enough time to grow too attached.

As if that hadn't already happened. In truth, that moment had, in some ways, passed ever since he first winged Musubi. While Naruto had, on occasion, entertained the thought, his heart would clench with a fear he had lived with for most of his immortal life whenever the idea of his Sekirei being taken from him cropped into his head. It was enough to make him sick.

"In my own way," Naruto said after a seconds pause. "I worry about all of you, but I also have confidence in your strength and abilities."

Apparently, this was the right answer because Tsukiumi soon became a blushing, stuttering mess. It was always amusing to see how women like Tsukiumi reacted to even simple compliments.

"I ― well― well! Of course you should have confidence in me," Tsukiumi managed to get herself back on track. She even took one of her infamous poses, the one where she stood with her feet spread shoulder width apart and her hands on her hips. "I am the strongest, after all."

"Of course," Naruto grinned in amusement. He became even more amused when Tsukiumi seemed to take his words as agreeing with her.

Not that he did or didn't. Tsukiumi, like almost all Sekirei, had the potential for incredible power. The ability to become one of the strongest Sekirei in existence was there, but it would need coaxing before that potential could be turned into true strength and ability. As she was right now, Naruto judged Tsukiumi to be one of the more powerful players in the Sekirei Plan, but any of the first five Sekirei and Akitsu were stronger than she was currently.

Hopefully not for much longer. Naruto planned to eventually begin training his Sekirei personally, but there were some things he was waiting on first.

Like that project his clones were working on. Every morning for the past two weeks he had sent his clones off to work on something he had assigned them to do. With luck, they would be finished within the next one or two weeks.

They would have been done much sooner had the need for discretion not been paramount. He didn't want anyone finding out about what they were doing quite yet, especially those who were not his Sekirei or did not live here. That meant keeping his project a secret.

"Come on, Tsukiumi," Naruto walked further into the room. "Let's go to bed."

As he made his way to the bed, he began absently shedding his clothes; first his shirt, then his jeans, until he was left in nothing but a pair of orange ramen themed boxers.

Not even five thousand years could change Naruto's love for ramen.

"O-Oh, of course. Y-yes," Tsukiumi flushed as she realized that this was her moment. She was finally alone with her husband and none of those other strumpets, especially her rival, could get in her way now.

Naturally, this left the blond woman a blushing mess as she realized it was just her and her husband.

Even Tsukiumi was a bit of a pervert.

It didn't help that Naruto had a body that was generally considered perfect. He was not too small nor too large. His muscles had the perfect amount of tone and definition. There was no fat on his body, allowing those muscles to be seen more clearly, yet he did not have the veiny look that most muscle builders had from lack of body fat. The light tan he had made the perfectly defined muscles seem even more toned than they already were. Top this off with his spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, masculine features and those whisker marks and you had someone the majority of woman would consider worthy of their most erotic fantasies.

And yes, Tsukiumi was included in this group of women.

"Tsukiumi?" Naruto turned around after pulling the bed sheets back to see that Tsukiumi had not moved from her spot. She was still standing there, stalk still, her eyes staring at his naked torso with equally naked desire. She was even drooling and the blond Uzumaki thought he actually saw some blood leaking out of her nose.

Wow. He would have expected something like that from Matsu, not Tsukiumi.

"Tsukiumi!"

"Ah!" Tsukiumi jerked, startled by the noise. Her cheeks flushed hot pink as she saw Naruto staring at her.

"Come on," Naruto decided to grant the woman some reprieve and not tease her for her blatant stripping of him with her eyes.

He held out his hand to the blond water user. Tsukiumi looked at the hand, flushed an even brighter shade of pink, then turned her head to the side in an effort to hide her blush as she laid her hand against Naruto's open palm.

Naruto's fingers curled around Tsukiumi's hand as he pulled her towards the bed. He crawled in and moved over to the side so Tsukiumi could crawl in as well.

"How do you normally sleep when you're alone?" Tsukiumi blinked at the question, confusion written clear in her eyes. Still, she answered him nonetheless.

"On my side."

"Lay on your side then, back facing me," Naruto ordered.

Normally, Tsukiumi would have rebuked his attempts at ordering her around, but the close proximity between her and her Ashikabi, and the fact that they were alone left her momentarily speechless. All she could do was do as she was told.

She laid down on her side, facing away from Naruto. Her legs curled up slightly and the arm resting against the bed found itself buried under the pillow Tsukiumi was using to rest her head on.

She heard shuffling from behind her. For a moment, she wondered what Naruto was doing. Was he going to take advantage of her? Was she finally going to get her wedding night?

Was she even ready for her wedding night?

Stupid question. Of course she was! It... it wasn't like she was embarrassed or anything. She was just ― a little of unsure of what she should do when Naruto finally made her a true woman.

Yes, that was it. This was going to be her first time being intimate with her husband. It was only natural to feel some trepidation. It was nothing for her to worry about. Just like she was the strongest Sekirei, she would show Naruto that she was also the best suited to... to...

Tsukiumi's mind promptly shut down when images that were not meant for minors flashed across her mind. Had she been, well, not partially brain dead from the erotic imagery in her head, she would have blamed Matsu on the fact that she was having such thoughts in the first place.

Damn that loquacious witch!

Her mind came back online just a few seconds later when she felt an arm slide across her torso. The act had her shivering and caused goosebumps to appear on her flesh, yet it also brought with it an incredible warmth that was both familiar and foreign. It was the same warmth she felt whenever she was thinking about her Ashikabi, or when she was close to him. Yet this was the first time he had been intimate with her in such a way.

At least, intimate with her and her alone. She couldn't really count all those other times they slept together because those concubines kept butting into her time with her husband.

"What the―?"

"Shh..." Naruto hushed her. Tsukiumi shivered. Not because he spoke to her, but because his voice was so close, close enough that his hot breath was hitting her neck and it was leaving chills in it's wake.

The feeling of his breath on her neck was followed by that of a muscular body being pressed against her back. Naruto muscular torso found itself snugly pressing against her back until there was not even enough space for oxygen to pass through.

His legs followed suit as well, curling slightly just under her own. And with Naruto's arm wrapped around her torso so tightly, it was clear there would be no escape for her.

Not that she wanted to escape. Even though she felt incredibly embarrassed by the proximity and equally aroused by it, the water user could not find it in herself to complain. Rather, the heat Naruto's body emitted was beginning to take it's toll, zapping her of her strength.

It felt very nice, this heat. Tsukiumi felt like she had been wrapped in a fleas blanket and it was making her eyelids very heavy.

"Good night, Tsukiumi."

The words did not reach Tsukiumi, who had already fallen asleep in her Ashikabi's arms.

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><p><strong>I would like to thank Arthain for letting me use his idea of the floating landmass where the final battle in the Sekirei Plan takes place actually being a piece of the Sekirei's homeworld. For those who have not read his story, I would suggest reading The Ninth Sekirei Pillar. It's a much better written story than my own. More original too. He doesn't follow the canon plot like I do.<strong>

**Now with that out of the way, please let me know what you think of this chapter. Good, bad, do you want to take a pitch fork and gank me in the stomach? All reviews both critical and ego boosting are welcome.**

**Also, do not forget to check out my blog. The link is on my profile.**


	27. Similarities Aren't Always Positive

**Chapter 27: Similarities Aren't Always Positive**

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><p>It was well into the night. The moon had risen in the sky several hours ago, it's soft rays barely illuminating the velvety darkness of space. Millions of stars offered the moon aid in granting some luminescence to the city below, tiny pinpricks of light that gathered along the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.<p>

Not that the stars could be seen from the office of Izumi Higa. Smack in the center of one of the heavier industrial districts in the western side of Shinto Teito, the millions of lights from cars and signs and office buildings meant that much of the starry view was blocked out. The smog from pollution did not help much either.

Higa's office was dark, for the most part. Only the light streaming in through the large window behind the desk and several blinking lights from the security cameras arrayed around the room offered any light to the room. It was just enough to make out the silhouette of the various objects resting throughout the large and opulent space.

Sitting by the door, in one of the few blind spaces of the many cameras, was a small, potted plant.

Of course, it wasn't really a plant, but it did look like one. At least, until it went up in a small puff of smoke, which soon cleared to reveal Naruto Uzumaki crouched down low like some kind of predatory feline waiting to pounce.

Almost as soon as he dropped the henge, the blond Uzumaki went through a string of handseals before activating his godfather's infamous invisibility jutsu. Jiraiya had come up with it in his youth so that he could spy on women when they were bathing.

Tōton jutsu or the Transparent Escape Technique was a surprisingly complex jutsu that bent light particles around the user to render them invisible. Because it wasn't a genjutsu, but a ninjutsu that relied on bending the light around a person or object to render them invisible, it worked on more than just animals and people.

With no fear of being seen by the many security cameras, Naruto stood up and walked over to the desk. Sitting down in the comfortable and ridiculously opulent chair, the ancient yet young looking Uzumaki reached out and turned on the personal computer of Izumi Higa.

The monitor light came on, followed by the screen lighting up. An array of text appeared as the computer went through the booting up process. Soon enough, the password screen to log onto the computer appeared.

Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular device with a small display screen and a USB plug dangling from a cable. Pressing the small button on the top, the screen lit up with a soft green light, prompting Naruto to plug it into the computer.

The device quickly went to work, running through a gauntlet of letters and numbers as it searched for the correct characters to unlock the computer. As the right character was found, the small screen would display it for him to see. In no time at all, the code was cracked: 1Mizuiagih1, not a very original password choice, but what else did one expect from a guy who lacked enough originality to come up with a better 'join me and we'll rule the world' type of speech?

As the monitor switched to the profile screen with a standard blue screensaver as the background, Naruto pulled device in his hands out and plugged a new device in. It was just a standard looking USB drive, though the program it contained was anything but standard.

Upon plugging this new device in, a small pop up window appeared. Naruto watched the loading bar fill up as he proceeded to download every file on the computer, even those that were heavily encrypted. When that was done, he pulled out a Hiraishin kunai and used it to teleport the object to the Hiraishin seal Naruto had drawn inside of the top right drawer within a hidden compartment on his desk.

With his task done, there was no more reason for him to stay. The shadow clone dispersed into a mass of smoke. When it cleared, the room looked just as it always had. No one would even realize someone else had been in it.

**XoX**

Waking up the next morning was a strangely interesting experience. You wouldn't think that waking up to a woman sleeping soundly in your arms was that interesting, but for Naruto, who had been so used to having all of his Sekirei minus Homura sleep with him every night, it was.

Naruto found himself lying on his side. That was the first thing he noticed that was different between now and when he usually woke up. Most of the time, he ended up falling asleep on his back and waking up on his back. It was the best way to ensure maximum mass was available so his Sekirei could each be in some form of physical contact with him.

The second thing Naruto noticed was Tsukiumi, the Sekirei he had fallen asleep with had, at some point during the night, turned around and was now facing him instead of facing away from them. As a consequence, one of his hands he was using to hold her had buried itself in her thick curtain of silky blond hair. The other was attached firmly to her small, perfectly formed left cheek.

Tsukiumi's arms had also managed to work themselves around his torso. She was squeezing him tightly, not as tight as Musubi, but certainly enough that he could feel it. Her head had also tucked itself under his chin, and Naruto could feel both her nose and lips pressing against his collar bone. Every now and then she would purse her lips, almost like she was unconsciously trying to kiss him.

He had to admit... it felt nice. While this wasn't the first time he had woken up with a woman in his arms, or even the one thousandth time, it was still a very novel experience.

He suspected the bond was involved. Now that he was aware of it, Naruto had taken to studying how the bond worked. He still didn't have much, because none of the equipment he could use to test such a thing was available and wouldn't be for a while yet, but he had made careful observations from watching Uzume and Chiho as well as interacting with his own Sekirei.

One of the things Naruto noticed the most about the bond was that it got more powerful when in physical contact with the Sekirei you were bonded to. It was almost like acts if intimacy revved the bond and made it stronger. He was almost tempted to have sex with one of them just to see if the act made their bond anymore powerful than it already was. The only reason he didn't was because he did not want sex with his Sekirei, especially their first time, to be a science experiment and not an act of love.

Using the skills he had gained from spending many a night with a clingy woman, Naruto managed to successfully extricate himself from Tsukiumi's hold by replacing himself with a pillow. Sometimes, he really loved being a ninja.

Tsukiumi frowned as her mind appeared to subconsciously realize that the thing she was now holding was not Naruto, but thankfully, she did not wake up. Which meant he was free to get his day started.

Wanting to get some kind of exercise in, Naruto quickly got dressed in a pair of black pants made out of an absorbent material that stretched across his form like a second skin. Despite how tight they were, they were very comfortable.

Deciding not to bother with a shirt or shoes, he made his way downstairs and out onto the veranda.

"My, oh my," a voice that was tinged with equal parts amusement and lust spoke up. Naruto could actually hear the leer in her voice. "Look at what we have here."

Even though he didn't need to turn around to know who was talking, he did so anyways. It was no surprise to him when he saw Kazehana sitting down on the veranda, casually leaning back against the wall with a lazy posture. She was staring at him, taking in his body with her eyes. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would almost say she was actually eye raping him.

"Morning," Naruto greeted as he turned back and stepped onto the grass. Raising his arms above his head, he bent the left one at a ninety degree angle so that he could grab a hold of his right arm at the elbow and begin to pull, stretching out the latissimus dorsi muscle. "I didn't expect anyone else to be awake this early."

"I don't sleep much," Kazehana informed him, her eyes never leaving his chest and stomach as he went through a series of routine stretches. "It's difficult to sleep peacefully without a warm, loving body laying next to me."

"Is that so," Naruto assumed she meant it was hard for her to sleep without an Ashikabi. He had read up on his profiles and knew that this woman had actually tried to convince Minaka to become her Ashikabi, but he rejected her. After that, she left MBI and, according to reports, went on a world wide Sake tasting tour. "I wish I could say I knew how that felt."

The truth was, even before he met Musubi, he had never really been wanting for companionship. If he felt like finding some female to warm his bed at night, he would. It was as simple as that.

Of course, Kazehana was talking about love, something he had not experienced in about fourteen hundred years, and something he was only now beginning to re familiarize himself with. It probably wasn't fair to compare the two.

Kazehana snorted. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't, with all the Sekirei you're with." She took a long swig of her sake, swallowed, then gave a heavy sigh. "It must be nice being surrounded by so many people who love you."

Naruto thought about correcting her, but decided not to. There was really no point, and it wasn't like he owed her anything. If he wouldn't tell his own Sekirei or Miya about his past, then there was no way some random female who showed up on his doorstep would be learning it any time soon.

"I'm sure you'll find someone eventually," Naruto replied to her cordially as he finished stretching out his legs. Coming up to a standing position, the blond gave her one last look before heading further into the backyard. "Just because the first person you reacted to decided to reject you, does not mean everyone you react to will."

Curiously enough, Kazehana stood up and followed the blond as he walked over to the tree. "And what do you about my rejection?" she didn't seem angry, despite her words, just curious. "Do you know what it feels like to be rejected by the man you loved? The one you thought would be the single most important existence in your life?"

"Considering I'm a male, and straight, I can't say I know how it feels to be rejected by a man," Naruto spoke dryly as he planted his hands on the ground exactly shoulder width apart, drew his feet up onto the trunk and made sure they were secure, then began doing push ups. He did not bother to count, as he had no need to anymore. Instead, he would keep going until he was tired.

For some reason, Kazehana actually seemed to find his snarky reply amusing. She snickered a bit, before plopping herself down in the grass to sit cross legged several feet away from him as he worked out.

Several long moments passed before either one of them spoke again. Naruto had begun to work up a light sweat, and Kazehana was simply too busy admiring his glistening body to speak. It seemed that even if she wasn't reacting to him, the woman at least knew how to appreciate an attractive male specimen when found.

"I noticed you never mentioned anything about knowing what rejection feels like," Kazehana pointed out after some time. Her words caused Naruto to stop doing push ups and crane his neck to look at her.

"No," he said at last, then got back to doing more push ups. "I suppose I didn't."

Kazehana frowned as she watched Naruto complete his work outs. He was very methodical in how he exercised, working fast enough that his heart rate stayed high, but never so fast that he could not complete an exercise without cutting corners. It was actually very impressive to watch a human (at least to Kazehana's eyes) complete over two thousand reps of each exercise correctly and still not even look anything more than mildly winded.

"So do you know what it feels like?" Kazehana asked Naruto as he finished up all of the exercises he had begun dong each morning. Now he just had to take a bath before Miya woke up so they could begin their routine.

The blond stood still for a moment, considering the woman in front of him for a moment.

"There was a young boy once, who thought he knew what love was," the blond began. "For the longest time this boy had a crush on this one girl in his class. Everyday this boy would ask the girl out and everyday her answer would be the same." Naruto chuckled mirthlessly. "No."

"So what did the boy do?" asked Kazehana, already enraptured by the small tale. "Did he give up?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "The boy refused to give up, refused to believe that this girl would never be interested in him. And so he kept trying, kept asking her out to the point where the girl would actually get annoyed with him and hit him every time he did so. Even still, this did not deter the boy. He continued to doggedly chase after her."

"Of course, the girl was in love with someone else, another classmate of theirs. Like all the other girls in their class, she had a crush on the school star, a boy who was consecutively at the top in class as well as possessing those dark, mysterious and bishounen good looks some women go for. To top it all off, he had a very tragic past, being the sole survivor of a family that was massacred. And so, while the boy chased after the girl, the girl chased after someone else entirely. Someone who, much like the girl kept rejecting the boy, kept on rejecting her in the same manner."

Naruto paused for a moment in his story telling, not for any need to increase tension, but simply to remember those simpler times. Things back then had been so much easier. He had never had to think of anything other than getting stronger, beating Sasuke and convincing Sakura why he was so much better than their black haired, black eyes teammate. Even with going through things like an A-rank mission while he was still a genin and fighting against Sannin and Bijuu alike, those times remained some of the most simple and lighthearted days of his life.

There was a reason he often kept the earliest memories of his past closer to his heart than the more recent ones, which were filled with more abject failures than he could count.

"Sounds like they had a very odd dynamic among them," Kazehana mused when the silence became too unbearable for her.

"That's one way of putting it," Naruto said dryly. "Dysfunctional would be closer to the truth, however. The boy the girl loved cared nothing for such an emotion. To him, love was a weakness. All he cared about was getting revenge on the person who killed his family. The girl thought she could heal the boys broken heart if she kept hounding him in the same way the boy who crushed on her kept doing, and that he would find succor in her loving embrace."

"And the boy who loved the girl?"

"He just wanted to be noticed," Naruto said. "He was one of those people who others tried to ignore because he was a reminder of a past tragedy that happened at the same time he was born. They pretended he didn't exist, so he did things to get noticed. It was his belief that if he could just get this girl, who was beautiful and smart, to fall in love with him, he would be able to prove to the people who thought he was nothing but a trouble maker that he did exist and they were wrong about him."

Kazehana frowned. "So he didn't love her? Was he just using her?"

"No, he did love her," Naruto corrected. "He loved her very much, but it wasn't until much later that he realized this. And it wasn't until much, much later that he realized what he felt wasn't the love one would feel for a spouse, but the love one feels for someone they consider family."

"In the end, the boy never did end up getting with his childhood crush." Naruto shrugged. "They became more akin to brother and sister and ended up supporting each other through all the hardships they faced together." At least, they did until the girl died tragically by the hands of the very man she claimed to love. But that was a different story, and not one he would tell this woman.

As Naruto began to walk back into the house, Kazehana's voice once more caused him to stop. "Did the boy ever find love?"

Naruto stopped, turned his head and looked at her. There was a smile on his face, but even it could not hide the tinge of bitterness in his eyes. "He did, but it wasn't until much later that he found it. And of course, as is the case with most things in life, the love he found did not endure and, much like winter causes the autumn bloom to wither and die, this love eventually shriveled up until there was nothing left."

**XoX**

"Come on, Chiho-baby! You're doing really good!"

Chiho blushed as she continued walking with the assistance of the young man in front of her. It probably had something to do with the way Uzume was cheering her on. That girl was seriously loud, especially when it was something she couldn't help but be excited over. Naruto could see why Chiho would be embarrassed by her Sekirei, even though they were the only three in the room.

"Just ignore her," Naruto said as he tried to keep Chiho's attention on him. Chiho's muscles had finally gotten to the point where they could begin working on getting her body back into shape. Currently, this involved Naruto walking backwards in a circle around Chiho's and Uzume's room while holding the younger Ashikabi's hands to keep her from losing her balance. Already, they had done a good number of laps, more than the last time, so he knew she was improving. "Uzume's just allowing her childishness to get the best of her."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, bro," Uzume said from her place behind Chiho. Her job was to make sure that her Ashikabi did not fall over or anything. If she did, then it was her job to keep him from falling over by catching her before she could hit the ground.

Of course, Uzume being Uzume, was using this time as an excuse to stare at her Ashikabi's ass. The girl was quite perverted like that.

"I'm not being childish," the pony tailed Sekirei continued, her eyes still focused solely on her Ashikabi's cute little derriere. The girl was practically salivating even though Chiho was only wearing a pair of jeans. Naruto could see the busty brunette stripping the younger girl with her eyes as if they had X-ray vision. Too bad she wasn't a Hyuuga. "I can assure you, my thoughts right now are anything but childish."

"U-U-Uzume-chan!" It seemed Chiho was capable of reading her Sekirei's mind, or at least reading the mood. She knew exactly what Uzume was thinking. "Must you always say such embarrassing things?"

Uzume's unrepentant grin may have gone unnoticed by Chiho, but Naruto certainly saw it. "You know you like it."

"Th-That's not the point," Chiho muttered with an embarrassed blush. Her eyes traveled up to Naruto, then looked away again just as quickly.

"Oh hoh!" Uzume grinned victoriously, as if she could sense what her Ashikabi had done. She may very well be able to. Naruto did not know how powerful the Sekirei bond could become, but he would not disregard the possibility of experiencing shared vision. "So you're just embarrassed that I'm talking about this in front of bro here? Could it be that Chiho is embarrassed by our talk from yesterday?"

At the mention of yesterday, Chiho's blush went atomic. She also ended up losing her footing due to her not paying attention to where she was walking and ended up accidentally tripping over her own feet. This resulted in her falling forward, directly into Naruto's well muscled chest.

"Woah there," Naruto caught the girl easily enough. It was a simple matter to wrap his arms around the tiny girl's thin waist.

Of course, this did not help Chiho's situation as she found her head being pressed directly against Naruto's chest. From where she was, Chiho could feel and hear Naruto's heartbeat as it thumped against her ear. It was much different than her own heartbeat, which felt like it was going so fast it would explode.

"Are you alright?" asked Naruto. The girl didn't respond, mainly because she had lost the ability to speak.

She did, however, nod against his chest. It wasn't much, but he supposed it was better than getting nothing.

Naruto looked over at Uzume, who was staring at the two of them with a grin. He knew she had planned this. Or at least, tried to bring about a scenario similar to this. The last Uzumaki did not know if it was due to her own perverted desires, or if she was just playing a prank on her Ashikabi. Both were viable possibilities.

"I think we're done for the day," Naruto said, still holding Chiho against his chest. It wasn't like he could do much else anyways. It seemed the girl's legs had turned to jelly at some point and were no longer supporting her.

"Well damn," Uzume cursed, though the grin on her face told him she was not too upset. Yep, she was definitely pranking her Chiho. "And here I was thinking we could go on for a little while longer. Maybe if we kept at this long enough, Chiho-baby could finally give into her desires and the two of us could ravage you."

"MEEP!"

Letting out a mouse like squeak, Chiho jerked backwards, out of Naruto's hands as she tried to get away from the blond in as quickly as she could. Naturally, since her legs had already given out on her, this caused her to fall backwards, directly into Uzume.

"Well, hello there, beautiful," the number ten grinned at her Ashikabi partner as her arms wrapped around the girl's lithe waist, her hands resting on Chiho's stomach. Skilled fingers began to gently caress the girl through her clothes, eliciting an embarrassed moan from the girl. "You must have missed me so much that you couldn't wait to be back in my arms again, am I right?"

It was actually kind of amusing to watch the girl's reaction to her Sekirei's ministrations. First, she turned beat red, then her entire body seemed to shudder from head to toe, and finally, she relaxed so completely that it looked like she had passed out. Only the lyrical sigh that escaped her lips and the glazed over eyes let him know she was still awake, sort of, she just wasn't all there.

"Could you please not seduce your Ashikabi while I'm still here?" Naruto asked dryly. He was both amused and surprised when Chiho did not even respond to his words. She was really out of it. Uzume must have incredibly talented hands to accomplish such a feat. "I would rather you at least wait until I leave."

"What's the matter, bro?" Uzume gave him a lecherous leer. "I thought you liked this kind of stuff. You could use it as inspiration for your next story." Her eyes became half lidded and her grin turned positively seductive. "Maybe you could even join us. I'm sure a big, strong, man like you can handle two girls at once."

"I could handle well over a dozen girls at once," Naruto freely admitted without an ounce of pomposity. Uzume actually blinked at the completely undeceitful tone. "But unfortunately, if I were to do that, you and poor Chiho would end up being on the receiving end my own Sekirei's fury." He gave her an exaggerated wink. "And I'm sure you don't want to deal with Musubi when she's angry. I hear she can be quite scary."

Uzume guffawed loudly at this. "Get out of here you, before I change my mind and decided to just rape you."

Naruto chuckled a bit before leaving the room. It was always fun hanging out with Uzume. The girl reminded him a bit of himself when he was younger. At least personality wise. Always having a good time and laughing, and she was a prankster to boot.

Making his way to the veranda, Naruto found Akitsu and Kusano outside in the backyard where they usually were. Naruto had tasked the girl to make the flowers in the back grow and shrink as a basic training exercise for her powers. So far she could make them grow, but not shrink.

Akitsu was there to make sure the Green girls powers did not go out of control.

Plus, she seemed to enjoy spending time with the tiny tot.

"Akitsu, Ku-chan," Naruto walked over to the two as both turned to face him. Akitsu's face remained mostly bland, only the way her eyes lit up at the sight of him would reveal how happy she was to see him to anyone who was not bonded to her like he was.

"Ah." A pause. "Ashikabi-sama."

Kusano's reaction was much more enthusiastic.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chaaaaaan~!"

Like a heat seeking missile, the tiny blond girl smashed full tilt into the older blond male. It was a good thing Naruto had ninja like reflexes (pun very much intended), and was able to scoop her up before she could actually damage herself by doing something like smashing her face into his shin.

He had very hard shins.

"Onii-chan!" Kusano said excitedly, her eyes sparkling with the kind of enthusiasm only a child could muster. "Ku-chan made the pwants shrink! They got smaller!"

"Did they?" Naruto cast a quick glance over at Akitsu, who correctly interpreted the look and gave an almost imperceptible nod. He quickly focused his attention back on Kusano and flashed her a proud smile. "That's very good, Ku-chan. Pretty soon, you'll be as strong Aki-nee in no time." Finishing this, he planted a small kiss on her forehead, causing the young blond to flush with warmth at the praise and contact.

She really did love her onii-chan.

As the little girl buried her face in Naruto's shoulder, the Uzumaki in question turned to look at Akitsu.

"I'm making lunch. Would you like to join me?"

Akitsu tilted her head for a moment, then gave a very small, almost completely unnoticeable smile.

"Yes."

As the two made their way back inside, Naruto immediately noticed that Kusano's breathing had evened out. She was asleep.

Sighing, Naruto frowned for a moment as he closed his eyes. Within his minds eye, he could make out several different chakra signatures.

Mind's eye of the Kagura was an ability developed by the Uzumaki clan long ago for those who had developed a natural sensing ability. Uzumaki who were particularly talented sensors like Karin had actually managed to develop that ability on her own.

Naruto was not a natural sensor. In fact, except for his ability to sense the negativity and intent to harm from others due to his unique circumstances, he had no natural sensing ability to speak of.

Thank god for Kage Bunshin's.

With his ability to now use Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Naruto was more than capable of sensing everyone in the house without needing to rely on Sage Mode.

His own Sekirei were the easiest to find. Tsukiumi was in the bath house. Judging from the way her chakra was fluctuating, he deduced that she was using her abilities over water to clean the room. Knowing her, she was also more than likely complaining about it as well. She never liked doing chores, feeling they were beneath her. Matsu was in her little hidden room, typing away on her computer. She was likely accessing all of the files his clone had downloaded from Izumi Higa last night. Homura was in his room. With his mind's eye technique, Naruto could tell that the fire user was reading a book of some kind. And finally, Musubi was out front, watering the flowers on either side of the walkway leading to the entrance.

Then there were the other Sekirei in the house. Plus one other Ashikabi. Uzume and Chiho were still in their room. From what he could derive from their chakra, the two were in the middle of a very heavy make out session. If he was reading the signs right, and he really hoped he was, Uzume was currently grinding herself against Chiho's leg and fondling her Ashikabi's right breast as they played a game of tongue tug of war. It was incredibly hot. Were Naruto a lesser man, the sight his chakra reading allowed would have given him a massive hard on.

The only other person in the house right now was Kazehana, who was technically not in the house because she was on the roof, drinking sake. Miya wasn't home, having left earlier that day to visit her husbands grave. Apparently, it was the month anniversary of her husbands death and she would always visit the grave sight to pay her respects.

Thinking about Miya's need to visit her husbands grave reminded him of another person he knew that had trouble moving on from the past. Hatake Kakashi, his first sensei and the man who taught him what may have been one of the most important lessons he could have learned back then.

In truth, he had not been a very good sensei until after Naruto's return from his training trip with Jiraiya, but Naruto had never begrudged him for that. Kakashi was a person who had suffered far too much for someone so young; his father died after committing sepukku due to a mission gone wrong, Obito had died in Kakashi's mind from being crushed by a boulder, Kakashi had been forced to kill Rin after Kiri ninja sealed Isobu into her, and all this was followed by the death of his sensei, Naruto's own dad and the closest thing to a parental figure Kakashi ever had. And that wasn't even going to learning that Obito had actually survived and gone insane thanks to Uchiha Madara.

When Naruto was younger, he had always thought his sensei was tardy just so he could rile them up, it was only years later that he learned Kakashi was actually late because he would spend hours staring at the memorial statue wallowing in guilt.

Thankfully, Miya did not seem to be anywhere near as bad as Kakashi. Still, it did worry him a bit. Before Miya left, he had easily sensed the negative emotions rolling off her. He hoped she would not wallow in guilt like his first sensei had.

As if Naruto was one to talk.

Shaking his head, the blond immortal refocused on the task at hand. Since there was no one around and he knew that Matsu did not bug the hallways, the blond put his fingers up in a cross seal and muttered a quick, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," to create a clone, which he handed Kusano off to so he could put her to bed.

Turning, he looked at Akitsu, who had not reacted to the clones presence other than to blink. Out of all his Sekirei, she was the one he knew could keep a secret. He offered her a smile and stretched out his hand.

"Come on," he ordered. Akitsu looked at the hand, twin beacons of red appearing on her suddenly flushed cheeks, then took his hand in her own.

"Yes."

Making lunch that day was a bit easier than usual. Because everyone else had their assigned chores, it was just him and Akitsu, and as inefficient and slow as Akitsu was when it came to cleaning vegetables, her snail-like pace and methodical method of doing everything was perfect for stirring the broth he had made.

The two worked in complete silence. Neither really needed to speak to feel comfortable. Akitsu was usually silent anyways and Naruto had learned a long time ago that sometimes silence was more golden than any kind of noise could ever be.

"I'm really sorry about this, Karasuba-sama!"

Naruto's advanced hearing perked up at the sound of the front door open and closing, followed by Musubi's voice as she spoke with someone.

"It's fine," a benevolent voice replied. "I'm actually glad. It's nice to see you haven't changed, Mu-chan."

Naruto turned to look at Akitsu, who was still slowly stirring the pot of boiling noodle broth. It was unlikely she had heard the sound. "I need to get something," he told her. Akitsu looked up at him. "Could you watch the noodles while I'm gone?"

"Ah..." Akitsu looked down at where the noodles were being cooked, then back up at Naruto. She nodded, once. "Yes, Ashikabi-sama."

Naruto cast the snow woman a quick smile before walking out of the kitchen. He hurried his pace as he moved down the hallway. He could hear the sound of Musubi's incessant chatter as she and the woman she was with made their way up the stairs. Very soon, Naruto caught up with the pair and made his presence known.

"Musubi, there you are," he started, "I was just about to tell you that ― oh!" The blond paused and made himself sound properly startled. "It seems we have a guest." Hmm... that sounded an awful lot like something Miya would say.

"Naruto-sama!" Musubi greeted her Ashikabi cheerfully. "Naruto-sama, I want to introduce you to Karasuba-sama." She turned to look at her friend. "Karasuba-sama, this is my Ashikabi, Naruto-sama."

Musubi completely missed the reaction Karasuba had when she laid sight on Naruto, but Naruto most assuredly had not. All animals, be they human, Sekirei or otherwise, had instincts that caused them to react when in the presence of a predator much stronger than they are. Some reacted defensively, some made to distract and escape, and some reacted violently even if they knew they could not win.

Karasuba's reaction to his presence was very telling. There was an almost imperceptible widening of her gray eyes, her hand jerked down towards where Naruto assumed her katana would normally be situated but at the moment was not there, and her stance began shifting into that of a neutral pleasantness to combat ready. It was only for a moment though, and before Musubi could notice the change in her friends demeanor, the silver haired woman had reverted back to her amiable persona.

How interesting.

"So you're the famous miracle worker I've heard so much about," Karasuba said with a pleasant smile that reminded Naruto a little of Miya. The woman before him was, like all Sekirei, an extraordinary beauty. She had long silver that was tied into a pony tail (it was also dripping wet for some reason) and was wearing a tight black leather top and miniskirt, along with a pair of black stockings. Thrown over her shoulders was a gray haori with the Sekirei crest imprinted upon it. Much like her hair, her clothes were also soaking wet.

"So I've been told," Naruto said cheerfully. He bowed in greeting. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Karasuba-san."

Karasuba gave an amused smile as she copied his actions. "Likewise."

Naruto then turned to Musubi. "I just came up here to tell you that lunch will be ready in a few minutes. If you could also inform the others, that would be nice."

"Okay, Naruto-sama!" Musubi chirped happily.

"Your friend should also join us for lunch while her clothes are drying," Naruto continued, "I assume you are going to let her borrow one of your bathrobes."

"Yes!"

Naruto nodded as he looked at Karasuba, not giving any hint of what he was thinking away as he smiled at the woman. "When you have finished getting dressed, please come down to the dining room."

"Well, thank you, but I think I'm going to have to pass." If Karasuba was worried about her predicament, she was not giving anything away. Aside from that small moment at the beginning, which seemed to have made her slightly wary of him, she was not reacting in any way other than casual. "The landlady who owns this place doesn't really get a long with me, and I only came to see Mu-chan here. It would probably be best if I leave as soon as my clothes finish drying."

"Nonsense," Naruto's smile widened, so much so that his eyes were forced to squint shut. "You are a guest here, and I would like to know more about the person who Musubi-chan seems to hold in such high regard. Besides," he added, his lips pulling back in a grin that allowed just enough of his teeth to show to reveal the long, sharp, pointy canines he had. "Violence is not allowed at Maison Izumo. I doubt Miya-chan would break her own rules, even if she did come back to find someone she is not particularly fond of in her house."

Karasuba blinked for a moment, then began to chuckle. "Miya-chan? She actually lets you get away with calling her Miya-chan?" Naruto just continued to smile pleasantly, waiting for the woman to recover. When she did, Karasuba cast the blond an amused glance. "Alright then, I suppose I could stay for a few minutes. Just don't blame me if Miya comes back less than pleased."

"Oh, don't worry," Naruto replied, his eyes dancing. "I won't."

**XoX**

Lunch was an extremely tense affair. Everyone was sitting around the dining room table, even Matsu had come out (Naruto had managed to convince her with promises of extra experimentation), but only Naruto himself, Karasuba, Kusano and Musubi were actually eating. Tsukiumi was too busy protectively holding his arm to eat, Akitsu was too busy watching Karasuba like a hawk to even look at her food, Homura was also warily watching the swordswoman, even Kazehana did not seem to be hungry.

And Matsu? She was just too petrified to eat. Which made sense, since she was sitting with one of the few Sekirei who would have no compunctions about killing her and was working for MBI.

"This is really good," Karasuba said honestly as she twirled some of the noodles around her chopsticks. Placing the wooden utensils in her mouth, she easily ate up all the noodles on it. "I've had ramen before, but none of it ever really appealed to me."

"That's because the ramen you ate was probably half assed shit made by people who don't the first thing about making good ramen." Even the cup ramen in this day and age was just a poor imitation of the true delights that was ramen. It was just one more reason for him to hate humans, even if it was admittedly a childish reason. "This ramen was made using the secret recipe of a family who owned a ramen stand in the town I grew up in." Naruto moaned happily as he slurped up the strand of noodle that was sticking out of his mouth. "They were the best ramen makers in the entire world."

"You really like ramen, don't you?" Karasuba looked amused.

"Ramen is the food of the gods," Naruto said seriously. He looked serious too. Far more serious than any of his Sekirei had ever seen him. "There is no food that can compare with ramen."

Karasuba snorted into her bowl to hide her laugh. "Mu-chan certainly picked an interesting character to become her Ashikabi."

"Naruto-sama's amazing!" Musubi added. The girl had no trouble talking about her Ashikabi. "He's kind and strong and he can fight against Sekirei!"

"Can he now?" Karasuba turned a predatory gaze on Naruto, who continued eating as if he had not heard a word Musubi said.

"Musubi!" Tsukiumi hissed angrily as she leaned in to whisper into her friends ear. "You shouldn't give away our husbands abilities so easily!"

"Eh?" Musubi did not bother lowering her voice. "Why not?"

As Tsukiumi sputtered in surprise that Musubi actually needed someone telling her why she shouldn't reveal information to the enemy, Naruto ignored the pair as he answered the silver haired swordswoman. "It's not as hard as it looks. You Sekirei tend to look down on Ashikabis for being human. It's very easy to defeat a being much stronger than you are when that persons not even taking you seriously.

"Hmmm..." Karasuba smiled in response, taking a moment to eat some more ramen before speaking. "I suppose that is true..." Unspoken was that she probably knew otherwise. Naruto did not doubt that even now the last member of the original Discipline Squad was wary of him. Unlike Miya, who was more of a protector than anything else, Karasuba was clearly a killer, pure and simple. A cold blooded predator who got off on maiming others. Someone with that kind of record could no doubt sense his suppressed power, as well as the blood of the millions of people whose lives he personally ended on his hands.

"So why don't you tell me a little about yourself," Naruto invited. Karasuba smirked at him, her face making it clear that she was more than a little amused.

"My, how forward," she purred. It sounded more like the purr of a predator going in for the kill than a seductive purr used to tease. "Planning on trying to add me to your little group? Sorry to disappoint, but I already have an Ashikabi."

"I was doing nothing of the sort," Naruto didn't bother taking the bait. It wasn't worth it. "I merely wanted to know more about Musubi-chan's friend." He gave the silver haired Sekirei a cheerful smile. "That's all."

Karasuba tapped her chin, looking mock thoughtful. "What do you want to know?"

"Well," Naruto tapped his chin. "I already know a bit about you. You know, like the fact that you were one of the original five members of the first incarnation of the Discipline Squad, as well as that you are the current leader of the third incarnation and was also on the second incarnation under Yume. But I don't really know much more than that."

"Aren't you well informed," Karasuba smiled, her predatory eyes going over to Matsu, who gulped when she saw them land on her.

"It pays to know as much as possible about people I may be forced to compete against," was the answer she got.

"There's not much else to tell, to be honest," Karasuba finished her bowl of ramen and leaned back as she used her hands for support. "Most of what I do is involves my work in the Discipline Squad. I've got two noobies for partners and they constantly need me to hold their hands. My life is pretty much consumed with my work."

It looked like he wasn't going to get anything useful out of this woman after all. Everything she told him was something he already knew. How disappointing.

"That's a bit disappointing," Naruto did not seem all that sympathetic. Mainly because he wasn't. It's not like he actually cared about this woman, but it would have been interesting to learn about the person who, for all intents and purpose, was the boogie man ― or was that woman? ― for most Sekirei. "So you don't have any hobbies or anything?"

"I do have a few," Karasuba admitted with a grin, "But I think most of them are a bit too... mature for this audience." As she finished speaking, the so far well mannered killer cast a glance over at Chiho, who was seated directly behind Uzume just in case she decided to attack.

Naruto also cast a glance at Chiho, though unlike with Karasuba where she hid herself behind Uzume even more, she ended up flushing under his gaze.

"I guess," Naruto said with a sigh. He perked up a second later. "Well, whatever." He then cast a glance at all the other Sekirei sitting around the table, frowning as he noticed that none of them had even touched their food. Now that just would not do.

Suddenly, all light seemed to get sucked into a black void that appeared behind Naruto. An inky darkness that was even darker than the deepest shade of black surrounded the blond as a terrible and terrifying malevolence made itself known. This caused dark shadows to be cast upon the blond's face, presenting a terrifying balance of harsh angles and negative space on the planes of his face.

"**I suggest that you not let this delicious ramen go to waste,"** Naruto's voice said, sounding distorted. It was a deep, terrifying baritone with a sharp growl that made one think they were in the presence of a horrible and malevolent god sent to kill them all. It did not help that there was a strange entity behind his back, one that they had never seen before.

None of his Sekirei could have prepared for it. This feeling of absolute dread, like they were standing within the presence of a beast whose mere whims would determine whether they lived or died. It was too much.

Chiho had buried her face completely in her Sekirei's bosom, having somehow maneuvered so that she was seated on Uzume's lap. In return, Uzume was hiding her face in Chiho's hair. Sitting next to them, Musubi and Kusano were holding tightly onto a petrified Homura, who was staring at the _thing _behind Naruto like it was something out of a Lovecraft novel.

On either side of him, both Tsukiumi and Akitsu had moved away and somehow found themselves in the arms of a gawking Kazehana, whose face had paled like she had just seen a ghost. Or a very scary apparition that was so far beyond comprehension that the very reality her beliefs had been based on were shattered.

When no one did as he 'suggested', Naruto growled.

"**WELL!?"**

The reaction was instantaneous. All those who had not been eating, were now eating with the kind of enthusiasm never seen before. It was like they were possessed.

Naruto's smile turned genial again, the darkness dispersed, the stars realigned, and all seemed to be right with the world.

He looked over at Karasuba. "Aren't you going to finish eating, Karasuba?"

Karasuba blinked. Slowly, she brought her hand away from where it was currently trying to grip a sword that was not there. She sat back down, her expression one of stumped befuddlement.

What the hell had just happened?

"Good," Naruto's smile widened. "Eat up everyone. I would hate for this ramen to go to waste. Would**n't you?"**

**XoX**

After dinner, Karasuba said her goodbyes to Musubi, asking the naïve shrine maiden if she still remembered their promise. Naruto was curious, but decided not to pry. If Musubi wanted to tell him, she would.

As soon as the so called Black Sekirei was gone, most of the Sekirei inside of the dining room regained some of their courage. One of them just happened a particularly opinionated fire user.

"What... what the hell was _that_!?" His emphasis on 'that' made it clear to everyone what he talking about. As if his emphasizing the word 'that' did not make it clear enough, he also made wild hand gestures at Naruto.

Said blond tilted his head as he stared at the glaring Homura in confusion.

"What was what?"

"Don't you what was what me! What was that... that..." Homura gestured over at something behind Naruto, who turned his head around to look behind him in confusion. "... That thing! That creature! That monster! What was it!?"

"It was more terrifying than Miya's hannyas," Uzume sounded like she didn't know whether to be horrified or awed by what she had seen. "I didn't think anything could be scarier than those things. It didn't even have bleeding eyes!"

"Husband," Tsukiumi swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I too am curious to know what that... creature, was."

Naruto blinked, then blinked again. After a few seconds, he smiled, his eyes closing as his whisker marks stretched across his face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Homura's right eye began to twitch violently while Uzume looked at Naruto in horror.

"Oh no," she whispered, "Please don't tell me we've got another Miya on our hands. Please."

"Tch," Homura growled a bit before standing up. "I'm going to take a bath," he declared. Having said this, he spun on his heels and marched off, presumably towards the bath house.

"Me thinks Homura's a little angry," Naruto commented airily.

"Gee, ya think?" Uzume's voice was so laden in sarcasm it couldn't even be sarcasm. Naruto gave her a small grin.

"So... think he's PMSing? Maybe it's that time of the month for him."

Uzume chuckled while the others who knew what that was reacted with various forms of indignation, namely Tsukiumi and Chiho, as Musubi and Kusano did not know what PMS was and Kazehana just didn't care.

"Hehehe... that time of the month... hahaha... bro, you are so awesome!"

"I know."

It was just another day at Maison Izumo.

**XoX**

Naruto sighed as he found himself sitting outside on the grass, his back leaning against the tree as he stared at the growing colors of dusk.

Miya had returned home in something of a fit. From the way she had been stomping into the house, muttering curses under her breath, the blond could only assume she had met Karasuba sometime before arriving home. There seemed to be some bad blood between them, though Naruto was not sure why, and he wasn't about to ask either. It wasn't like whatever had happened between them was any business of his.

Still, with Miya so angry, he had decided it may be best to stay out of the house until she calmed down. He doubted she would do anything to him or anyone else for Karasuba being there, but Naruto knew from experience that when a woman was angry, it was best to give them some space to calm down, lest they snap at you for the littlest of things.

Yes, it was much better to just not be inside at all while Miya was raging. Safer that way too.

"There you are, Naruto-sama!"

"Musubi," Naruto greeted as the busty young woman walked up to him and sat down in seiza directly in front of him, their knees practically touching. "Is something up?"

"Musubi just wanted to tell you that Ku-chan has been put to sleep." That girl slept a lot. She had already had a several hour nap this afternoon before Karasuba arrived. Then again, she was a little girl of six. They needed more rest than adults.

The sound of a helicopter's propeller chopping through the air caused the pair to look up to see a pair of MBI military grade choppers. Ever since Minaka declared Shinto Teito locked down, MBI's military had been completely mobilized.

Minaka must really be getting into this. Sending out military grade helicopters to do sweeps across the city couldn't be easy. Shinto Teito was a big place. It would take at least several dozen helicopters to do a proper sweep of the city.

Of course, the ground forces were being mobilized to, which really just meant more troops that people would have to be wary of.

Naruto wondered how long it would be before the next stage began.

"Hey!" Naruto looked over at Musubi to see the girl's face light up as she realized something. "This is the first time Musubi and Naruto-sama have been alone in a while, isn't it?"

Naruto tilted his head as he realized she was right. He had not been alone with Musubi for a good while now. With all that had happened, this was not so surprising. They had been rather busy recently.

"I guess it is."

"Then this is the best time."

"Best time for what?" Naruto furrowed his brows as Musubi gazed at him.

"This is something Musubi wanted to tell you about, but there was never a good time," the Shrine Maiden told him, sounding surprisingly serious despite still speaking in third person. "It's about a promise I made with Karasuba-sama."

"I see," Naruto perked up. This was interesting. He knew a little bit about Musubi's past with Karasuba from the reports Matsu managed to swipe from MBI's database, but there was surprisingly little information on it. Someone had deleted the files and what few remained were sketchy at best. "What was the promise?"

"That Karasuba-sama and I would be the last two Sekirei standing, and that we would fight during the last stage to prove which one of us is right."

A single eyebrow rose on Naruto's face questioningly. Her words had sparked his curiosity.

"Right about what?"

"Karasuba-sama has always told me that humans are an unnecessary species," she started. Naruto blinked. That was an interesting bit of information. Surprisingly enough, a part of Naruto agreed with Karasuba. But then, Naruto knew he was being biased.

Besides, even if he didn't like humans, he didn't want to kill them. The blond was lonely enough as it was. There was no need killing off the only species that could keep him company.

"But I don't think they're unnecessary at all. We need humans to survive." She gave a gentle smile as she looked at him. "You are my Ashikabi and a human. Just by being with you, I know that I am right. I want Karasuba to realize this too."

Naruto wondered what she would say if he told her the truth. Genetically speaking, the body he lived in was a human body, possessing all of the muscles, bones and organs that human bodies had, but he could no longer truly be considered human. He had stopped thinking of himself as human a long time ago.

"But that's not the only thing I want to do," Musubi exclaimed. "I want to free all of the Sekirei who have been defeated." She clenched her fist and brought it up to her face as a solemn expression graced her fair features. "Being separated from their Ashikabi's is a fate I would not want to befall anyone. That's why I'll be the last Sekirei standing."

There was something niggling in the back of his mind. Naruto could not help but think that there was something familiar about Musubi's speech. He recognized it from somewhere... now if only he could remember where...

"I love you so much, Naruto!"

The exclamation startled Naruto out of his introspection. He looked up to see Musubi gazing at him with an expression he had seen many times before in the past few months. Her eyes were warm and her cheeks were pink. The smile on her face made his heart hammer against his chest.

While he was distracted by the girl's look, Musubi grabbed his hand and brought it to her chest. She placed it against her so that his palm was pressing against the swell of her bosom. Naruto could feel her nipple hardening under his fingers from the simple contact, and at the same time, an electric feeling raced from the tips of his fingers all the way to his toes.

"Do you feel that?" asked Musubi, her breathing had picked up and made the words sound far more sensual than they had any right to. It was even worse since he knew this was not her intention. "Can you feel how fast my heart is beating?"

"I can," Naruto whispered. Despite the size of Musubi's breasts, he could easily feel the increase of her heart rate. The tune of her heart was playing a thunderous beat, much like his own.

"My heart is beating like this because of all the love that I feel here," Musubi continued. "I'm grateful. Not just for this great house, but for all of you here. For Miya, and Ku, Matsu, Tsukiumi and Akitsu. And of course, you, Naruto-sama." She looked down, missing the expression of surprise that crossed Naruto's face. "This feeling that I have, this overwhelming love for all the people that I am blessed to have in my life. I want Karasuba to feel it too. She doesn't know how wonderful this feeling is. So I want to convince her to open her heart and experience this wonderful feeling."

Her words struck Naruto like a lightning bolt. Realization crossed his mind. He finally figured out why Musubi had seemed to familiar to him when they first met. Why she reminded him of someone, even if he could not remember who.

She was like him. If Akitsu reminded him of Haku, then Musubi reminded him of himself. Of how he used to be before the weight of several thousand years worth of failures set in and made him what he was today. The words were different, but the meaning and dedication she had.

"_You and your dumb arguments! That's something I really hate about you! Quit it with your stupid reasoning! I meant to say that I'll stand any pain for my friends! I'm not gonna give up on them! Maybe I'm just being selfish, but… not having my friends here… is the most painful thing for me. **Period!**_"

Love. Musubi believed that love was the ultimate power. That protecting the people you loved was what gave you strength. That by having people to love in your life gave you meaning.

"_I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word! That's my __nindō__: my ninja way!_"

Even their mannerisms were almost identical. Naruto had never been the smartest of people back then. He would even admit that he had been an idiot.

Growing up all alone, being forced to fend for himself and having no familial figures meant that no one was there to teach him the life lessons that were left to parents. In the same way that he had been a naïve idiot, Musubi's isolated life at MBI had made her grow up to be similar to him. Naïve and kind of air headed in all the ways that mattered.

And yet for all her naivety, she had an unbending will, an indomitable spirit that refused to back down no matter what she faced. Even if she were confronted with overwhelming odds, Musubi would recklessly charge in head first because she believed that she could take on the world so long as the people she loved were by her side.

Just like he had, so long ago.

"_I don't care who I have to fight… If he rips my arms off, I'll kick him to death. If he rips my legs off, I'll bite him to death. If he rips my head off, I'll stare him to death. And if he gouges out my eyes, I'll curse him to death… Even if I'm torn to shreds… I will take Sasuke back!_"

And if Musubi was like him, than Karasuba was her Sasuke. Lost in her own darkness, unable to see the light. Musubi was willing to fight in order to prove to her friend that she was wrong to hate humans. She was willing to take in her friends hatred in the hopes that her friend would be able to get over her hatred.

They were so similar. Her story was one he was intimately familiar with because he had already lived her life.

Did that mean her story would end in the same way? Destined for failure? Unable to make her friend see how wrong she was? Would Musubi be forced to watch as all that she had worked towards, all that she cherished burn in a conflagration of war and hatred?

"Naruto-sama?" Musubi's startled and concerned voice snapped Naruto out of his daydreams. He looked up to see the brown haired beauty staring at him in concern.

"Yes? Is something wrong?"

"Are... are you alright?"

Naruto blinked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

In response to his question, Musubi reached out with a single hand and gently swiped her finger along his cheek under his eye. She then brought the hand up for him to exam.

"You're crying."

She was right. There, sitting idly on her finger was a small droplet of water. Naruto stared at the liquid like it was a foreign object, then reached up to his face and realized that yes, he was actually crying. The realization just made him produce more tears, even as confusion set in.

Why? The question echoed in his mind. It had been so long since he last shed tears. Fourteen hundred years, to be precise. Since then, he had promised himself he would never allow himself to get hurt enough to cry again. So why was he doing so now?

"Naruto-sama?"

He looked up. Musubi was growing more concerned by the second as he didn't answer her. The worried expression on her face caused his heart to clench.

"Naruto-sama? Are you ― eh!?"

Grabbing Musubi by both shoulders, Naruto pulled her forward. His legs spread apart so that she could fall between them. The Shrine Maiden with the fetish for fighting found herself being embraced by her Ashikabi. His hands slid down her shoulders to move underneath her arms where they proceeded to wrap tightly around her waist.

After a moment's surprise, Musubi returned the hug. Her arms came up and rested against his shoulders, elbows tilted at a ninety degree angle so her hands could bury themselves in his spiky strands of blond hair. She used those hands to pull his head down so that his chin was resting on her shoulder, their cheeks almost touching.

Musubi. It had to be Musubi. Her life was so close to his own past that he couldn't help but pity her. He felt sorry because he did not think she would be able to save her friend. These tears, they were for her.

"Naruto-sama?" her voice was quiet. "Are you okay?"

How could he okay when he had been unable to save his own best friend from darkness? How could he possibly be alright when all he could think after hearing this was how impossible Musubi's task was? He was most definitely not okay.

"I'm fine, Musubi," he lied. "Just fine."

**XoX**

It was a strange evening. For starters, Miya had found herself washing the dishes on her own. That was actually very unusual these days. Often times, even when Naruto did not cook, he would help her wash the dishes. That, or she would force one of his Sekirei to wash the dishes. But not today. This time, he had left almost as soon as dinner was finished, presumably to take a bath. She had thought about... convincing, one of his Sekirei to help, but they had all seemed so preoccupied that she just couldn't find it in her to do so.

And speaking of Naruto, he was another reason this evening had been so strange.

After getting home, Miya had not been in a very pleasant mood. She'd had a run in with that disgusting woman, Karasuba, and nearly come to blows. Had it not been for the fact that neither had a sword on them, it probably would have.

A good thing neither had a weapon. Her boarding house would have been destroyed if they did... as well as most of Shinto Teito.

Not wanting anyone to bother her while she was angry and inadvertently push her buttons, Miya had secluded herself in the kitchen almost as soon as she got home. Because of this, she had not seen Naruto all day. Maybe that explained why she had been unaware of the strange melancholy that surrounded him until dinner.

A frown marred her face as she thought of dinner that night. It had been far too quiet for her tastes. Usually, dinner at Maison Izumo was always so loud and rambunctious. If Miya were honest, she rather liked how lively it was now. The way everyone conversed at the table, the amusing arguments between Tsukiumi and Musubi, and even Uzume's lecherous intentions towards her Ashikabi brought a warm feeling to her chest. She could not help but think that this was what a family should be like.

That was not how today went. It may have started out like that, when it was just Uzume, Chiho and Kazehana waiting at the table, but the moment everyone else had joined, it had become deathly quiet. Not even Uzume and Musubi, the two most cheerful people she knew were willing to speak. Even Kusano seemed to sense the atmosphere and ate quietly.

The reason for the atmosphere was, of course, the blond haired enigma known as Naruto. His entire countenance at the dinner table had been vastly different from what she had grown used to. She wouldn't go so far as to say he was gloomy or depressed or anything like that, but there had definitely been a sense of melancholy and maybe even numbness surrounding him.

She had watched him for much of the dinner and determined that the reason for this was Musubi. Throughout the entire time they were eating, Naruto had constantly looked over at the normally happy-go-lucky girl, his expression one that was both thoughtful and sad. Something had happened between the two between the time she left to visit her husbands grave and the time she finished cooking dinner.

A sigh escaped her lips as she finished scrubbing the pan she had used to bake the glazed terryiaki chicken in. She wanted to ask Naruto about what was bothering him, but was almost positive he would not tell her. Even though he had become much more friendly and open with everyone at Maison Izumo, he was still a very closed off person when it came to talking about his feelings or past. She could count the number of times he'd actually gave in and confided in her about anything on one hand and still have fingers left over.

The only thing she could do was offer her support. As much as it bothered her to not be capable of helping someone who was clearly suffering in some way, it just wasn't possible to help them when they refused to open up at every turn.

As Miya finished cleaning the dishes and proceeded to dry her hands on a small towel, the doorbell rang.

"Oh my," she said to herself, "Who could be coming at this hour?"

Deciding to find out, Miya made her way to the front door and opened it up.

"Good evening," she greeted politely as she looked at the two people standing before her. The first was a rather plain looking boy with brown hair and green eyes. He was very skinny, almost frail looking. Combine that with the bags under his eyes and it looked to Miya like this poor boy had been run ragged.

The other person was someone who she, while not intimately familiar with, was at the very least, someone she knew by presence alone. She was a very petite girl with short, messy blond hair and blue eyes. Like her partner, she was also looked like she had been forced to go several days without sleep. The poor girl was even swaying like she was about to collapse.

She was also a Sekirei. As a pillar, Miya could sense all the little birds under her care, and this one was definitely one of hers.

"Oh my," raising a hand to her lips, she began to play the part of a concerned hostess. "Are you two alright? You look exhausted. Why don't you come in and sit down while I make a cup of tea and you two can explain your situation to me."

The male of the two blinked, then looked at his Sekirei, Kuno if she was not mistaken. After a moment or two, the brunette boy grabbed his Sekirei's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Thank you," he said, looking very relieved. Miya judged that the boy had been on the run for a while now and was nearing his last leg. It was clear to her that both of them had been running from something, or maybe someone, and had not gotten much sleep because of it. Had she not been the kind of person who would never turn away someone in need of help, they may have very well not survived to see another day.

"It's no problem," Miya smiled as she moved aside and opened the door wider so as to let the two walk into the boarding house. "Come on, I'll show you to the living room so that you can relax some and tell me what brought you here." She could tell these two had come here with a purpose. What that purpose was, Miya did not know, but she knew their arrival at this boarding house was not a coincidence.

The only question she wondered about as she guided her new guests into the living room, was whether that purpose would bring fortune or misfortune on those of her household. She hoped it was the former, but with how things had been happening around here, she would not be surprised if it was the latter. The only thing Miya could do was pray that nothing bad happened to those under her care.

Absently, her mind went out to Naruto. More than anything else, she did not want something happening to him.

She brushed aside the soft warmth his name brought with nary a thought. He was her tenant, and someone she was respected greatly. It was only natural she would worry for him.

Right?

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, here is the next installment. I've pretty much just set up the next arc in this chapter, so you all have something to look forward to.<strong>

**And remember, read, review, check out my blog. Not exactly three simple words, but I think it gets the point across.**


	28. A Reason to Help Someone

**Chapter 28: A Reason to Help Someone**

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up not to the light of the sun streaming in his room, but to the illumination of nearly a dozen computer monitors. They flashed across his face and eyes, causing white spots to appear in his vision. Yet his eyes quickly adjusted to the light as his supernatural regenerative abilities kicked in. after that, it did not take him much time to realize where he was. He had spent a good deal of time in this place whenever it was time for a strategy or information gathering session.<p>

He was in Matsu's room. Last night had been her night to sleep with him. To be honest, he had kind of been dreading the moment they would share a bed together because he was sure she would want more of what they had done the other day. Thankfully, she had decided they would not do anything sexual... well, anything _too _sexual in nature.

"_What we did was amazing and Matsu will always treasure it, but the next time we do something, Matsu doesn't want it to be some kind of reward or obligation that you feel you have to give her."_

Those had been her words. Naruto had thought they were kind of touching.

Looking around, Naruto saw that all of the monitors were turning on. They likely had some kind of timer where they turned on and off at a certain time. Matsu had likely set it up that way so it would wake her up and she could start getting to work on the projects he had given her.

He hoped that didn't mean there was some kind of timer that would go off. He hated alarm clocks.

And speaking of Matsu...

Naruto looked down to see the busty, red haired beauty in question. She was wearing the same pink and surprisingly modest nightgown she always did when they slept together. That sleep wear still surprised him at times. He was sure she would have preferred sleeping naked, yet the thought somehow never seemed to cross her mind.

Maybe Musubi wasn't the only one who was naïve in the ways of the world?

The two of them were sprawled out in the middle of the room on top of Matsu's fuuton. Naruto was lying on his back while Matsu had taken to lying directly on his chest. He could feel her breasts smashed against him and the outside of her legs touching his as she lay between his legs. Unlike Musubi and Akitsu who all seemed to enjoy sleeping against his side with his arm wrapped around them, and Tsukiumi who liked spooning, this was Matsu's favorite position.

Oddly enough, she shared this like of sleeping directly on top of him with Kusano. However, unlike the tiniest of his Sekirei who could simply curl up on his chest like some kind of house cat, Matsu preferred stretching her entire body out across his.

For nearly five minutes, Naruto allowed himself to lay there, letting the harsh lights from the many monitors create shadows across his face. Matsu's hair was spread across his torso like some kind of sheet. Absently, his hand reached out to twirl several strands of her hair between his fingers. It reminded him of his mom's hair.

"Does it really now?"

"Eh?" A slight flash appeared in Naruto's eyes as the light from the monitors reflected ominously off a pair of glasses. "Matsu?" Naruto blinked at the creepy, perverted expression on his Sekirei's face. Having seen that face many times before, mostly on old men who read his books, Naruto ignored it. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Naruto-tan, uhuhuhu..." Matsu pushed her glasses higher up her nose. They flashed once again. "So what was this about my hair looking like your moms?"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked. "Wait. Did I actually say that out loud?"

"Uhuhuhu... you did."

"Well, shit."

"Does this mean Naruto-tan has some kind of mother complex... uhuhu..."

Naruto gave the woman on top of him a deadpanned look, groaned, then let his head hit the pillow. "I do not have a mother complex, you perv. I was merely making a statement about how your hair reminded me of my mom's. It's the same red as hers, or close enough that I was simply reminded of her hair."

"Uhuhu... no need to be shy, Naruto-tan." Matsu began leaning in close. "If you want, we can play this game. I'll even let you call Matsu O-ka― mphfmmrr..."

"No thanks," Naruto said as he shoved her face away from his. Matsu tumbled backwards a bit and landed on her rear. She pouted at Naruto as he sat up and stretched.

"Naruto-tan is so mean..."

"Anyways," Naruto ignored Matsu's pouting. "I'm glad you're awake. Now we can check on Higa and see what he's been up to."

"I suppose I could do that," Matsu tapped her lips in thought, a devious look coming to her face. "If I have my Norito active."

"Yeah... no."

"Wha...?" Matsu gaped for a moment before pouting. "Why not?"

"Because I know you don't need it," Naruto stated matter of factly. "You've done this plenty of times before without having your Norito active. I don't see why you would need it now."

Matsu's cheeks puffed out in anger. She crossed her arms under her chest and turned her head to the side so that she wasn't looking at him.

"Well, maybe I just don't feel like it."

Naruto scratched the side of his head. "You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" he asked with a sigh.

"Of course," Matsu spoke, arms still crossed and head still turned. "You can't expect Matsu to be at her best if her Ashikabi isn't willing to be at his best."

"Alright, alright," Naruto sighed. "I concede to your point. Even if it's not technically needed, it will allow you to work faster."

The red head crossed her arms under her chest and gave him a very smug look. "Matsu is glad you understand. And now," Matsu launched herself into a pounce, tackling Naruto to the ground and straddling his legs. Her grinning face leered down at him as she placed her hands on either side of his head. "Give Matsu a kiss."

"Such a needy Sekirei I've acquired," Naruto complained. Despite this, one of his hands went to the back of her neck and pulled her down. Their lips pressed together in a kiss, bright light filling the room as Matsu's wings were unleashed. The large, white wings folded around the pair inside of the small room. Soon enough, the lights died down and the wings faded, but the kiss had not ended.

The reason for that would be Matsu, who had decided to go much further than necessary. Before Naruto could end their mutual lip lock, the busty red head had shoved her tongue in between his teeth and into his mouth. Her lusty moans filled the small room as she entangled her tongue with his, their saliva slicked appendages sliding across each other to create an incredible friction that had the girl quivering in delirious pleasure.

Naruto decided not to make her cease her actions. It was the least he could do after she had worked so hard to acquire all the intelligence he had asked of her. He road out the girl's passion and lust, using his own knowledge and talent to guide along her tongue's movements without the girl even realizing it.

After several minutes, they finally reached the end of the kiss when Matsu ran out of oxygen.

Pulling back with a loud gasp, Matsu's lungs heaved as she tried to get the oxygen flowing back into her body. Her chest expanded and compressed, the movements making her large breasts bounce with each deep breath she took. Naruto lay underneath her, watching her flushed face as she panted from the combination of gratification and a need of air.

"Feel better now?" asked Naruto. Matsu, through her panting, managed to give him a satisfied smile.

"Much."

A few seconds later, Matsu got reluctantly off her Ashikabi and moved moved in front of her keyboard. Before too long, her fingers began flying across the keyboard, typing away at speeds that very few jonin could match when making hand seals. Mere seconds after she began, information began appearing on the screen, long lines of text containing all the information within Higa's personal database.

"It doesn't look like much has happened since we rescued Sahashi-san," Matsu spoke in what Naruto had dubbed her 'serious voice'. "Higa seems to have gone quiet after that incident. There are several funds that have been taken out of his account and were put into dealing with the damage the Sekirei battles inside of his headquarters caused, but other than that, he's essentially gone underground."

"So he hasn't come up with any plans of retaliation?" Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "I would have expected him to have at least tried something. Men like Higa have a lot of pride, and with the way we damaged it, I can't help but be surprised that he hasn't at least begun making plans for revenge."

Though, perhaps it was too soon for him to do anything. Higa was not a shinobi. He did not have the ability to respond to any threat or counter any threat instantly like the ninja of Naruto's era did. For all Naruto knew, it would be months until Higa could properly retaliate against them.

"Well, he did put a bounty on our heads," Matsu murmured as images of Naruto and all his Sekirei popped up on the screen. "It looks like you've got a 1,000,000 yen bounty on your head, while each of us Sekirei have a 500,000 yen bounty."

"Just 1,000,000 yen?" Naruto tsked distastefully. "That's only 10,064 US dollars. If he was going to put up a bounty, I would have expected it to be a lot higher."

"That's still quite a bit of money," Matsu looked thoughtful. "A good deal of Ashikabi looking to make a quick buck would jump at a chance to earn that much money with what seems like such an easy job."

"I guess." 1,000,000 yen didn't seem like much to Naruto, but then, he was rich due to all the money he had acquired throughout his thousands of years of life. To the average Joe, that much money must seem like a lot.

Standing up, Naruto stretched his arms above his head, listening as his back cracked several times.

"Since it looks like we're all done here, let's go downstairs. It's pretty late now and I'm sure Miya-chan is about ready to begin putting breakfast on the table."

"Okay!" Matsu cheered as she leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around one of Naruto's arms. "Let's go eat, Naru-tan!"

The two proceeded out of the secret entrance to Matsu's room and into the hall. As they walked down the stairs, the smell of cooked fish came to them. Miya was definitely up and had already finished, or as close to finishing breakfast.

Making their way into the dining room, the two were greeted by an enthusiastic Musubi. Naruto was surprised she was awake. Musubi liked to sleep in, so it as unusual to see her up so early.

"Good morning, Naruto-sama! Matsu-san!"

"Good morning, Musubi-chan." Naruto sat down at one end of the table, Matsu taking up a place on his left.

"Morning, Mu-tan!" Matsu's own greeting was just as enthusiastic as the naïve fist fighter's. "How are you this lovely morning!"

"Good!"

"Grr! Would you two keep it down!" The door to the hallway slid open and in walked Tsukiumi. The blond woman looked tired, with small bags under her eyes and an irritable expression. She wasn't a morning person. Point in fact, she preferred sleeping in as much as possible.

Behind her was Akitsu, who quickly entered the room without even making a sound and took up position behind and slightly to Naruto's left and Matsu's right. "It's far too early in the morning to listen to such obnoxious babbling!"

"Babbling?" Musubi tilted her head to the side, her eyes blinking several times. "What's that? Is it like modesty? Or maybe it's like discretion!"

"Are you serious!?" Tsukiumi's right eye twitched and a vein pulsed on her forehead as she glared at her rival. "How could you not understand my words, you loaf!?"

"Hey!" Musubi stood up, her cheeks puffed out in comical anger. "I'm not a loaf of bread!"

"It means idiot you idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot either!"

Matsu sighed as the two began arguing. "Not even Matsu can tell if Mu-tan is serious when she asks things like that."

"She's serious alright," Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. Musubi really was just like he had been as a child. No. She might be even more naïve than he was back then. He wasn't sure what to think of that. "That's just the way Musubi is." He looked at the arguing pair again and sighed. "How embarrassing."

"I think it's quite adorable."

"Of course you would think that," Naruto turned his attention to Kazehana as she came in from the veranda. As usual, there was a bottle of sake in her hand.

The large chested woman plopped down next to Matsu and took a swig of her drink. "Ah!" A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she took the bottle away. "That stuff really hits the spot."

"I'm so glad you like it, Kazehana-san." A dark presence appeared behind Kazehana, causing the woman to freeze. "It brings me such joy to know that the sake I had in my room for safe keeping and special occasions has met with your approval. You don't know how... happy that makes me."

"Ah... ah ha," Kazehana laughed nervously as she craned her neck and looked behind her so she could lay eyes on Miya, whose form was oozing dark, purple energy like a star releasing explosions of fire and fumes. It was a dumb thing to do, looking at the presence of despair and suffering, but for some reason her body was unable to do anything else. "M-Miya... ha... when did you get here."

"Oh, just a little while ago," Miya's voice was so pleasant that it was almost enough to make people think there was nothing wrong with her. Of course, the mere fact that she had such a pleasant sounding voice while surrounded by such darkness was enough that every in the vicinity knew the truth. Matsu and Musubi had even taken to hiding behind Naruto, the only one who remained completely unaffected, while Akitsu had shoved her face in between the two's backs. "I had just finished making breakfast and was about to ask if you could all help me set the table when lo and behold, I find you, drinking some of my special sake."

The darkness and feeling of death increased.

Kazehana gulped.

XoX

Matsu, Musubi, Naruto and Tsukiumi watched with a combination of emotions as Miya dragged a nearly catatonic Kazehana out of the room. She stopped at the doorway, however, and turned to look at Naruto and the others. The three Sekirei flinched under her smile.

"Naruto-kun, could you please set the table while I'm away?" asked Miya. "I need to teach Kazehana a little lesson."

"Sure," Naruto shrugged.

"Thank you."

Miya slid the door open and walked out with Kazehana, who had just regained conscious thought and realized her situation, being dragged behind her.

"Ah! Miya, w-wait just a second now!" The busty woman said as she was dragged past a confused looking Uzume and Chiho, her feet kicking as she tried to escape from the deceptively angry woman. "Let's not be hasty no, Miya! Miya!"

As Miya and Kazehana disappeared around the corner, Uzume and Chiho looked at each other in confusion before entering the dining room.

"It looks like I missed some excitement this morning," Uzume said as she walked further into the room and towards the table. "So what did the nee-chan do this time?"

"She apparently managed to get into Miya-chan's special stash of sake."

"Huh?" Uzume sat down and scratched the back of her head. "I didn't know Miya had a secret stash of sake." As Chiho made to sit down next to her, Uzume grabbed her by the arm and yanked her down.

"Eek!" Chiho shrieked in surprise as she was pulled onto Uzume's lap. "U-Uzume-chan!" The girl admonished half-heartedly. It probably had something to do with the way Uzume's arms had wrapped around her waist. Such actions often tended to leave the poor girl to flustered to really give her lecherous counterpart a stern talking to. "Y-You shouldn't be so forward! Miya-san will get upset."

"Aw relax," Uzume nuzzled her nose against the back of Chiho's neck, making the young woman blush a bright shade of red. "Miya's busy dealing with nee-chan, so we don't need to worry about her coming in and ruining our moment."

"Oh really."

"Guh!"

Uzume craned her neck up, up, up and up until she was literally looking behind herself. Terror entered her heart as she found herself staring at a figure. It wasn't a very imposing figure. Just the silhouette of a humble landlady. Yet, oozing off that figure were wisps of dark, purple energy that contained an intense and focused malice.

"M-Miya!" Uzume shrank in on herself as the malicious intent seemed to increase. The oozing purple energy increased in density until it covered almost all of Miya's frame. "H-Hey. What are... what are you doing here? I thought you were talking to nee-chan."

"Oh, I just got finished," Miya smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile. "And it looks like I was just in time to stop someone from committing salacious acts within my boarding house."

The intent to commit grievous harm increased and Uzume found herself shrinking even more. She was so frightened she couldn't even form coherent sentences!

Hiding her face within her Sekirei's bosom was Chiho, who had never been subjected to this kind of malicious intent. Being the innocent and fragile girl that she was, she had lived a rather sheltered life. She was in no way prepared to be subjected to this presence.

Sighing, Naruto rubbed the backs of Musubi and Matsu, who were closest to him. Meanwhile, he could feel Akitsu and Tsukiumi pressing themselves against his back as they shivered behind him.

"You may want to turn down the Hannya of Doom thing, Miya," Naruto stated. When Miya turned The Glare on him, he simply returned it with a deadpanned look. Unlike everyone else, he was not affected by her malicious presence. "As fun as it is watching Uzume getting cowed like that, you're blasting everyone else in here with your presence. Chiho looks like she's about to pass out."

At this, Miya looked down at Uzume to see Chiho, huddled and shivering on her Sekirei's lap. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the cloth wielder, who was holding her with an equal amount of fervor to both comfort the girl and be comforted in turn. The girl looked absolutely petrified.

Miya sighed. She couldn't very well punish everyone for Uzume's mistake, now could she? It wasn't fair to Chiho that her Sekirei was a lecherous young woman with dubious intentions.

Besides that, Chiho seemed to be more affected by Miya's Hannya mask than Uzume was. Perhaps it was due to her being a simple human. Miya was so used to dealing with other Sekirei and Naruto who, although not a Sekirei, sometimes seemed like something far more powerful than a simple Sekirei (besides, he wasn't even affected by her mask anyways), that she tended to forget what her mask could do to normal, every day people. It probably didn't help that Chiho was still in a very fragile state that was unlikely to heal for several more months, if not a year or two.

"I see your point," Miya conceded. The Hannya mask disappeared. Uzume blinked in shock.

"Woah," she muttered in barely masked awe. "Did Naruto just get rid of the Hannya with nothing more than a few words." At this, Miya glared back down at the Sekirei, who suddenly felt like kicking herself in the rear for not thinking before she spoke. "I mean... uh... what I mean is..."

"You and I will be having words after breakfast."

Uzume slumped. "Yes Miya."

XoX

After Naruto set the table, breakfast was served. The meal, a combination of broiled fish, white rice and pickled vegetables, was as delicious as always. The scent alone had been enough to wake Homura, who had been sleeping in late that night, from his slumber and make his way into the dining room.

"You're just in time, Homura," Miya smiled pleasantly as the white haired fire user sat down opposite of Naruto. "I was afraid I was going to have to go and wake you." At this, Homura shivered. Miya's wake ups were not fun.

"Good thing I woke up then," Homura muttered. He picked up the chopsticks on the table and after saying a quick 'itadakimasu' began to quietly eat.

Naruto began to eat as well, savoring the meal that had not been made by him. It had always been interesting to experience the differences in taste between meals made by him and those made by someone else. It was even more interest because the food had been cooked by Miya. He remembered an old saying he once heard about how 'food made by loved ones always tasted the best' and while Naruto did not really believe those words, had to admit that in spite of having well over several thousand years of cooking experience under his belt, Miya's meals were definitely on par with his own.

However, while everyone was enjoying the meal, Miya did not seem to be paying as much attention to her food or the conversation around the table as she normally did. Often times when at the dining table, whether eating breakfast or dinner, the purple haired beauty would always sit elegantly in seiza and calmly eat her meal with poise and grace. And occasionally making back hand comments designed to fluster, reprimand or tease those at the dinner table.

While she was still eating with all the poise of a reigning monarch, her mind did not seem to be all there this morning. Her eyes were unfocused. Every so often they would look over to the door, as if expecting to see someone enter the room.

Just then, the woman stood up, silencing all those at the dinner table. Their were many expressions of surprise on the faces of those around. And who could blame them? It was a well known rule of Maison Izumo that you were not allowed to excuse yourself until everyone had finished eating. That Miya was breaking one of her own rules was cause for astonishment.

"Miya?" Naruto asked.

"Please do not mind me," Miya began exiting the room. "I merely wish to go wake up our new house guests."

"New house guests?" Musubi tilted her head to the side in curiosity. She cast a glance at Tsukiumi, to see if her rival for the title of Naruto's 'one true wife' knew anything about this. However, the blond woman shook her head, signifying that she had no clue about Miya's abrupt behavior. Homura seemed equally at a loss.

"Ah," Naruto muttered as he stuck some broiled fish into his mouth. "They're probably just tired from their ordeal. You may want to let them sleep in."

"I will allow them to sleep some more soon enough. I merely want to make sure they have gotten something to eat. It looked like they had not had a decent meal in several days."

Naruto shrugged, deciding not to bother attempting to stop Miya from doing what she wanted. It wasn't like he actually cared. "It's your house."

"I'm glad you understand that," Miya stated jokingly, "sometimes I feel as if you have forgotten that fact."

Naruto chuckled a bit as Miya left the room.

When the door slid shut behind Miya and the sound of her footsteps receded further into the house, Uzume, Chiho and the others all turned to look at Naruto in curiosity.

"What was that about, bro? Did I hear you guys right? We have a new guest?"

"Mmhmm." Naruto swallowed the rice he had placed in his mouth. "They arrived sometime last night. The only reason I know this is because of the cameras that Matsu placed in the entryway."

"Oh." Uzume paused. "So who would be insane enough to live with us?" Seriously, whoever it was must have either been very desperate, or not very smart.

"You'll probably find out in a few seconds," Naruto informed her. "I hear Miya coming back, and it looks like she's brought two other people."

"Huh?" Uzume cocked her head in confusion while Chiho blinked. Lifting a hand to her ear, the cloth user tried to see if she could hear whatever Naruto had heard to confirm his words. A second or two later, she managed to pick up the sound of footsteps. Three different sets of footsteps each with their own unique gait. "Wow. You've got some pretty sharp hearing, bro. Got any other special powers up your sleeve that I should know about."

Naruto took a sip of tea, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, I have the ability to control all the elements, can create spinning balls of energy that will grind anything it touches into a fine powder, can channel the power of nature, can teleport to any location almost instantly and warp the very fabrics of time itself."

Uzume grinned at him. "Oh, is that all?"

"No, but those are all the ones I'm willing to share with you right now."

"Pft!" Uzume laughed. "Channeling the powers of nature? Teleporting? You're a riot, bro. Seriously."

Naruto gave a sardonic grin. "Glad to know I pleased you."

"That power of nature ability actually reminds me of one of the stories I've read once," Homura commented thoughtfully. "It spoke of a Sage who wandered the world when it was being torn apart by war. He was a very powerful and wise man who preached understanding and compassion. The book stated that he had the ability to channel the powers of nature. That's why he was called The Sage."

"Sounds like an interesting story," Naruto said. "What's the book called?"

"The Wandering Sennin," Homura answered. "I can lend it to you if you'd like."

"No need, but thank you."

"You're welcome."

The door to the room opened seconds later to reveal Miya standing in the doorway. She walked in, followed by three people. One of them was Kusano. The other two were a pair that everyone there recognized from the briefing of their last 'mission' to rescue Yukari and hamper Higa's power.

And they weren't the only ones who were recognized. The young man with the lithe blond girl hiding behind him also recognized who they were it seemed, as he stopped almost as soon as he had entered the room and pointed at Akitsu. "It's you!"

Akitsu ignored Haruka's shout as Kusano ran into the room with a cry of 'ONII-CHAN!'. The little blond girl scrambled over towards Naruto, squeezing herself in between Matsu and him before climbing onto his lap.

"Good morning, Ku-chan," Naruto said as he used his free hand to playfully ruffle the girls hair. Kusano tried to scowl and push his hand off, but was clearly pleased to be in her onii-chan's presence again. She was the only one who didn't get to sleep with him, for obvious reasons, so she was understandably a little more needy than the others. Well, that and due to her young age.

"Oh my," Miya affected a surprised look as she stared between Haruka and Akitsu. "I did not realize you knew any of my tenants."

"Well, I don't really," Haruka admitted as he came down from his shock at seeing the white haired snow woman. "We've never really talked or anything. I just recognize seeing her a while ago." He turned to look at Akitsu, who had never stopped eating or staring at Naruto. "I never did get to thank you for saving Kuno and I back then. Thank you very much."

Akitsu finally paused in her endeavors to look at Haruka and Kuno. The fragile looking blond hid further behind her Ashikabi under the older and more powerful Sekirei's impassive gaze. Even Haruka started to squirm in discomfort as the woman stared at him without any sort of emotion.

"Ah." A pause. "You're welcome."

As Akitsu went back to her task of eating while staring at her Ashikabi, Haruka scratched the back of his neck unsurely while Kuno tried to make herself as small as possible.

Miya, seeing their discomfort, gave the pair a gentle smile and said, "why don't you two sit down and have something to eat. I made sure Naruto set the table for when you two joined us."

"Oh... uh... thank you," Haruka said, startled. Nevertheless, he sat down where the two empty places were at the table, Kuno taking her spot right next to him.

Both were soon served up with a plate of fish and a bowl of rice, which they ate with gusto. Given how it was unlikely they'd had a decent meal in several days, this was understandable.

A long silence began to stretch out. The only sounds in the room came from the clinking of tableware as everyone ate their food. Most of those present did not find it uncomfortable, though they were used to there being more noise during dinner. Haruka and Kuno, however, seemed to feel very discomfited with the silence.

Naruto found himself silently observing his Sekirei as he alternated between feeding Kusano and eating himself. The little girl on his lap had a delighted smile on her face as her Ashikabi made 'vrooming' noises similar to those of a car while bringing the chopsticks to her mouth. As soon as the chopsticks were close, she would open her mouth wide with a loud 'ahh!' and close her mouth around the chopsticks, chewing happily as he pulled them from her mouth.

Glancing to his left revealed Matsu. She was leaning against him as she ate, close enough that he could feel her breast brush against his arm, yet far enough that Miya could not scold her for her lewd behavior. It was surprisingly subtle of the perverted hacker, who seemed almost like a reincarnation of his old teacher.

Cue shudder.

Slightly behind her was Akitsu. As usual she was eating methodically and slowly. All the while her eyes never left his head.

At least, not until she caught him staring at her. Then her cheeks became dusted with a shade of pink and her head turned away.

Huh. Weird girl.

Musubi had managed to claim the spot on his right, much to Tsukiumi's displeasure. The girl was practically bouncing up and down as she ate her food. Out of all those present, she was the most enthusiastic of his flock.

As for Tsukiumi...

"How is it that I, Naruto's real wife, am forced to sit away from him while you two strumpets are next to him?"

Well... she obviously wasn't pleased by their situation. Namely, the fact that she was sitting next to Homura, who was simply minding his... her... its(?) own business, eating the fish, rice and pickled vegetables that Miya had prepared for breakfast that morning.

"Ufufufu." The lenses to Matsu's glasses flashed ominously as she giggled like a lecherous old man. "Didn't you know? It's the job of the mistress to steal the master away from his wife when she isn't looking. You obviously haven't watched enough Soap Operas, Tsu-tan."

"What was that!?"

"Musubi is Naruto-sama's real wife too," Musubi mumbled, her mouth stuffed with food. Of course, because her mouth was full at the moment, it sounded more like "Mmhmhm ff mhmmhmm hm mf fu."

"I don't want to hear anything out of you!" Tsukiumi pointed a quivering finger at Musubi before whirling back on the perverted red head. "And as for you! You are not a mistress! Just a concubine! And everyone knows that in a Shogun Harem, the concubine gets no say in when she is allowed to spend time with the wife's husband..." Thus began a long rant by Tsukiumi about how Shogun Harems worked and why Matsu couldn't just do as she pleased.

"He heh, it looks like Matsu's finally decided to get in on the action," Uzume chuckled quietly in her little corner with Chiho. Leaning back on her hands, the busty brunette grinned. "Never figured she was the type to do that. I always thought she would stay on the sidelines."

"She's probably just doing it to rile up Tsukiumi-san," Chiho informed her Sekirei. "We all know how much fun Matsu-san takes from watching Tsukiumi-san and Musubi-san argue."

"True that."

"I've long since stopped caring about what these people do," Homura declared as he watched the argument unfold. It was like a train wreck; a part of him wanted to look away, knew he should look away, yet his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the now three-way battle of wits and words between Matsu, Musubi and Tsukiumi.

"Those two have always been so lively," Miya said as Musubi and Tsukiumi tried to stake their claim as Naruto's proper wife. Her eyes then turned to Matsu who made a comment about mistresses being better than wives anyways, which naturally riled the water user up something fierce. "Though I wonder what Matsu is hoping to accomplish by adding fuel to the fire."

"She probably just wants to entertainment," Kazehana was able to reply after downing an entire bottle of sake. Surprisingly, despite the amount she had drunk, the woman did not even appear the least bit tipsy. "You know how she is with her soap opera's. My guess is she wants to create her own soap opera with those two as the star."

Miya took another look at the trio.

"Ufufufu, Tsu-tan can't blame Matsu if she isn't able to keep her man satisfied."

"What was that!?" Tsukiumi growled. The scowl on her face was truly something to behold. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of satisfying my husband you damn scarlet woman!"

…

…

There was a seconds pause as Tsukuimi replayed the words she had just spoken in her mind. It was only after a few seconds of thought that she was able to understand just what her words could be construed as.

Naturally, her face took on a shade of red that put red stars to shame.

"I-I mean not that I – of course it's not like we've ever – what I'm trying to say is..."

"That you're a virgin," Matsu supplied helpfully. Tsukiumi nodded.

"Yes, that I'm a... a... WHHAAATTT!?"

"Ufufufu..." Matsu's old perverted man giggles were heard clearly above the shout of outrage, shock and humiliation. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Matsu is also a virgin." She tossed a look of mild annoyance at Naruto. "Though that has more to do with Naru-tan than it does Matsu."

"Don't look at me like that," Naruto did not even bother to stop feeding Kusano as he spoke. "I already told you that I won't do any ravishing until I am damn good and ready... and I'm not ready yet."

"Hmph!" Matsu crossed her arms under her breasts. "And when will you be ready?" As she asked that question, all of Naruto's Sekirei leaned in. Clearly, they were just as interested in knowing this tid bit of information as the perverted hacker was.

At least they were, until a dark presence made itself known.

"I think this conversation as gone far enough," Miya smiled a friendly, terrifying smile, her body leaking purple miasma like it was going out of style.

Those who were used to being subject under this look quivered in fear. Chiho buried her head in Uzume's bosom while said girl wrapped her arms tightly around her Ashikabi. Musubi and Tsukiumi had stopped fighting in favor of hugging each other for dear life, their eyes wide in horror. Matsu was now hiding behind Naruto, shivering like a leaf in the wind while Kazehana had placed the bottle in front of her face, as if doing so would keep her from seeing this eldritch horror.

Two of these people were not used to this feeling, this innate sense of death incarnate that seemed to penetrate the soul. Haruka and Kuno looked like they were on the verge of passing out. No. Wait. Kuno had already passed out and Haruka was holding her limp body in front of him, using it as a shield so that he would not have to see Miya in all her terrible, horrifying, purple death leaking glory.

"Miya..." Naruto sighed. Miya turned to look at him, her smile still in place as the energy around her intensified. Naruto simply pointed to Haruka and Kuno, causing the purple haired landlady's attention to turn to them. When she saw the sorry state the two were in, the proprietor of Maison Izumo released a sigh. Soon, the feeling of death and despair that hung about in the air disappeared as if it had never come, leaving everyone in the room to breath a sigh of relief.

"You've been using that an awful lot this morning," Naruto commented absently as he ran his fingers through Kusano's hair. The little girl had buried her face in his chest to hide from the horror that was Miya's Hanya power.

Miya merely blinked several times before smiling. "What are you talking about, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto snorted. "What am I talking about indeed."

"What the hell was that!?" Haruka was, shockingly enough, the first amongst the group that had recovered his ability to speak. The young man had a look of not only shock and fear but also incredulity etched upon his face as he stared at the person he once thought of as nothing more than a beautiful landlady. Now he could only stare at her like she was some kind of demon.

"Mind your language," Miya chided gently, though there was a hint of steel in her voice.

"Never mind my language!" Haruka's voice was very high pitched as he spoke. He sounded like a child who was just now going through puberty. "What was that!?"

"Ara?" Miya tilted her head to the side, looking like nothing more than a slightly quizzical young woman. "What was what?"

"That thing behind you!" Haruka pointed at where he last saw the Hanya behind the landlady's back. Miya looked behind her, but turned around again as Haruka continued. "It looked like some kind of demon!"

"Oh my," Miya held a hand to her cheeks. "A demon, you say? Young man, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling fine!" Haruka still looked a tad crazed, which did nothing to settle Miya's worries. Really, there was something wrong with the youth of today. "Would someone please tell me what that was!?"

"I'm afraid none of us know what you're talking about," Miya said before anyone else could even think of speaking. She gave Haruko one of her most beautiful smiles. For some reason, it made his entire body shudder in barely repressed fear. "Perhaps you are still tired from your long journey here. Why don't I draw you a warm bath."

"I don't need a bath," Haruka began to try and explain as Miya started walking out the door that led into the hallway, "I just need ―" before he could finish, the door behind her closed, leaving the boy to stare at the shoji screen door, his mouth agape.

A long, drawn out silence engulfed the room, stretching out for an indeterminable amount of time. No one really spoke, mostly because most didn't know what to say and those who did simply didn't care. To a good portion of those who had been living here for several months, this was just par for the course and not something to get worked up over. For those like Haruka, however, it was such a peculiar and unusual event that they were left speechless.

Eventually though, the young man managed to find his voice. "Is she... always like that?"

"Pretty much," Homura said with a nod.

"I... see?"

"So just what are you doing all the way out here?" asked Naruto, allowing his curiosity to get the better of him now that all the excitement had passed. "Last I heard you had disappeared and none of the people in the Sekirei Plan could find you."

"Yeah, well, we had been hiding for a while. At least until that bastard announced that he was closing all the borders of Shinto Teito."

By now Kuno had finally woken up and was sitting next to her Ashikabi, hands in her lap and a frightened expression on her face. Every now and then, her body would twitch and she would look over her shoulder, as if she were expecting to see Miya waltz back into the room with her Hanya in play.

Heedless of this, Haruka continued. "Once we realized what was happening, the two of us tried to escape from Shinto Teito by crossing the bridge on the Northern side of the city." His hands clutched at the fabric of his jeans as he balled them into fists. "We would have made it to, if it wasn't for that damn woman wielding those strange metal claws."

"I see you ran into one of the members of the Disciplinary Squad, Sekirei number one hundred and four, Haihane." Naruto hummed in thought. "According to the data I've collected, Haihane and Benitsubasa, the two members of the Disciplinary squad serving under Karasuba are far stronger than normal multiple digit Sekirei should be. Supposedly, they were given power enhancements during their adjustment period."

"I don't know anything about that," Haruka said as his Sekirei quaked and quivered next to him. Their run in with Haihane must have done some serious mental trauma if merely mentioning the name was enough to make the girl shiver in fear. "All I know is that the moment that chick showed up, our only option was to run."

"That still doesn't tell us why you're here," Naruto looked at the young man before him, Haruka actually leaning back as those unnaturally sharp blue eyes pierced his. "While there are no laws stating it, there is an unspoken rule that no Ashikabi or their Sekirei are allowed in the North."

It was a rumor that had been perpetuated long before Naruto arrived in Shinto Teito by Miya, who had made liberal use of her Hanya mask to scare away anyone who was involved in the Sekirei Plan. That unspoken law had only been reinforced when Naruto had established himself in the North and made his own presence felt.

"Ah... well..." Haruka looked incredibly nervous about being called out. Still quiet beside him, Kuno was quaking under Naruto's intense gaze.

"The fact that you risked coming out here at all is a sign that you're here looking for someone," Naruto continued. He tilted his head to the side, as if trying to judge the pair before him from a different angle. "And the fact that you ended up on the doorstep of Maison Izumo tells me that the reason you are here is in this boarding house. So tell me..." He placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. Even though there was several feet of space between them, Haruka and Kuno both leaned back. "What is it you want?"

Haruka avoided Naruto's piercing eyes by turning his head and staring at the wall behind the blond. It helped, but only a little. Even though he was no longer looking at the whisker marked man, the much younger Ashikabi could still feel those startlingly sharp eyes penetrating him in a way that made him feel like an insignificant bug.

"Haruka..." Kuno tugged on his sleeves. Haruka bit worried his lower lip between his teeth.

"Well?" Naruto asked, raising a single eyebrow. All the Sekirei around him were completely silent. Not even Uzume was willing to speak and break the tension that had risen dramatically in the last few seconds. A few had even stopped breathing as they watched the drama unfold. "Are you going to tell me why you sought me out?"

"I..." Haruka gulped, anxiety and fear building in him so clearly anyone with a set of eyes could see it. Perspiration appeared on his forehead as an unfathomable pressure seemed to push down on him. It felt like if he did not answer this question correctly, his very life may be forfeit. "I... I came to... ask for your help..."

The pressure vanished. The tension disappeared. There was a great whoosh of air as the Sekirei surrounding Naruto unleashed their collective breath.

"See?" Naruto smiled. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Easy for you to say," Haruka muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Unfortunately," Naruto continued, heedless of the words Haruka muttered. "I can't help you."

Silence met his words. For a long moment, no one spoke, as if they were unable to comprehend his words. Haruka blinked several times as his mind processed what Naruto had just told him and rendered it into a format he could understand.

When he did, the young man expressed his incredulity in the most succinct way possible. "What do you mean you can't help me out!?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Naruto spoke calmly. "I can't help you."

"But you don't even know what I need help with!"

"You want me to help you get out of the city," the words silenced Haruka in his tracks. Naruto's Sekirei, Uzume, Chiho and Kazehana all gaped at the blond man. Naruto eyed the young man with a cold, calculating glint in his eyes that had the younger Ashikabi and Sekirei pair shivering. "Going off everything I've learned from this meeting and what you told me, you're trying to escape the Sekirei Plan by leaving Shinto Teito altogether. The first time you made the attempt, you ran into a member of the Disciplinary Squad, and now MBI is on to you. They know you're trying to escape. From your ragged appearance, I can assume both of you have been on the run for some time now."

Looking into the young teens stunned eyes, Naruto gave the boy a cold smile. "Tell me, how did you find out this was where I was residing?"

His question as met with silence.

"If you do not tell me, then regardless of whether or not Miya says you can stay here, I will dump your asses on the street and leave you for the Disciplinary Squad to take." Several sharp intakes of breath could be heard from Chiho, Homura, Tsukiumi and Uzume. Meanwhile, Musubi and Kusano were watching on confused while Kazehana and Matsu stared at the scene unfolding in interest. "Well?"

Haruka rubbed his arms, as if trying to ward off an intense cold while Kuno buried her face against his shoulder. "We heard a rumor that there was a powerful Ashikabi in the North; they call him the Ashikabi of the North. The rumor I heard said that he's partnered himself with the Hanya of the North and that together they're an unstoppable force."

"Ashikabi of the North," Naruto wrinkled his nose distastefully. "What a dreadfully cliche'd title." Shaking his head of his dislike for the newest title he had been given, the blond continued. "So you thought that you would come here, ask for my help and expect me to put the lives of my Sekirei at risk so that you could escape the city. Is that it?"

"Um... well..." Haruka rubbed the back of his neck as an awkward silence made it's way around the table. Everyone was looking at him with a mixture of emotions flickering across their face and it was making him feel very self-conscious. "When you put it like that, it makes me sound like the bad guy..."

"Bad and good are non-existent concepts formed by fools who allow their own perspectives to create their reality," Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled. "You're not evil, just selfish... just like every other human."

Haruka looked away from the blond, grimacing. Beside him, Kuno watched her Ashikabi in confusion while Homura, Kazehana, Matsu and Uzume all observed the oldest person in the room thoughtfully.

Naruto stood up.

"As I said, I can't help you. I won't put my Sekirei in unnecessary danger for someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Haruka looked both angry and confused. His brow was furrowed and his teeth grit. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means exactly that," Naruto began walking towards the door. As far as he was concerned, this conversation was done and over with. "You can stay here as long as you want; I don't make the rules here so I have no choice but to let you live here. None of the other Ashikabi would dare attack you hide you're here, and Maison Izumo has a strict no violence policy. Beyond that, do not expect me to lend you any aid."

"So that's how it is," Harukoa muttered, his fists clenching at the fabric of his pants. "You're not going to help us at all? You're telling me that we're stuck fighting in this stupid plan?"

"If it bothers you that much, you could always try and escape on your own," Naruto offered as he stopped in front of the door. "You would likely die in the attempt." Haruka flinched while Kuno quaked at the thought of dying. "But even death is just another way of escaping, albeit, one that is a bit more permanent."

Naruto walked out into the hall, leaving a silent group behind him. As his footsteps echoed across the wooden paneling, Miya came into view, having just gotten back from heating the bath house.

"Oh, Naruto," Miya stopped in front of the young looking immortal. "Are you finished eating?"

"I wasn't very hungry," Naruto started walking again. Miya frowned, but quickly masked it with a smile.

"I've drawn a bath. Perhaps you and Haruka should go together. It could be a nice way to bond with another male. After all, it must be hard to live in a house with so many woman, uhuhuhu..."

"Not interested," Naruto replied disinterestedly as he walked past the purpled haired woman. Miya turned around to watch the spiky haired male turn a corner and heard his feet thumping against the floor as he ascended the staircase.

A frown marred her face as his footsteps receded the further up he went. She turned around again to look at the door leading into the dining room. Her eyes opened just a tad, revealing purple irises that stared at the door contemplatively.

Something had just happened to upset her favorite tenant, and she was going to find out what.

* * *

><p><strong>I finally finished this chapter. It took a while since I just wasn't feeling it. I must have erased and started this chapter over several times. It was actually going to be longer, but since I haven't updated in a while, I felt it would be best to split this into two chapters instead of one.<strong>


	29. A Reason to Help Someone Pt 2

**BIG NEWS!**

**As of a few weeks ago, I finally managed to finish writing my first original novel! Currently, I am looking into getting it professionally line and copy edited by someone. After that I plan on Self-Publishing my novel using Print on Demand, or POV for short. I am hoping that my book will be available on Amazon and other websites before my birthday in March. And I hope you will all support me by ordering a book and letting me know what you think when it does come out.**

**For those who are curious to know what my novel is about, here is the summary for my hopefully soon to be published novel, American Kitsune, A Fox's Love:**

Kevin Swift is about to find out what happens when a supernatural, magical fox-girl falls in love with a human; the hard way.

Yesterday, the only thing Kevin had to worry about was turning his next homework assignment in on time and gathering what meager courage he has to ask his secret crush, Lindsay Diane, out on a date. All of that changes when he finds a small, injured fox with two tails and decides to take it home with him. Turns out that small fox is not a fox at all, but a Kitsune, a supernatural creature found in Japanese Mythology and Folklore that can shape-shift from a fox into a drop dead gorgeous red head that defines the term smokin' hot. Want to know what's even more interesting? This Kitsune has fallen head over heels in love with Kevin and is willing to do anything to make him love her back. Too bad our Hapless Hero has a serious case of Cannot Talk to Women.

**Sounds interesting, right? I hope you guys will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it when it comes out. For more information on American Kitsune, A Fox's Love, check out my blog. The link is on my profile.**

**And now that I have thoroughly bored you to tears with my ecstatic ranting, I will let you do what you came here to do and read the next chapter of Ashikabi no Shinobi.**

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter 28: A Reason to Help Someone Pt. 2**

* * *

><p>"I see... so that's what happened."<p>

Miya sat calmly in her usual spot at the head of the table. As always, she was sitting in seiza.

She had just finished listening to everyone explain what had sent her most enigmatic tenant away. It had been a rather trying explanation, with everyone interrupting everyone else and Miya needing to use her Hannya several times to make the high strung and emotional members of her house calm down. Needless to say, it had been a lot of work on her part.

In front of her was a steaming cup of green tea, which she had made for this meeting; though she was beginning to wish it was sake at the moment. While Miya was not one for drinking, having never really cared for alcohol and only made an exception on special occasions, like the anniversary her husband's death, she was feeling a powerful urge to have a stiff drink that would help ease her coming headache.

Absently, she cast a glance at Kazehana, who was currently guzzling down another bottle of the stuff. The woman's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were actually starting to get bloodshot. In spite of this, the wind user continued chugging down her alcohol like it was water. A few seconds later, the drunken Sekirei belched, causing Haruka and Kuno, who were sitting near her, to cover their nose as the stench of sake washed over them.

Miya shook her head. Maybe drinking sake wasn't such a good idea after all.

"You don't think Naruto-Sama is angry, do you?" asked Musubi, her eyes tearing at the thought. "He didn't seem angry, but he walked out on us so quickly." She sniffled several times and clasped her hands together underneath her chin, looking for all the world like a pathetic puppy that had just been kicked in the face. "I hope it wasn't because Musubi being immodest."

As one, every single person currently sitting at the dinner table stared at Musubi with a look that could only be described as 'what the fuck?'.

They then turned back to their regular conversation and decided to ignore everything Musubi just said.

Sometimes, they worried about that girl...

"Do you think you could talk to him?" Haruka asked of the kind and beautiful landlady. She had been very helpful and accommodating so far, so maybe she could help them with this. "Maybe get him to change his mind? I mean, he has so many Sekirei... surely someone with as many Sekirei as him could easily help us escape Shinto Teito..."

Miya opened her eyes to reveal sharp, purple irises. After staring at the young man for several seconds, she opened her mouth to say something, though just what she planned on saying would be forever lost to the sands of time.

Before she could even get a single word out, another voice spoke up.

"As if my husband would help you!" Everyone turned to look at Tsukiumi, who was glaring at the young man who had dared to suggest that her husband should help him escape from the city. "He made the right decision, it's not his job to help you escape the city. The weak have no right asking the strong for help. If you cannot escape the city yourself, then you have no right doing it at all!"

"Tsukiumi!" Homura said harshly, "That was uncalled for!"

"Hmph!" Tsukuimi huffed as she glared defiantly at the others, her arms crossed under her chest to go along with her defiant stare, as if daring them to argue with her. "We have no need to help these two if they cannot even help themselves!"

"Muuu~!" Musubi decided to get in on the action, pouting at Tsukiumi with puffed up cheeks and a comical expression that belied how serious she was. "But that's not right! I think we should help out Haruko and Kanu!"

'Kanu' moaned piteously.

"It's Kuno..."

Everyone ignored her.

"And why should we!?"

"Because it's the right thing to do!"

"The right thing to do? Says who!?"

"Says me! Just look at those two!" Musubi pointed to Kuno and Haruka as the two sat next to each other... though one of them was currently using the other as a human meat shield in order to avoid the arguing group of Sekirei. "They love each other so much! All they want is to be happy together! It's only right that we help them! For love!"

"Here! Here!" Kazehana raised the glass of sake in her hand, toasting to Musubi's words... she then began guzzling sake straight from the bottle, completely ignored the saucer she had just raised.

"Love?" Tsukiumi scoffed. "If everything could be solved with love, then none of us would be in this mess in the first place!"

"While I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, Matsu has to agree with Tsu-tan on this one," the perverted yet highly intelligent brain-type Sekirei spoke up, finally deciding that it was time for her to get in on the conversation as well. As the most analytical member of the group, she could see things the others couldn't, and she had her own reasons for not wanting to help the two escape. Reasons that differed from Tsukiumi's.

"Matsu!"

"What?" Matsu looked at Homura, who was staring at her, aghast that she believed Tsukiumi was right and that they should not help Haruka and Kuno. "We don't stand to gain anything by helping them, quite the opposite in fact." Matsu took off her glasses, making her appear much more mature then she normally did. "If we helped these two escape, not only is there no guarantee of success, but we would be putting ourselves in harms way for two people who would not be able to help us in return."

Homura scowled at her, but Matsu was undeterred.

"You also have to take into account what, or I guess I should say, _who, _we would be going up against." It was a testament to how serious Matsu was that she was not referring to herself in third person. "We wouldn't just be fighting against MBI, who not only have a large standing army, but also intimate knowledge about all of the Sekirei, we would be fighting against the Discipline Squad."

Whatever words of protest Homura might have unleashed died in his throat as he too remembered what that meant. It wasn't necessarily the Discipline Squad that Matsu was referring to, just one of their members. While two of the three members of the current Discipline Squad were certainly troublesome, Homura was confident in their chances of defeating them. It was the last member of the squad, the _leader,_ that gave him pause, and was likely the reason Matsu had brought this point up.

Karasuba. The Black Sekirei. The dog of MBI. One of the deadliest people in the Sekirei plan. Homura knew that, as of right now, the only person who had any chance of beating _that _woman was the purple-haired lady sitting next to them, and she would not fight unless provoked; that was the silent agreement she and MBI had made. She would not get involved in their affairs, and they would not disrupt her daily life.

Even if all of Naruto's Sekirei went up against that women, they were almost guaranteed to lose, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

If she ended up getting involved in the chase if they decided to help Haruka and Kuno, it was almost a certainty that they would be killed.

"I do see your point," Homura admitted at last, his body slowly slumping down. He looked over at the Ashikabi/Sekirei duo that had asked for their assistance, worrying his lower lip. "Still... it doesn't feel right to let these two go without at least trying to help them."

"Hmph! Of course you would say that, Homura," Tsukiumi said blithely. She received a rather vicious glare in return.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means that you're the kind of person who can't leave well enough alone, even when it means involving yourself in something that doesn't concern you."

Homura grit his teeth as Tsukiumi sniffed derisively at him. He opened his mouth to make his own scathing retort... only to freeze when gentle voice spoke up from the head of the table.

"I believe it might be best if we all discussed this issue calmly," Miya said, taking a small sip of her tea afterward. Though her voice was mild and her manner polite, no one missed the steel hidden within that tone. Everyone within the vicinity could not help but shiver at the landlady's voice, which made them very much aware of the sleeping beast that was sitting right next to them.

None of them wanted to wake the hannya from its slumber. Not again. Half a dozen times in a single one hour sitting was more then enough for them.

Needless to say, the two Sekirei of opposing elements both shrunk back into their seats with all due haste.

A moment of silence passed.

Naturally, this silence would be broken by the one who was least affected by all of this.

"What an interesting group of people you have here, Miya," Kazehana said in her usual sultry and slightly drunken tone. "I've never seen so much drama in all my life." The woman sighed dreamily as she took a deep chug of her sake. "It's like a tragic tale of loss and love! A young couple on the run, in need of help, and the group of reluctant heroes who want no part in lending them aid." With a smile on her face and a tint of pinks to her cheeks, Kazehana leaned back in her seat. "I can't wait to see how this conflict ends. Will it end in tragedy? Or will this young couple have their happily ever after!"

"Uhuhu..." Matsu put her glasses back on and pushed them up the bridge of her nose. The light from overhead flashed across the spectacles frames, looking almost ominous in their innocuousness. "I've always said this place is like a Soap Opera."

The tension within the room soon began to die down. Things seemed to almost return to what was usually considered the norm; Matsu and Kazehana began trading jokes and banter, Homura sat in silent contemplation, and Akitsu was feeding Kusano.

Only a few among the group had not returned to normal.

Miya was sitting at the head of the table. She didn't appear much different then she often did. However, the minute glances she cast at the door that Naruto had vacated from every few seconds were very telling.

Unlike her normally chatty self, Musubi was not arguing with Tsukiumi about who was Naruto's wife. She sat there, silent, her face scrunched up slightly, almost as if she were in deep thought.

Don't think too hard, Musubi.

The one that did not appear to be the least bit amused or joyful was Haruka. The young man in question was staring at all the others as they just got back to their daily routines, not even passing him or Kuno a second glance now that a consensus of some kind had been made. It felt like something important had just happened, some kind of agreement came to pass, and he had missed it.

His hands curled into fists underneath the table, which he clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white and the entire appendage began to shake.

"Just look at you people!" Unable to take it any longer, Haruka stood up and glared at everyone. "Sitting here, playing around, laughing! You all have it so easy, don't you? Never having to worry about what's going to happen because you're all strong! Every day, Kuno and I have to worry for our lives! Maybe if Kuno were as strong as you people, we wouldn't have to, but she's not! None of you even realize the hardships we've been through! How difficult it was for us!"

"Haruka..." Kuno mumbled under her breath, worry and surprise etched upon her face as she reached out and tugged on his pant leg.

Haruka ignored her.

"Well, I don't need you! I don't need any of you!" Tearing his pants from Kuno's grip, Haruka stormed out of the room, leaving a crestfallen and nearly in tears Kuno behind.

"Oh dear..." Miya sighed softly, before standing up. "I suppose I should bring that young man back. Honestly," she huffed as she, too, walked out of the room. "Leaving a girl in tears like that. I shall have to let him know what is and is not acceptable in Maison-Izumo..."

A couple of shudders traveled down the spines of all those present. They did not envy Haruka in the least.

"Hmph!" Tsukiumi huffed as she decided to ignore what had just happened and went back to eating. "What a rude man, I shall be glad when he is gone."

"You shouldn't say that, Tsukiumi," Musubi, ever the understanding one, said. "Haruka is just scared. He's afraid of losing the one he loves."

Tsukiumi continued to eat. "Like I care!"

"Muuu~!"

Musubi's cheeks puffed up again. She glared at Tsukiumi a bit more before realizing the water user was ignoring her. Frowning she turned in her spot... and then blinked as she realized someone was missing. Two someones, in fact.

"Hey! Where are Akitsu and Ku-chan?"

XoX

The sky was beginning to set. Dark reds and oranges with several streaks of purple running through it filled the space above him and created a beautiful picture, one befitting of heavens canvas.

Lying on his back, his hands behind his head as he lay on the roof, Uzumaki Naruto had a perfect view of this majestic image.

When he was younger, it was the sight of this sky that made him wonder if this was Kami's way of letting everyone know that she was watching over them. For how could this beautiful painting be anything but a gift from the very heavens?

These days, he knew the truth. Kami did not exist. The beautiful colors that were painted across the sky in the early morning when the sun first peeked over the horizon and the evening when it was beginning to set were simply the result of the air molecules and airborne particles causing the colors found in the ray of white sunlight to scatter.

White, after all, is the color that the human eye sees when it senses light that contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Or to put more plainly, white is a combination of every color combine, the total opposite of black, which was the absence of color.

Naruto could go into a several hour long dissertation about how the sunset and sunrise was created. He had studied it many thousands of years ago with some idiotic philosopher who had rediscovered gravity. Not that it mattered these days, all that was in the past, and while that man's name lived on, Naruto's name would forever remain in obscurity, just as it was supposed to.

A small, sustained burst of chakra caused Naruto's eyes to travel down from their current view of the sky. There, just a few feet in front of him, at the edge of the roof, a large vine stalk was growing visible as it climbed higher and higher into the air. Attached to this large vine was Kusano, who hopped off the vine the moment it had allowed her to reach the roof.

As the little girl walked towards him, Naruto sat up. Placing his hands on either side, palms pressed against the ground, he looked at the little girl as she stopped just a foot in front of him. Her face was conflicted.

"Something wrong, Ku?" asked Naruto.

"Are you really not going to help those people, onii-chan?"

Naruto sighed, he should have realized someone would be asking him this question. He had been expecting Musubi, though, not Kusano.

"I don't really see much point in helping them," Naruto shrugged.

"But, but onii-chan's supposed to be a hero!" Kusano argued, her tiny hands clenching into fists at her side. "Heroes are supposed to help people!"

A pained grimace appeared on the ancient blond's face. Memories of a time when he would have said something very similar to what this little girl had told him just now forced their way into his mind, invading the carefully constructed walls he had put up around himself. With the battering they had been taking ever since he had become involved in the Sekirei Plan, the memories found it very easy to slip through the cracks.

"Not all people can stay heroes, Ku," Naruto said softly. "A person can only be a hero so long as they have something worth fighting for, and I lost my reason to fight long ago."

As he looked up at the sky, as if seeking the answer and affirmation to his believes in that painted canvas brought about by natural changes in the atmosphere, the knuckles on Kusano's tiny fists turned white.

"If onii-chan... if onii-chan doesn't have a reason to fight, then he should fight for Ku-chan!"

Naruto's head tilted back down to look at the little blond girl standing before him. The girl looked about as serious as a nine year old little girl can be.

"And if onii-chan won't fight for Ku-chan and be a hero, then he isn't the onii-chan I love!"

Saying her piece, Kusano spun about and ran over to the vine. She grabbed a hold of it and used her powers to make it shrink.

Even though the girl was sniffling a bit due to her obvious disappointment in him, Naruto could not help but feel a small bit of pride when he saw how well she was controlling her powers. She would not have been able to do that when they had first met.

When the Green Girl finally disappeared from his sight, Naruto exhaled a deep, breathy sigh, and leaned back, using his arms to support himself as he looked up at the sky.

"And do you think I should help those people too?" he asked of no one in particular. At least, that is what he appeared to be doing before another voice spoke up behind him.

"Ah..."

A pause.

"I will abide by whatever decision my Ashikabi-sama makes." Another pause ensued, this one much shorter then usual. "But I would be a little disappointed. You had no reason to help me, yet you did so anyways. It was that kindness and desire to help others that drew me to you. Even though I could not react, I knew in that moment that you were my Ashikabi-Sama."

Naruto decided not to correct her misconceptions of him. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the only reason he had even taken a second glance in her direction was because of Musubi's emotions overpowering his own through their bond.

"And if I decided that I still don't want to help them?"

Silence reined for several minutes after Naruto asked his question. Even though he did not look back, he could just picture Akitsu standing directly behind him, her face carefully blank as she pondered his query.

"I would be disappointed in you," she admitted at last, "But I would still love you just as much as I do now, regardless."

"I see..." Naruto whispered softly. Still not turning around, he patted the spot beside him. "Would you care to join me?"

"Ah..."

Pause.

"...Yes."

There was a slight ruffling of fabric, followed soon by the clinking of chains. Footsteps eventually accompanied the other noises. A few seconds later, Akitsu was by his side, slowly lowering herself to the tiled roof and sitting in seiza beside him.

"You don't always have to sit so formally, you know."

"Ah... okay."

Some more ruffling and chain clinking occurred as Akitsu shifted her posture, changing from the very formal seiza position to one like Naruto's, legs stretched out in front of her and hands on either side of her body.

"There," Naruto smiled, just a bit. "Isn't that better?"

"Yes."

The two sat in silence for several seconds. Neither one saying anything nor moving as the sun continued to slowly lower behind the city of Shinto Teito.

It would be Akitsu who would make the first move, leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. It was a bold move for the ice maiden, who still seemed a little reticent to actually give affection as opposed to simply being on the receiving end of it.

In return, Naruto wrapped an arm around Akitsu's shoulder and drew her close. Despite her elemental affinity being ice, her body was very warm.

Together, the two of them stayed outside, watching as the sun began to truly disappear, leaving them engulfed in the dark silence of twilight.

It wouldn't matter if they stayed out later then normal. This was Akitsu's night to be with him.

XoX

Waking up the next morning was a sordid affair. Having been pretty much waking up every single morning and sneaking out of bed to get some training in before everyone else woke up, Naruto's body had apparently decided to tell him that it did not want to get up and felt they (as in Naruto and his body) deserved a day in bed. The feeling of a lovely female body cuddling into his side did nothing to absolve him of this desire.

Still, get up he did. His actions slow and deliberate, Naruto opened his eyes to the world, blinking several times as they began adjusting to the light. After that, he turned his head towards his current bedmate.

Akitsu was already wide awake. Her steel gray eyes were staring at his face, unblinking.

Had he been any other man, Naruto probably would have been unnerved by her stare. As things stood, he had not only seen far more freaky things then a hot woman staring at him, but he had also grown used to Akitsu doing this.

Staring at him, that is. She did it all the time.

"Akitsu," Naruto greeted with a slight groan as his arms appeared from within the blankets and stretched above his head. "Good morning."

"Ah..."

A pause. Naruto was used to this as well.

"Good morning, Ashikabi-Sama."

"How long have you been awake?"

Akitsu tilted her head to the side. It was a very cute gesture.

"Only an hour."

Only an hour, she says.

"And you've been staring at me the entire time?"

"Ah." Another pause. "Should I not?"

"It's fine," Naruto waved her worries off, and she was worried, even if her facial expression did not change. He had grown rather good at sensing his Sekirei's emotions, to the point that he could now pinpoint which of his Sekirei was feeling what. It came in handy a lot, even though Naruto rarely ever used it. "I don't mind you watching me while I sleep. I used to do the same thing to someone I had a relationship with a long time ago."

It was only after he said this that Naruto realized what he had just admitted to.

"This person." There was no pause this time. "Were they female?"

"Yes," Naruto frowned a bit. He had not meant to say that, it had just sort of slipped out.

"Was she..." Akitsu hesitated for a moment before taking the plunge, "Special to you?"

"She was," Naruto admitted.

Akitsu tilted her head, considering. After another moment had passed, she spoke again. "Why is she not here with you?"

"She's dead," Naruto answered bluntly, sitting up in bed and looking out of the open window. It was a nice day outside, clear skies, bright sun, beautiful weather; a perfect contrast to his current thoughts. "She died long before you or any of the other Sekirei were even born." Yeah, like a couple thousand years before they were born.

"Ah..." while Akitsu's face still did not change all that much, he could sense her melancholy coming through the bond. "I'm sorry."

Naruto sighed, shook his head, then smiled. "No, it's fine. You're my Sekirei, so I guess it should be alright to tell you these things. I've never really been one for sharing my past. Who knows? Maybe it will do me some good?" Fat chance, but you never know.

"Ah..."

To anyone else who may have been looking at her at that moment, Akitsu's face would have looked the same, but Naruto could see her relief as surely as he could see the suns rays shining in through the window. It was all in her eyes. While her face might remain a mask of ice and stone, her eyes could never hide her emotions, especially from him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"...Ashikabi-Sama?"

Naruto looked at the woman curiously, noting the strange hesitation in her voice. It was different from her usual hesitance.

"Yes?"

"Can I..." Akitsu trailed off. "I mean, may I..." Her cheeks turned pink. Naruto thought it made her look quite fetching. "What I want to know is, could we..." failing to speak yet again, the snow woman turned her head to the side, her cheeks a warm red now.

Naruto sighed. He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to ask, but it would be better for both of them if she actually voiced her question rather then let him take the lead this time.

"You don't need to be afraid to ask me something, Akitsu. If you have a question, or want something from me, then ask."

Akitsu paused for a moment. It was different then her normal pauses.

There was no 'ah', you see.

"Would be alright if we... if I kissed you?"

"There. That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

Naruto smiled a bit. Despite his still somewhat reluctance to engage in anything too sexual, he felt a bit pleased that Akitsu had actually managed to be so forward with him, even if that really just meant she was asking him instead of staring at him with a blush on her face. Progress was progress, no matter what form it came in.

"And to answer your question, yes, you can kiss me."

It started off slowly at first, as Akitsu was the one initiating the kiss. Despite having been on the receiving end of his kisses before, she had never been the one to kiss him, and that made all the difference.

Still, she managed to muddle through her hesitation, placing her lips over his and silently allowing them to rove over her Ashikabi's mouth. In return, Naruto carefully guided her along, letting her remain in control, but also directing her with silent cues. Eventually, Akitsu was confident enough to open her mouth and allow her tongue to slip out and probe the last shinobi's waiting mouth.

The kiss soon became more heated. Akitsu's tongue rubbed against the inside of Naruto's mouth. She pushed and pulled against his tongue, allowing the incredible sensations and pleasant tingling to fill her up. It was unlike any of the other kisses they had shared thus far, and the young woman could not help but enjoy the feeling of her lips on Naruto's, of her tongue playing with his.

A moan escaped her. It was a sensual, lustful moan brought about by Naruto's arms wrapping around her in a possessive hold. He pulled her close, allowing her to relish in the feel of her Ashikabi's body pressing against hers. Soon enough, she was straddling his waist, her breasts smashing into his muscled chest as she shared in a wet, sloppy kiss with the one she had pledged herself to in body, mind and soul.

"Akitsu," Naruto whispered against her lips. His voice was ragged and hungry, carrying with it an edge that Akitsu had not heard before. It lit a fire underneath her, or melted her ice, if you prefer that term instead.

"Yes, Ashikabi-Sama." Akitsu's voice was just as hungry, just as eager. Unlike the many other times she had spoken, her voice did not possess its usual monotone. Instead, it was passionate and emotional.

At any other time, it would have been beautiful to hear such emotion in her voice.

"Why aren't you wearing panties?"

But not this time.

"Ah..."

A pause.

"I forgot?"

Naruto gave her an odd look. "But you were wearing them last night." He knew this because she had been wearing nothing else when they went to sleep.

"Ah..."

Another pause.

"No I wasn't."

Naruto twitched, then sighed. "Right, of course you weren't."

"Can we continue kissing now?"

"I had no intention of stopping."

They began kissing again.

XoX

Miya woke up at the same time she always did; just a few minutes after the sun began its slow rise over the jungle of brick and steel that was Shinto Teito. It was a habit she had gotten into back when she was the leader of the Disciplinary Squad and she had never really seen fit to change it. The fact that Takehito had been like her and got up early only reinforced this habit.

She rose from the large, queen sized bed in her room. It used to be a king, but without anybody to share all that space with, she had changed it out for a smaller, more practical one. And by getting a smaller bed, she had enough space to place a small shrine in her room dedicated to her husband.

What followed was her usual ritual of getting dressed in her normal 'landlady' clothing (aka, her kimono), burning a stick of incense and sitting in seiza with her hands clasped and her head bowed as she prayed for her husband in the hopes that he would remain at peace with himself in the after life.

Afterward, she made her way into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Hand me those potatoes, would you, Akitsu?"

She stopped in the doorway, however, when she realized that the kitchen was currently occupied.

"Ah."

A pause.

"Okay."

Miya watched as Naruto and Akitsu worked together to create breakfast. Naruto was chopping up ingredients and adding them into a pot. Meanwhile, Akitsu was washing the vegetables and keeping an eye on the oven, which was baking something; fish, from the smell wafting through the air.

The two actually worked together rather splendidly, like a well-oiled machine. Sure, Akitsu was a tad slow, doing everything in her methodical and glacial manner, but Naruto seemed to have accounted for this. They seemed to make a great team, at least as far as cooking was concerned.

"Would you like to help us out, Miya?"

Startled out of her thoughts by the question, Miya turned her head and blinked several times. Naruto had not even turned around, simply continued to add several ingredients to what looked like some kind of stew.

How he managed to know she was there without even turning around was something she still couldn't figure out, though she had long since realized that there was far more to this man then met the eye.

"I wouldn't want to be a bother," Miya started to say, only to have Naruto interrupt her.

"You wouldn't be bothering anyone. And besides, I need someone to add the ingredients while I chop them."

Miya paused for only a moment before coming to her answer.

"Very well then. I would be more then happy to help you."

She smiled as she walked up to Naruto and took his place by the boiling pot of stew, which she now recognized as Miso Soup with several additives, including the potatoes he had just put in.

"Thanks." Naruto offered her a rare, genuine smile, before moving over to the cutting board to begin chopping more ingredients. Miya felt something strange flutter in her heart at the sight of that smile, but ignored it in favor of helping to cook breakfast.

The three began working in tandem; Akitsu washed the vegetables, Naruto cut them, and Miya added them to the pot of Miso. They worked in silence, for a time, until one of their numbers let her curiosity and concern overtake her.

"Naruto?" Miya said just as the spiky-haired man walked over to her with his cutting board filled with sliced vegetables.

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to ask..."

Miya hesitated for a moment, but quickly shook her reticence off. There was nothing untoward or unusual about her worrying over her tenant. It was perfectly natural for her to be concerned, or so she kept telling herself.

"Are you... alright? Last night..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to bring up what happened last night. She had not been there for anything that had transpired between Naruto and Haruka, only heard about it second-hand from the others. In truth, Miya was not even sure it was her place to bring this up.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, blinking several times, as if he were not quite sure what she was talking about. After several seconds, however, his face cleared up and a small smile caused his lips to quirk upwards.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. As he said this, his eyes strayed to Akitsu, then went back to her. "I spoke with someone who managed to put my head on straight."

Miya looked back and forth between the Ashikabi and the Ice Maiden, her brows furrowed and a small frown marring her beautiful complexion.

So, Akitsu had spoken with Naruto and helped him out of his funk last night?

"I see." Shaking her head, Miya slowly smiled. "Well, I am glad that someone was around to pull you out of whatever funk you were in this time. I was getting pretty tired of being the one to do that."

"Such cutting words, Miya," Naruto sighed in mock depression, a wry grin on lips. "Your words wound me deeply."

"As well they should," Miya told him primly. "Now be a dear and start setting the table, Akitsu and I can finish up here."

"Kicking me out of the kitchen when I was the one cooking?"

"Of course."

"Alright... " Naruto made a big show of acting like he was greatly saddened by Miya telling him to get lost. "I see how it is. Now that most of the work is done, you want me out so that you can claim to have made this delicious meal all by yourself. Don't think I'm not onto you, Miya."

Miya rolled her eyes. "Oh hush. You know very well that I am not the kind of women who would take credit for someone else's work."

"So you say, but how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I hope you're not calling me a liar, Naruto." Miya smiled sweetly at the blue-eyed, whisker cheeked male. Had it been anyone else who had been on the receiving end of that smile, they would have probably begun running for the hills. Naruto? He just gave the woman a smirk.

"Did I say anything about you being a liar? There is a difference between being a liar and simply tweaking the truth."

"A liar is a liar regardless of whether some of it is true, Naruto."

"And that is where I feel we must agree to disagree."

Naruto began to grab the dishes he would need to put on the table from one of the cabinets overhead, even as he continued trading banter and barbs with Miya, who seemed to be enjoying the game of wits and words as much as he did.

They were interrupted from their small banter by another voice, one that had not spoken up in some time.

"Ah."

Needless to say, a pause.

"Don't worry, Ashikabi-Sama. I won't let her take all the credit for your cooking."

Naruto and Miya both gaped.

"Did you just make a joke?" asked Naruto.

"Ah."

A pause.

"Did I?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but no words would come out. Finding himself speechless, the immortal shinobi grabbed the plates and eating utensils, and walked into the living room to begin setting the table.

Miya, finding herself similarly incapable of speech, simply shook her head and began to put the finishing touches on the food.

"Ah..." Akitsu tilted her head to the side at the silence her words had created. "...Was it something I said?"

XoX

Uzume and Chiho were early to breakfast, for once. Naruto had just finished setting up the table when the two came walking into the living room.

As always, Uzume had a bright smile on her face. She had become a much happier person since Chiho started living with them. These days it was very rare to see the buxom brunette in anything less then a fantastic mood.

"Oh! Hey bro!" Uzume replied cheerfully as she led Chiho over to the table. The younger girl was now walking on her own two feet, but she still needed someone to lean against because she hadn't built up enough strength in her legs to walk on her own for extended periods of time. "How ya doing?"

"I'm fine," Naruto eyed the pair as they sat down. "You're up awfully early."

"Hey! I usually get up early!" When both Chiho and Naruto sent her deadpanned looks, Uzume flushed. "Well... I sometimes get up early, but it's not like I sleep in a lot these days, you know? I just don't like getting out of bed."

"Because you hope to engage Chiho in sexually explicit acts?" Naruto half-asked, half-stated.

"N-Naruto-san!" Chiho gasped in surprise at his audacious and blunt statement. Her face had turned a nice shade of red.

Uzume, on the other hand, laughed. "That's it exactly!" The way she said this made Naruto think she was quite proud of what she had done, or tried to do. He wondered how far they had gone? Maybe he should get Matsu to spy on them, for the sake of his research, of course.

Chiho just began blushing some more.

"U-Uzume-chan!"

"Awww... look at you!" Uzume squealed as she leaned over and engulfed her Ashikabi in a hug, her hands coming up behind Chiho's head and gently pressing the younger girl onto her superlative bosom. "You're so cute when you get all flustered like that! Don't worry, Chiho-baby, I won't be giving Naruto any of the juicy details." After saying this, she sent the blond a sly, seductive look, complete with half-lidded eyes and her tongue trailing across her lips. "Unless he would like to add those details to his newest book."

"U-U-UZUME!"

While Chiho reached a shade of red that had yet to be discovered by humans, Naruto adopted a look of thought. "You know, that might actually be a good idea." He tapped his chin. "I was just thinking about how my stories lacked any true lesbian sex scenes in them, and it would be nice to have a female share her experiences with me. I feel it would enhance the quality of my writing."

"Not you too, Naruto-san!"

Naruto and Uzume both looked down at Chiho, who looked like steam might start pouring out of her ears any second now. They then looked at each other and shared a good natured chuckle.

"Don't worry, Chiho-baby, we're just joshing with you."

"Yeah, and besides, I can transform into a female whenever I want, so I was lying about not having any true lesbian sex scenes in them."

Silence.

Uzume and Chiho stared at Naruto, both of them gawking for several second before...

"Bwahahahahahaha!" Uzume burst out into what sounded almost like diabolical laughter, but was far too cute to sound anything close to diabolical. "Ah ha! Ha... Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto and Chiho both stared as Uzume made a scene of rolling around on the carpet, her hands clasped around her stomach as she laughed uproariously. Neither of them would be surprised if everyone in Maison Izumo was now awake thanks to this girl.

"I don't think it was that funny," Naruto said dryly as Uzume's feet began kicking up in the air. The cloth user looked like she might actually bust a gut if she kept laughing that hard.

"Please ignore her, Naruto-san," Chiho said, bowing to the young looking man, though, Naruto was sure she was just bowing to hide her embarrassed blush. The girl's cheeks were quite pink. "She tends to overreact to any joke."

"Oh, don't worry," Naruto said blithely. "I know that. And who says I was joking?"

Chiho opened her mouth to speak, but just as quickly snapped it shut. She stared at Naruto, wide eyed, as if not quite sure what to make of his statement.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have too.

"I hope you are joking, for your sake, Naruto," Miya replied pleasantly as she and Akitsu entered the living room with several trays of food in hand. What was interesting about the two as they walked in was Akitsu, who was balancing four trays while she walked; one in each hand, one in the crook of her left arm, and the other on her head. It was a truly magnificent feat of balance.

"Hmhmhm," Naruto gave a mild, closed mouth chuckle, "Don't worry, Miya, you know it's not possible for people to change genders at will."

"Hmm..." Miya eyed the blond-haired, blue-eyed man sitting at the table speculatively, but eventually shrugged his words off. There was no way to tell if he was lying anyways, so there was no point in worrying about it.

And besides, who had ever heard of a person who could change gender?

Somewhere, in another time, in another dimension, a certain fighter from the Anything Goes School for Martial Arts sneezed. Consequently, this sneeze also threw off his concentration and he ended up getting kicked into a pond of cold water.

XoX

Musubi and Tsukiumi were the next to enter the living room.

They appeared just as all the food was set on the table, Musubi bouncing in with her usual excitement and Tsukiumi walking in with a scowl on her face. The blond-haired water user seemed to be displeased by something, though what that something was, none of them could guess.

"Good morning everyone!" Musubi announced her presence with great cheer, then directed her attention towards her Ashikabi. "Good morning, Naruto-sama! Did you sleep well?"

Naruto sent the girl a wan smile. After his revelation about the similarities between his old self and Musubi, he had begun feeling a little weary around the vivacious, fist fighter.

"I slept fine. How about you, Musubi?"

"Musubi slept great!" This exclamation came complete with Musubi throwing her fists up into the air, as if to emphasis just how happy she was. Beside her, Tsukiumi scowled.

"Well, I slept horribly." As if to present a stark dichotomy to the cheerful young woman next to her, Tsukiumi gave a great huff and cast Musubi an irritable glare. "Someone kept hitting and kicking me in the face last night. I hardly slept at all!"

Musubi looked at the other Sekirei in confusion. Her head tilted to the left, and her brows furrowed as she pursed her lips slightly. "But who could have possibly been hitting you? Only Musubi was in the room with you."

Tsukiumi twitched, her glare increasing in intensity and vitriol as her annoyance at the fist fighter reached new heights. "Who do you think!?"

Her posture slumping, Musubi gave off the image of a young woman who had no clue what her friend-slash-rival-slash-contender-for-position-as-Naruto's-wife was talking about. "I don't know. Who did it?"

Tsukiumi's twitching increased to almost spastic movements. The blond's fingers began moving violent, as if attempting to claw at something that wasn't there. If one looked closely enough, they would see water swirling at near maelstrom levels of intensity near her fingertips.

A few seconds later, the water user took in a deep breath, blew it out, then began marching right passed Musubi, who watched her go by with obvious confusion. "Tsukiumi-san?"

"Never mind, just... forget I said anything."

With one final huff, Tsukiumi sat down next to Naruto, who had the spot to his left free thanks to no one coming over to claim it.

"Aw!" Musubi moaned piteously as she realized both spots next to Naruto were now taken. "Musubi wanted to sit next to Naruto-Sama!"

"That's too bad," Tsukiumi sniffed derisively, "I was here first, therefore I get to sit next to my husband. And it's only right that I get this privilege. He and I are wed, after all, even if we have yet to consummate our marriage."

When Tsukiumi cast Naruto a look, he sighed. When Akitsu began casting him that same look, his shoulders slumped.

"Musubi is ―"

"Don't start that again." Everyone turned their attention to the new voice entering the room, Homura, who walked in with an irritated expression on his/her face. "I really don't want to hear you two arguing over who gets to be Naruto's wife first thing in the morning."

"What is your problem, Homura?" Tsukiumi glared at her irritated rival, who slumped into his seat with none of the decorum he used to have. It appeared the cool and composed facade the fire user often kept up for his duties as a host was gone for good. "You seem to be in a foul mood today, even more so then you normally are."

Homura's scowl deepened. His cheeks also flushed a dark shade of scarlet. "I don't want to talk about it."

Tsukiumi opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when Kusano barged into the room.

"ONII-CHAN!"

The little girl rushed towards Naruto, her arms spread wide as if to engulf him in a hug, only to remember that she was supposed to be mad at him. Slowing her progress to a halt, the girl stood in indecision for several seconds. She looked at Naruto with an expression of childish longing, then at Uzume and Chiho. After a few seconds of this, she decided what she was going to do.

Sticking her tongue out at Naruto, the Green Girl swiftly changed directions and sat down next to the female Ashikabi/Sekirei pair.

"Jeez, bro," Uzume said after watching the strange scene with the others. "What did you do to upset little Ku-chan so much that she won't even sit by you?"

"Onii-chan's being a meanie," Kusano informed everyone primly. "And Ku-chan doesn't like meanies, so until onii-chan stops being a meanie, Ku-chan's going to sit with Uzu-chan!" With her declaration made, little Kusano began studiously ignoring Naruto, at least as much as she could. Every so often, she would turn her head to look at him, as if expecting him to stop being a 'meanie' any second now.

Naruto merely sighed. It seemed Kusano had not forgotten about their conversation yesterday.

"Oh, I see," Uzume cast Naruto a sly look. "So your Onii-chan's being a meanie, is he? Well, don't you worry, Aunty Uzume won't let that big, old meanie come near you anymore. Not until he apologizes for being a meanie, kay?"

"Kay!"

"Oh my." Naruto groaned. It seemed Miya had decided to get in on the action. "I hope Naruto has not done something... inappropriate, to hurt little Kusano's feelings. Why, if he has, then I would have no choice but to kick him out... ufufufu..."

As Miya let out a creepy, ominous sounding laugh, Naruto rolled his eyes. "It seems everyone's picking on me today. What is this, make fun of Naruto day or something? Maybe you should have given me a memo, that way I could stay in my room."

"Awww, don't be like that, bro," Uzume grinned at the immortal ninja. "You know we love you."

"Right, because I can just feel the love pouring off you."

"I... I have never said anything bad about you, husband of mine."

Naruto glanced over at Tsukiumi, whose already flushing face went even more red when she noticed he was looking at her. Ducking her head, the water user tried to keep her scarlet colored cheeks hidden from view.

It was utterly adorable. The powers of a Tsundere's cuteness are fierce indeed.

"Thank you, Tsukiumi."

When Naruto smiled at her, Tsukiumi's cheeks went from scarlet to a deep, all-encompassing crimson and her heart threatened to burst into her chest.

"Y-You're welcome, husband." Tsukiumi leaned into Naruto's side, a pleasant thrill running through her when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and let her get close to him. This was where she wanted to be, where she was meant to be.

On Naruto's other side, Akitsu also began leaning on Naruto's shoulder. She might be the quietest of the group, but she wouldn't allow either Tsukiumi or Musubi to beat her!

"He heh," Uzume chuckled, her eyes dancing with merriment as she stared at the trio. "Look at you, bro, all nice and cozy."

"Yeah." Naruto sweatdropped. "I guess I am."

"Oh my, you're such a ladies man," Kazehana, who had flitted into the room sometime without anyone noticing, commented with a coy smile. The woman was sitting in a rather lax position with one leg up, forming a triangle against the tatami mat, and the other splayed out in front of her. Like always, she had a sake bottle in her hand.

"Uhuhuhu..."

Naruto slapped a hand to his face as Miya glared at the ceiling.

"Matsu, I demand you get down here this instant. The ceiling is not a place for people to hang up there like some kind of bat, peeping. It's bad enough that you peep on the other residents with those cameras of yours. I won't have you doing this too."

Hearing Miya's command, and not wanting to anger the woman who could kill her in a heartbeat were she so inclined, Matsu quickly slid one of the small panels away from the ceiling and scrambled to get down.

In her haste, she lost her grip and ended up falling to the ground in a senseless heap.

"Owww..." The mass of flesh and red hair that had once been Matsu moaned. Everyone stared at the hacker Sekirei for a moment... then decided to ignore her. It wasn't like this was the first time she had fallen from the ceiling, it probably wouldn't be the last either.

It was just seconds after this happened that Haruka and Kuno, the two newest residence of Maison Izumo walked in. The moment they did, everyone froze, including the two new tenants.

Well, Haruka froze. Kuno actually moved to hide behind her Ashikabi.

"Oh, good morning, Shigi-kun." Miya, in an attempt to break the awkward silence that now stifled the room, spoke up, a pleasant smile etched upon her lovely features. "How are you doing today? Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine," Haruka mumbled as he quickly moved further into the room, pulling Kuno along with him. Naruto noticed almost immediately that the boy was studiously refusing to meet his eyes. It seems his little spiel from last night had not gone over well with the boy.

"Ah! Koko-chan!" Musubi greeted the petite Sekirei. She was cheerfully oblivious to the thick tension in the room. "Good morning! How did you sleep?"

Her response was a pathetic moan from the person she was speaking to. "It's Kuno..."

Naturally, she went ignored.

XoX

Stifled didn't even begin to aptly describe the atmosphere that permeated the room. If someone were to walk in right now, they would have likely choked on the tension that surrounded the table that all of the Maison Izumo residents had gathered around for breakfast.

Naruto Uzumaki ignored this feeling, unlike the others. He also ignored Haruka's glare. This wasn't the first time he'd had such a look directed at him ― many humans throughout the ages had given him that look, and it most certainly wouldn't be the last.

The others were not as fortunate as Naruto. They did not have his thick skin and talent at ignoring the large elephants that were in the room. Of those present, only Miya and Kazehana seemed to be able to pretend the atmosphere wasn't stifling enough to snuff out a wild fire. Tsukiumi was doing her best, but she would occasionally glance at Naruto. Musubi seemed fine, but that was just because of her naivete, and even she knew something was going on from the way she was looking back and forth between Naruto and Haruka. Akitsu wasn't even worth mentioning, that woman was like ice. Biting his lip in the place he normally sat was Homura, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two people currently responsible for this unsettling vibe. Even little Kusano had remained silent thus far as she sat next to Uzume and Chiho.

And speaking of Uzume and Chiho...

"Is it just me, or does it feel like someone's entire family just died?"

Well, at least Uzume was _trying _to lighten the mood, even if that really only involved her leaning over to her Ashikabi and cupping her hand to her face so she could whisper in Chiho's ear.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't trying to lighten the mood so much as make conversation with her Ashikabi in an effort to ignore the current atmosphere. There was only so much a Sekirei as peppy as her could take of this asphyxiating tension.

"Uzume-chan, you really shouldn't joke like that," Chiho chided her Sekirei.

"I know, I know," Uzume sighed. "I just wish someone would say something. You know?"

"I would like that too," Chiho told her.

Naruto continued to eat in peace, ignoring the world around him. He could feel the eyes on him as the various tenants sent glances his way, feel the glare of anger and frustration being directed at him from the young man on the other side of the table. He could also sense the confusion of his Sekirei as they wondered about what would come from this stifling tension in the air.

Eventually, Naruto put down his chopsticks and, after downing the entire bowl of Miso soup in one gulp, set that down as well.

"Are you going to glare at me all day?" Though he was looking at no one in particular, it was clear to those present that he was talking to Haruka. And it was never more obvious then to the young man in question, who stiffened in his seat.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Haruka scowled at him. He then tried to studiously ignore Naruto, as if he had not been staring at the blond for a full fifteen minutes.

Naruto chuckled in a depreciating manner. "Of course you don't."

Haruka grit his teeth, causing Naruto's lips to peel back slightly in a condescending grin that showed off his pearly whites.

"Now, now." He wagged a finger at the much younger man. "Is that any way to look at the person who has decided to help you?"

"Help me?" It took Haruka several seconds to actually understand what Naruto was saying. When he did, his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. "Wait! You mean you're actually going to help Kuno and I escape?"

"Husband!" Tsukiumi looked aghast at her Ashikabi while everyone else stared at the spiky-haired shinobi in surprise. "Is this true?"

"I've decided that helping these two will be good test of your skills," Naruto said with a decisive nod. "The Dscipline Squad is supposed to be one of the strongest players in the game. They lack the numbers that Higa and Hayato Mikogami have, but their members make up for it by being stronger then the average Sekirei. Fighting against them will be a good way to see how far you've all come and how strong we need to be to win this."

"That... makes sense," Tsukiumi admitted reluctantly, trailing off for a second. Only a second, though. Her eyes flashed after the second ended. "But I still don't like it! Why should we help this weakling of a Sekirei and her Ashikabi!?"

"Hey!" Haruka glared at Tsukiumi as Kuno began tearing up at the insult, especially because she knew it was true. "You take that back! Kuno might be weak." Kuno began to cry more. "And whiny." Flinch "And she cries a lot." More flinching and even more crying. "But she's still my girl, and I won't have you insulting her!"

Tsukiumi glared at the impudent monkey who dared to yell at her. Her! The strongest Sekirei in the game! The impudence of this fool! First he tried to use her husband for his own selfish desire because he was too weak to do anything himself, and now standing up to her like he was her equal!? Preposterous! If he thought she was just going to let this slide, then he had another thing coming!

Just as she was about to blast the foolish monkey with her Water Celebration, a squeal erupted from the drunk Sekirei next to them.

"Oh how romantic!" Kazehana squealed like a little girl. "Such devotion to your Sekirei! This is love! This must be love!" Before any of the people in the room knew what was happening, the wind user had appeared right in front of Kuno, startling the poor girl half to death as she clasped the very normal looking Sekirei's hands in her own. "Don't worry, Kuro! You have my support!"

Kuno took one look at the much more mature, much bustier woman... then she began crying. "It's Kuno!"

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I think it turned out pretty well, even though it's only a bridge chapter to the next arc. And speaking of the next arc, it looks like Naruto is actually going to be helping Haruka and Kuno escape. Let us hope his plan to get them out of Shinto Teito is better then Minato's plan in the canon!<strong>


	30. A Reason to Help Someone Pt 3

**Before I forget, does anyone here have a facebook or twitter account? If so, do not be afraid to friend request or follow me! If you want to find my facebook, there is a link on my profile page or you can just search for Brandon Varnell on Facebook. I'll probably be the first person on the list. If you want to follow me on twitter, again, there is a link to my account on my profile here on FFN or you can type BrandonBVarnell to find me.**

**Now, I want you all to enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 30:**** A Reason to Help Someone pt. 3**

* * *

><p>With the decision to help Haruka and Kuno escape from Shinto Teito made, Naruto began working more closely with Matsu, planning the operation by using her ability to hack into any network within the city to its fullest. There was a lot that had to be done, not just planning the escape route, but also determining the best way to keep the Discipline Squad from running afoul of the two as they made their escape. Fortunately, Naruto had plenty of experience in planning operations like this.<p>

"What about that building over there? What does it contain?"

"That's a weapons depot. MBI stores a good deal of their weapons and ammunition for the Eastern District in there."

"And that's the base for the entire satellite network, right?"

"That's right. From there they can control and direct any one of the satellites under MBI's control, and MBI has over fifty-two satellites under their direct control."

"I see..."

Naruto stared at the computer screen, which was currently displaying a map of Shinto Teito. The map was a combination of road map and political map. It showed all of the major and minor highways and roads, as well as places like airports, city locations and points of interest like parks and monuments. The major highways and roads were highlighted in red, while minor roads and thoroughfares were highlighted in blue.

Of course, the map did more then just show major roadways and points of interest. It also showed the 'political boundaries' of the five major powers in Shinto Teito, as well as the few minor powers. The North was highlighted in orange (because if there was one thing that never changed about Naruto it was his love of the color orange), the South in purple, the West in green, the East in yellow and the center of the city in brown. Within each section of the city were a myriad of other colors that represented the minor powers, namely those Ashikabi who had more then one Sekirei, but were not strong enough to be a big contender in the game.

"You also have to take into account that MBI satellites aren't your standard satellite."

Matsu took a moment to type something on her keyboard. The screen soon changed from the map Naruto was looking at to a 3-dimensional model of one of MBI's satellites. The image rotated a full 360-degrees before the satellite moved off to the side and shrunk as an image of the earth appeared on the other side of the screen.

"They have a very powerful, high intensity laser that can be shot from any one of the satellites to any part of Shinto Teito" As she said this, the satellite's bow oriented itself towards the earth. A small, red beam shot out from a cylindrical hole in the front and connected with the earth. Where the laser hit, a small red splotch appeared, as if to show that area of Shinto Teito had been destroyed. "The beam is incredibly powerful, able to sheer straight through any kind of matter regardless of thickness or density."

"That's a pretty handy toy to have." Naruto leaned back and rubbed his chin in thought. "So, if we want to have any hope of helping Haruka and Kuno escape then we need to take care of those satellites first."

"Yes."

"Can you take them offline from here?" asked Naruto. Matsu bit her lip, then gave a tentative nod.

"With my Norito I can, but hacking into an MBI satellite remotely is no easy task. It won't be long after I hack into the system that they'll realize what's happening and wrest control back from me. What's more, I can only hack into one at any given time."

"What about shutting them down? Can you shut down all of them at the same time? Or just one?"

"I can shut them all down just fine." Matsu shrugged. "But your window of opportunity to accomplish your goals would be very small. I'd say you'd only have about fifteen minutes at most."

"That would be cutting it a little too close for my tastes," Naruto admitted with a frown. "Especially because there is more objective that I want to accomplish with this mission aside from helping Haruka and Kuno escape."

"That reminds me, why did you agree to help them escape?" Matsu asked, her body perking from it's slouched position so she could stare at him more intently. The act caused her breasts to jiggle enticingly, which Naruto took note of, but did not visibly react to. "I honestly didn't think you would help them, especially after you told them you wouldn't that first night."

"I already told you, this will be a good test for you Sekirei. I want to see how well you can operate and how powerful you are compared to the Discipline Squad."

From the skeptical look Matsu gave him, it was clear the busty red head did not believe him.

Naruto decided to change the subject.

"I want you to look at this data I've found on the Sekirei Crests and tell me what you think."

XoX

"I do not like this!" Tsukiumi declared for what must have been the one hundredth time that day. The group of four were currently walking down one of the many boulevards located within one of the various shopping districts located in Northern Shinto Teito. They were on their way to a meeting, and Tsukiumi had been complaining the whole way there. "Husband, why do we have to help these two? They have done nothing to deserve your aid!"

"I already told you," Naruto said with an exasperated sigh. "We're not helping them because they deserve it. I am merely using their desire to escape as a test for you."

"I do not buy that for one second!" Tsukiumi scowled at her Ashikabi. "If that was the reason you decided to render them aid, you would have agreed to help them the first time they asked! Do not lie to me! There is another reason that you are helping them! I want to know why!"

Naruto said nothing to her words. Not necessarily because he didn't plan to, but because Homura spoke before he could say anything.

"I think Naruto's doing a good thing here," the fire user declared. "I'm glad he's agreed to help the two of them."

"Of course you would, you nosy busybody!"

"What did you just call me?!"

"I called you a goody two-shoes who can't keep his nose out of other people's business!"

Naruto felt a minor headache coming on as he watched the two Sekirei of opposing elements butt heads. Literally. The pair were actually grinding their foreheads against each other as they glared daggers at the other. They looked like they were just seconds away from hurling elemental attacks at each other.

"Alright, that's enough you two," Naruto demanded sternly, staring at the pair with a commanding look that forced any who saw it to stop in their tracts. It certainly forced the two Sekirei to cease fighting with each other. "You're causing a scene... and you're upsetting Ku. Do you want a repeat of what happened the last time you two argued in front of her."

The two Sekirei quickly shuddered as they recalled what had happened when Kusano had caught them arguing in the hallway yesterday. The little girl had created a giant plant that burst from the ground and wrapped them up like some kind of strange tentacle bondage. Not only had they been forced to stay tangled up for a whole hour, looking like something out of a perverted mangaka's wet dream, but Miya had also lectured them for that entire hour... while using her Hanya mask.

Cue another shudder.

Not wanting to experience something even remotely similar to that again, the two Sekirei of water and fire looked away from each other with a huff.

Naruto resisted the urge to rub the bridge of his nose. Instead, he looked down at the youngest member of their group. Little Kusano, who Naruto had decided to take a long for this meeting, was looking around the city with interest. She was clutching one of Naruto's hands with her left and had a small fox plushy that the blond shinobi had gotten for her in her right.

"Are you ready to see Takami, Ku?"

Kusano looked up at him and beamed. "Uh huh! Ku-chan really wants to see Takami-nee!"

"I'm glad, we're almost at the meeting point."

"I still do not see why we have to help those two," Tsukiumi sulked with a sullen expression on her face. "There is no need for us to test ourselves. I am the strongest, therefore, testing myself against someone who is weaker then I am is a complete waste of time. It would be better if we just kicked those two out and told them to escape on their own."

Naruto sighed. Lifting Kusano into his arms, he handed the little girl to Homura, who looked at the tiny Sekirei in confusion. The fire user then turned his questioning gaze on Naruto.

"Just hold onto Ku for a moment," Naruto said, grabbing Tsukiumi by the hand. "I need to speak with Tsukiumi alone for just a second."

"H-Husband!" Tsukiumi gasped in both surprise and embarrassment. "What are doing?!" Once she got over her surprise, anger began to trickle into her voice. "Unhand me at once!"

Naruto did not let her go. Instead, he dragged her into a small alley.

"Husband, I demand that you let go this instant!"

Finally, Naruto released her, but only after he had pushed the blond-haired Sekirei against the wall. Tsukiumi's eyes widened as her Ashikabi's body pressed against her own. She opened her mouth to speak, but never managed to get a single word, or even a syllable, out of her mouth.

Because Naruto had just kissed her.

Pressing his lips against Tsukiumi's, Naruto used his considerable skill to quickly find out what brought the blond-haired, blue-eyed Tsundere the most pleasure. He had not shared as many kisses or intimate moments with Tsukiumi as he had with, say, Akitsu, but it did not take long for the woman he was pressing his body against to begin releasing soft moans and tiny whimpers of ecstasy from his ministrations.

Tsukiumi's mind was on the fritz. Even if she were capable of coherent thought, she would not be able to come up with the proper words to describe how incredible, nay, how divine, her Ashikabi kissing her felt. His mouth were on hers, caressing, nipping, nibbling, rubbing and sucking her by now bruised lips. His body was pressing against her, the heat from which was causing her own body to feel like it had been set to boiling. In particular, her loins and breasts felt like they were steaming. It was an unfathomable pleasure that bombarded her on all sides, leaving her nearly insensate to everything except Naruto's touch and kiss.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed water user was so busy being overloaded by sensations of pleasure from Naruto's kiss that she did not even see her wings flare into existence behind her and crack the walls. She also missed the seal Naruto had slapped on the wall behind her to both reinforce the structure and also make sure that no one who walked by noticed the two of them heavily making out.

Seconds later, just as Tsukiumi's legs were about to give out, Naruto released his hold on her lips. His hands went to her hips, keeping her body from falling to the ground as the water user's legs turned into something resembling jello.

Tsukimi's eyes opened, having closed sometime during the kiss. She could not see much of anything, just a blurry outline that she vaguely recognized as her husband. Her eyes felt like they had gone crossed.

Soon, her vision cleared to show her that Naruto was indeed the one standing in front of her. The immortal shinobi pressed his forehead against her's. Tsukiumi's wide, surprised eyes stared into his. She quickly averted them, however, her cheeks flushing a pale pink that complimented her regal, princess-like beauty perfectly.

"Tsukiumi."

The way Naruto called her name had the water Sekirei shuddering. There was something in his tone that made her loins boil over with desire.

She looked at him, his blue eyes piercing her own sapphire orbs. His hips pushed into her's, making Tsukiumi gasp in barely restrained pleasure.

"I need you to trust me," Naruto continued, though Tsukiumi was barely paying any attention. Her mind was a bit distracted at that moment by the feeling of her 'husband's' arousal rubbing and caressing her sacred flower. "Please trust that I know what I am doing. I can't do this without you." His face came even closer to her own, so close that Tsukiumi could feel his hot breath hitting her lips. The burning in her loins increased in intensity, as did her desire to claim his mouth with her own. "I can't do this without you. I need you, Tsukiumi."

"I... I..." It took a great effort of will to just think much less answer the blond man's unspoken question. Yet no one could claim that Tsukiumi was weak willed, and she was indeed able to answer him, though her voice was a mere whisper, displaying none of the confidence it usually did. "I will follow and trust you, husband."

The smile Naruto graced her with would have made Tsukiumi weak at the knees, were her legs not already on the verge of giving out.

"Thank you," he said, pressing their noses together and rubbing them in a gesture of intimacy that had Tsukiumi's face tingling. He then kissed her on the lips, gently this time. It was a kiss that Tsukiumi was all too happy to reciprocate now that she was beginning to gain her mental faculties.

"Ahem!"

The sound of someone coughing brought the pairs attention away from each others mouth and towards the entrance to the alley. There, they saw Homura standing with a scarlet flush on his pale cheeks as he stared at them in shock. Meanwhile, Kusano was staring the pair with a small pout, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Are you two done now?" asked Homura, masking his embarrassment with agitation. "If so, then maybe we could actually get a move on. We do have a meeting to get to, you know."

Tsukiumi squeaked as she realized that her intimate moment with her husband had been seen by another. She quickly pushed Naruto off her, her face a mass of red as she tried to regain her regal bearing.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

Tsundere protocols activated.

"I-I-I know that! Idiot! Who do you think you're talking to!?"

Homura twitched.

"A-Anyways!" Tsukiumi continued, her voice a lot higher in pitch then it normally was. "We should really be getting to that meeting! It wouldn't do if this important person ended up leaving because we were late! Hahahaha! Come, husband! Let us be off!"

As Tsukiumi walked out of the alley with an almost mechanical gait, Homura stared at Naruto, who was looking just as calm and composed as always.

"Damn, you're good," the fire user said at last. He looked at where Tsukiumi was now walking into the street, then shook his head. "I used to think I was talented when it came to the opposite sex, but I've never been able to make a woman experience an..." he trailed off, his eyes glancing down at Kusano. "That much pleasure from just a kiss," he finished.

"Yeah, well, I've got several thousand years of practice, so of course you're not going to have the skills to match me."

"What?"

"Nothing," Naruto said as he took Kusano from Homura's arms. The tiny blond stared up at her Ashikabi with large, puppy-dog eyes that only a child (or Musubi) could ever hope to achieve.

Needless to say, the adorable was overwhelming.

"Ne, ne, onii-chan?"

"Yes, Ku?"

"When are you going to smooch, smooch Ku-chan like that?"

Naruto just doesn't get a break, does he?

"When you're older, Ku-chan." He looked down at the little girl as she puffed up her cheeks. "Much, much older."

XoX

After Naruto had basically seduced Tsukiumi into going along with his plan, it did not take long for them to reach their destination. It took even less time to find the person they were supposed to meet there. If the premature white hair did not make it easy enough to find the woman in question, then the scar over her eye certainly did the trick.

"Takami-nee!"

Kusano shook her hand out of Naruto's and shot towards the white-haired woman like a blond rocket. Hearing the shout and seeing the tiny Sekirei barreling towards her, Takami stood up just in time as the girl barreled into her leg.

"Hello, Kusano," Takami greeted the Green Girl with a smile and ruffled her hair. Kusano beamed up at the much taller female. "How are you doing? Is your Ashikabi treating you well?"

"Mhm!" Kusano nodded her head effusively. "Onii-chan's the best onii-chan ever!" Her face darkened, sort of. She was a bit too cute for it to look truly dark, making it look more like a childish pout. "Cept when he's being a meanie and refus... refus..." Kusano scrunched up her face, her tiny nose crinkling cutely.

"Refusing?" suggested Takami.

"Yeah that! Onii-chan is refusing to smooch, smooch Ku-chan! He's a meanie!"

"Smooch, smooch?" She looked from Kusano to Naruto, raising a single eyebrow.

"Don't ask," Naruto said as Homura coughed into his hand in order to hide his chuckles, which sounded far more like girlish giggling then any man had a right to sound. Though, given the modestly sized knockers on his chest, it was safe to say he was not all man anymore.

Naruto glared at Homura, who looked far to amused for his liking, then looked back at Takami.

"I guess introductions are in order, then," Naruto held out his hand. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"I know who you are."

Takami sat down without taking his hand. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as he also sat down.

"You've caused me enough headaches to last a lifetime." Takami glared at the blond man. Naruto was unaffected by her hostile look, but imagined that any normal human would have been petrified by that gaze. "The only reason I even agreed to this meeting is because Homura has vouched for you."

"I see." Naruto eyed the woman sitting across from him as Kusano climbed onto his lap and plopped herself down. He then gave her a mild smirk. "Is that why you have sixty military personnel currently standing standing by on the rooftops?" When Takami's eyes widened, he chuckled. "Am I to assume they're here to shoot me if this meeting turns hostile?"

If she hadn't been sweating bullets before this meeting, Takami certainly was now. How had he known about the men she had stationed around them? Each of those soldiers was currently being concealed by one of the most powerful cloaking devices MBI had! It should have rendered them all but invisible to the human eye!

"Let's just call them added insurance," she said, trying to keep her voice calm and indifferent. "They're here for my safety, nothing more."

"Ah..."

Takami forced herself to relax. Like a subconscious instinct, she pulled a box of cigarettes out of her lab coat. She took one of the cancer sticks from the package and stuck it in her mouth. She then gave Homura a look, which the fire user interpreted very easily.

With a roll of his eyes, he stuck out his index finger. The tip of his finger ignited into a small blaze, which he then used to light Takami's cigarette.

"Neat trick, that," Naruto commented as the fire on Homura's finger extinguished. "Is that one of the parlor tricks you used when you were working at the gentleman's club?" It had been a very practiced move, like something the fire user had done hundreds of times.

"It seemed to impress the ladies," Homura said with a shrug.

"Speaking of ladies..." Takami eyed Homura's breasts as she stuck the cancer stick in her mouth. "You've got a nice pair on you, Homura. Are they new?"

Homura squawked indignantly as he covered his chest. He had forgotten to bind his breasts today, so they were sticking proudly out of his chest.

"Tsukiumi's are better."

Homura squawked some more. He also glared at Naruto.

"H-Husband!"

Tsukiumi was just as bad as Homura.

Takami snorted in minor amusement. It was very short lived amusement, as she quickly remembered who she was dealing with.

"Why don't you tell me why you wanted to see me." It was not a suggestion.

In response to her words, Naruto pulled out a small file, which he then handed over to Takami. The white-haired woman took the file from him. Opening it, she perused through the content. After several seconds, she looked back at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Haruka and Kuno? They're the reason you had Homura call me and set this meeting up?"

"More or less," Naruto shrugged. Before he said anymore, the whisker marked man hailed down a passing waiter and put in an order for some coffee. When the young woman left, he continued speaking. "I'm sure you know that they tried to escape from Shinto Teito a little while ago?"

"They're not the only ones," Takami sighed tiredly. A hand came up to rub her eyes, which had small bags under them, denoting a lack of sleep.

"I imagine so," Naruto mused, rubbing his chin. "I can't imagine any of the Ashikabi or their Sekirei are happy knowing they'll have to fight their brothers and sisters in a battle royal for the pleasure of a madman in order to stay together." Takami couldn't disagree with his words. "It probably doesn't help that you have Ashikabi like Higa, Hayato, Sanada and myself, who are considered some of the more powerful players in the game and the ones most likely to win this."

"No, it doesn't." Takami frowned at the man before her. She looked back down at the file in her hand, then glanced up at him again. "So why don't you tell me what this is all about? I can't imagine you would come here just to tell me about these two." She tapped a finger against the file that was now sitting on the table.

"You're right. I didn't." Naruto grabbed the file again and slipped it inside the inner pocket of his hoodie. "Haruka and Kuno came to me a few days ago, asking for aid in helping them escape." Takami sucked in a breath. "I've decided to help them."

"E-Excuse me?"

"I said, I decided to help them."

Takami worked her mouth for several seconds before she was able to speak properly. "You're going to help them?" Naruto nodded. "You? You are going to help them escape the city?"

"I believe I have already established that I plan on helping them."

"And why are you telling me this?" asked Takami, looking somewhere between skeptical and worried. "You do know that I work for MBI. By telling me this, I am obligated to stop you."

"I am telling you this for three reasons." Naruto held up his left hand and extended a single finger. "One, I know for a fact that you do not like the Sekirei Plan and that you hate what Minaka is doing even more." He held up a second finger. "Two, Homura has vouched for your integrity and I'm willing to place my faith in his words." A third finger. "Three, you owe me."

"I owe you?" Takami looked at the man with a gaze that clearly said 'what the hell are you talking about?'. "How do you figure that?"

Naruto withheld himself from speaking as the waitress from before came up with his cup of coffee. He took another moment to gently blow on the steaming liquid before answering Takami's question.

"Higa Izumi."

Takami sucked in a breath. She knew that he was talking about the incident with her daughter. Yukari had called her shortly after leaving Maison Izumo. She had been able to practically hear the girl salivating as she spoke about the 'bond hunk' who had rescued her.

Of course, she had spoken in a way that didn't mention her involvement in the Sekirei Plan. She just said some perv abducted her, but Takami had been able to do some research of her own and learned the truth.

It still galled the woman to know that her daughter had been in danger and she had not known until well after the fact. Even more galling was that the person who saved her was the man sitting before her.

"Besides," Naruto, unaware of Takami's thoughts, continued. "If you don't agree to help me, I'll just kill you right now."

Takami's eyes widened as she felt something sharp poking her in the stomach. She looked down, her eyes widening even more when she saw a katana underneath the table, the tip of which was being gently pressed against her solar plexus.

"Naruto!" Homura hissed out angrily.

"Don't look at me like that, Homura," Naruto said calmly. There was not an ounce of emotion in his voice. It was as if he were not currently holding one of MBI's top researchers at sword-point. "You're the one who wanted to help Haruka and Kuno escape the city. We can't do that without this woman here. She's the only one aside from Minaka who has the clearance we need."

"I know that... but still, you shouldn't threaten to kill her! And didn't you just say we need her? If you kill her, then she can't help us."

"Better she dies without helping us then letting her go back to MBI with the knowledge that we plan on helping Haruka and Kuno escape."

Homura sputtered. "But that doesn't... I mean it's not... it's not right..."

"I don't care."

Homura sputtered even more.

Takami looked at the blond, then the fire user, then at the little girl sitting on Naruto's lap.

"I'm surprised Ku-chan hasn't said anything about you threatening to kill her Takami-nee," she said as calmly as someone who had a sword poking them in the chest could. Inside though, she was nearly panicking. Why hadn't anyone seen this? Why hadn't her men shot this man already?

"Kusano can't here anything we're saying," Naruto answered with an amused smile. When Kusano looked at him curiously, he ruffled the girl's hair, causing her to pout. "Or, to be more specific, whenever we speak, she is hearing something completely different then what we are actually talking about."

Takami narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the blond and his three Sekirei. She couldn't make heads or tails of that statement. "What do you mean?"

"Sorry, but that's all the information you are going to get out of me."

Her lips thinning into a tight line, Takami thought about her options. There weren't many. She either agreed to do this, or she died. Well, that, or she could just say she agreed and then simply not help him.

"Very well," she sighed, "what do you need me to do?"

"All Sekirei have a chip that is implanted into their Sekirei Crest."

"What!?"

"This chip can not only track where a Sekirei is regardless of where they are in the world, but also serves as a deadmans switch." Naruto ignored Tsukiumi's shout of outrage, as well as the sucking in of breath from Homura. "Basically, if any Sekirei gets too unruly, or manages to escape from Shinto Teito, all Minaka would have to do is press a button to shut them down."

"And you want me to turn the device for Kuno off?" Takami deduced. "Why not just get Matsu to do it?"

"Please don't take me for a fool," Naruto said, smiling when he saw Takami wince. Whether that was because of his words or the sword that poked her hard enough to hurt was unknown. "You and I both know that the controls to shut off the Sekirei tracking device/deadmans switch can only be accessed remotely via a terminal located in the subterranean levels of MBIs main base of operations, and the only two people who have the clearance to go down there is yourself and Minaka."

"You're awfully well-informed about how MBI works," Takami spoke calmly, even though she was anything but calm. There was no way Naruto should know any of this. Not even with Matsu helping him. The Sekirei tracking devices were a secret so closely guarded that it was not on any network or data storage unit.

When she got back from this meeting, she was going to do a thorough background check of all the people working in MBI. There was a leak somewhere, and she was going to find the idiot who did and boot him off the clock tower.

"I make it my business to know potential threats to myself and those important to me," Naruto poked her with the tip of his sword again. "And you're stalling."

Takami cursed, then sighed as she realized she had been backed into a corner.

"Alright," she said. "I'll help you, but only because I hate Minaka and don't want to see any needless deaths or deactivations."

"I'm glad you're finally seeing things my way."

The tip of the sword that had been poking her disappeared. Takami looked down to see some smoke disappearing within a gentle breeze.

Naruto stood up, his arms holding Kusano against his hip like a parent would hold their child.

"I'll get in touch with you when the time comes for you to deactivate the device within Kuno's crest," he told the woman.

"And how will you get in touch with me?" Takami asked, sounding more then a little agitated. She did not like the fact that someone had gotten the better of her and was now hanging her by the figurative balls.

"You don't need to worry about that," Naruto said, "Just wait for me to contact you." He was just about to turn around, but paused at the last second and looked back at Takami. "Oh, and those soldiers hanging on the rooftops, you're going to want to get them some medical attention."

"What!?"

"Come on, Tsukiumi, Homura. We're done here."

"Of course, husband."

Homura did not say anything, just frowned as he followed Naruto.

"Bye, bye, Takami-nee!" Kusano waved one of her tiny arms at the white-haired woman as they departed, leaving a frustrated and defeated Takami behind.

XoX

The past few days of planing to help Haruka and Kuno escape Shinto Teito had been proceeding smoothly. Much of the plan itself had already come together; the basic course of action, as it were, was all there. All Naruto needed to do now was convince a few more people to help him, so he would have some extra hands to accomplish the tasks he couldn't have his Sekirei do.

That was why he was here, sitting in the bullet train as it sped down Shinto Teito towards one of the less populated residential districts just outside of the North's jurisdiction.

Sitting beside him were Akitsu and Musubi, who he had decided to let tag along for the ride. Kusano would have likely come as well, but she had been very tired recently because Naruto had started training her more extensively in her powers. She was likely still sleeping in Uzume's room.

"This is so exciting!"

Musubi was bouncing up and down in her seat. The shrine maiden presented a stark contrast to Akitsu, whose upright posture and rigid bearing made her look like a block of ice. A very sexy block of ice, albeit, but still a block of ice.

"Isn't this exciting Naruto-sama?" the busty girl with the naivety of a child asked as she turned to face him. Naruto gave Musubi an indulgent smile.

"We're just going to see Seo and the S&M twins."

"Mu~ Musubi knows that," she said, puffing her cheeks out a bit. "Musubi is just excited because we're going to be helping Haruka and Kuku."

There was a slight pause in their conversation. All three of them cocked their heads to the side. Maybe it was just them, but they could have sworn they heard someone wailing "its Kuno! Not Kuku!" somewhere in the distance.

Huh. Must be their imagination.

"Musubi's really happy that Naruto-Sama decided to help Haruka and Kuyo!"

Another pause ensued. Was it really just their imagination that they were hearing? Or was that actually the despairing wails of a certain Sekirei whose name no one seemed to remember?

Musubi gave Naruto soft smile that made his stomach twist into knots. "That's why I love you so much, Naruto-Sama. Even though you try to act like you don't care, helping people is in your nature." She took his hand in her own. Her smaller hand seemed to fit into his larger one perfectly, like they were made for each other. "That's why I responded to you. Why you're my Ashikabi."

Naruto swallowed heavily. He wanted to deny her words. To tell her that she was wrong. That he didn't care about helping others. That he wasn't doing this for Kuno and Haruka's sake, but for his own ambitions and desires. That it was only coincidental that their desire to escape Shinto Teito matched up with his plans. He wanted to tell her these things.

But he couldn't.

Worse still, he did not know why.

"I-I guess..."

He quickly looked away from the fist fighter. He didn't want to see her staring at him with those warm, brown eyes. Those eyes that seemed to draw him in and refuse to let him go.

The rest of the trip to Seo's apartment was silent. They exited the train when it reached their station, then walked to the complex that the man Miya often called 'trash' was staying at.

The apartment complex Seo lived in was not glamorous by any definition of the word, but it was a right sight better then the one he had been staying at before Naruto gave him the job of keeping the blond ninja up to date on anything interesting going on in Shinto Teito.

The complex itself was very large, had a number of balconies sticking out on all four sides, and a flat roof. Like all buildings in Japan, this one was built 'up', meaning that rather then the complex being spread out over a wide area, it was confined to a small space and simply expanded into the sky.

Japan had a very conservationist approach to utilizing their land.

Entering the apartment building, Naruto and his two Sekirei walked over to the nearest elevator and got in. When they were all inside, Naruto had Akitsu press the button for the fifth floor, which was where Seo resided.

It wasn't long before the trio found themselves standing in front of a door with the number 526 etched into a small plaque. Yet, despite arriving at their destination, the three were hesitant to actually let their presence be known.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU SPENT ALL OF OUR MONEY ON ALCOHOL!?"

ZAAPPPPPP!

"GRAAAAA! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

"SORRY ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT, SEO! THAT WAS 65,000 YEN YOU JUST SPENT! ALL THAT MONEY WE HAD BEEN SAVING UP FOR A RAINY DAY IS NOW WASTED THANKS TO YOU!"

ZAAAPPPPP!

"Do you think we should go in?" asked Musubi.

"STOP SHOCKING ME, DAMMIT!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU'VE LEARNED YOUR LESSON!"

ZAAPPPPPPP!

"Why don't we wait outside until they're done," Naruto suggested as several more 'zapping' sounds came from behind the door they were standing in front of. The trio stood there, listening silently as the noises that could only be human flesh getting shocked by lightning rang clearly through the door to them, along with the screams of said human who was getting shocked. Eventually, the sounds stopped coming, meaning that it was safe for Naruto to knock on the door.

"Just a second! Dammit, Seo! Get your ugly ass out of the way!"

More sounds of someone getting shocked occurred, as did more screaming, though now it sounded like a dying pig squealing. Looking down at the bottom of the door, Naruto could actually see the pale blue light of lightning coming in through the crack.

A second later the door opened and Hikari stood in the doorway, a rude look on her face. "Look, whatever you're selling, we don't want... oh..." she blinked when she saw who was standing in front of her. "It's you. I take it you have a new job for Seo?"

"One that could potentially earn back all the money your Ashikabi just spent on booze."

"Well, don't just stand there!" The door opened more fully and the lightning user moved out of the way, her invitation obvious. "Come on in!"

Naruto did as told. Stepping into the threshold of the room with Akitsu and Musubi following close behind, the young looking shinobi finally got to see what had become of Seo after he had been zapped with somewhere around several thousand volts of electricity by his girls.

The man looked like he'd stuck his finger into an electric socket. His entire body was black and crispy, and his hair looked like something you'd see on a mad scientist who just had an experiment blow up in his face. Steam was wafting off his body, rising lazily into the air like smoke from a small fire.

Naruto thought the whole scene was just amusing.

"Still letting those two walk all over you, I see," Naruto commented to the groaning, moaning pile of burnt flesh.

"I'd like to see how you do when getting double-teamed by a pair of girls that can shoot lightning from their hands," Seo ground out from where he lay on the ground.

Naruto took one look at Hibiki and Hikari, one who was glaring at him and the other who looked away as soon as their eyes made contact. He smirked. "I could take them."

"What was that!?" Hikari glared at Naruto. She clenched her left hand into a fist and shook his menacingly at the blond-haired, whisker marked ninja. "You wanna go!? Cuz if that's the case..." blue arcs of electricity began coursing through her arm, her threat obvious.

"Hikari..." Hibiki gripped her sister's shoulder and began shaking it. "Did you forget that this guy fought Higa's Sekirei to a standstill?"

The lightning stopped. Hikari's face took on a look of consideration, then grimaced as she too remembered that fight; the fight where a human fought against two Sekirei and came out unscathed.

"Besides," Hibiki continued, "It's only thanks to Naruto-san paying Seo for all the rumors he picks up that we were able to move into this apartment and afford enough food to live off of."

Hikari grimaced some more as she conceded the points made by her sister. "Alright, fine. I won't fry him to a crisp."

Hibiki sighed in relief. "Good."

"But you'd better watch what you say, buddy," Hikari was back on Naruto again, giving the spiky headed blond a fierce stare. "Make a comment like that again and I won't hesitate to shove several thousand volts of lightning into you!"

"Sounds fun," Naruto commented, uncaring at the way Hikari bristled at his statement. "But I'm afraid that will have to wait for another time. I've come to talk business with Seo."

"Business, huh?" Seo stood up, having recovered from getting God-only-knows how many volts of electricity shoved into him. He walked over to the couch, where he flopped down like a sack of flour. His feet swung up, the heels smacking against the coffee table with a clang as he leaned back against the headrest, completing his lazy-boy image. "You don't usually call me for actual jobs. I take it you've got something big for me?"

"Big enough that I needed some extra hands," Naruto said as he also sat down. Sitting on the couch opposite of Seo, he was joined by his two Sekirei. Akitsu sat as close as possible so that she could set her head on his shoulder, while Musubi was simply looking around the apartment in curiosity.

"Does it have something to do with those two strays you took in?"

Naruto was not surprised that Seo knew about Haruka and Kuno. There was a very good reason he hired the man. He had an uncanny knack for keeping an ear to the ground and sifting through rumors to find those hidden gems that were oh so useful. More then half the plans Naruto had made for the Sekirei Plan was based on information given to him by Seo.

"It does. It seems that Haruka and Kuno wish to escape Shinto Teito."

Seo raised an eyebrow. "And you've agreed to help them?" When Naruto nodded, the much younger man blinked. "I'm surprised... I can't see you helping out two complete strangers. I mean, you've helped Uzume and Kusano when they needed it, but one was your Sekirei and the other someone you lived with. It doesn't seem like your style to help two people you don't even know."

"I didn't come here to listen to you giving me a psychoanalysis about myself," Naruto nearly snapped.

"Woah, woah, take it easy." Seo held his hands up in a nonthreatening gesture. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I was just curious, you know?"

"Whatever," Naruto sighed as Musubi looked over at him in concern, having been dragged out of her self-inspection of the room by his snappish tone. "Can you help me or not?"

"If you're paying," Seo said with a Gaelic shrug.

"Then our business is concluded." Naruto stood up from his seat. Akitsu smoothly followed his actions while Musubi looked startled by the abrupt motion and took a second to rise jerkily to her feet. "Come by Maison Izumo two days from now and I'll let you know what I want from you."

"Yeah, sure."

Naruto nodded towards Seo before making his way out the apartment room. Akitsu and Musubi followed closely behind.

As the door shut behind them, they heard Seo say, "Hey, Hikari! Get me a beer, would you!"

This was soon followed by a shout of, "Get your own damn beer!" before the sounds of crackling lightning and Seo's screams filled the room.

That man just never learns.

XoX

Naruto divested himself of all his clothing. After folding said clothing, he placed it in one of the many hampers that were located in the changing room right next to the bathhouse. Now naked, the blond-haired, blue-eyed male wrapped a towel around his waist and walked into the bathhouse.

"EEK!"

Naruto stared oddly at Homura for several seconds as the man let out a girlish shriek.

"Was there any reason for that?"

"What are you doing in here!?" Homura asked harshly, ignoring his question. The fire user's cheeks were flushed a deep, dark red. Although, the color could be attributed to the heat, Naruto was positive he saw the hue darken several shades more than what could be considered normal for someone bathing in hot water.

"The same reason you are, I suspect," Naruto replied easily enough. "To clean myself off and relax in the bath." It had been a trying day; meeting and blackmailing/threatening Takami into working with him and speaking with Seo was tough work. He needed some time to just relax and unwind.

He walked further into the room as Homura made to cover his breasts with his arms.

He also ignored the glare the fire slinging Sekirei tossed him.

Sitting down on the stool, Naruto proceeded to scrub his body with a soaped up sponge, scrubbing down his chest, arms, and armpits. While he did this, he looked at Homura out of the corner of his eye, and nearly snorted in amusement when he saw the fire user staring at his body with a look that somehow managed to combine mortification with admiration. After a few seconds, though, Homura looked away, the Sekirei's face so red it looked like it might catch fire.

"You could have at least waited until I was done."

"I could have," Naruto agreed, "But I didn't feel like it."

Homura twitched.

After he finished scrubbing himself up, Naruto poured the bucket of warm water over his head. The clear liquid cascaded down his body, washing away the soap suds. He then stood up and removed the towel.

"Eep!"

Grinning at the mouse-like squeak Homura unleashed at the sight of his naked body, Naruto slowly lowered himself into the steaming water of the large tub.

"You're awfully embarrassed about seeing another man naked, Homura," he said, sending an idle and lazy glance at the other occupant of the tub.

"That's because you have no shame!" Homura spat.

"That's probably true," Naruto admitted. He was pretty shameless, and he didn't have many taboos when it came to public decency, or anything else for that matter. That's what happened when you were immortal. You just stopped caring about human morals. "But I'm not sure how you can equate my lack of shame to me being shameless because I'm taking a bath. You kind of have to be naked to take a bath, you know."

"I-I know that! I just meant... what I mean to say is... it's like..."

Naruto chuckled at Homura's inability to explain himself. In return, the white-haired fire user sank even deeper into the water until just the upper half of his face was visible.

"Relax," Naruto sighed. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the edge of the tub and let his arms use the rim as an armrest. "You've got nothing to worry about. It's not like it's unusual for two guys to take bath together. This is Japan, after all."

Japan was famous for it's bathhouses, which usually had same-sex bathing. Mixed bathing wasn't practiced very often these days, though, some bathhouses still had it.

Homura did not say anything. Or maybe he tried to and Naruto just couldn't hear anything because the fire user's mouth was still underneath the waters surface.

The silence that soon engulfed the pair as they both sat in there in the tub was broken by the sound f the door sliding open. Naruto did not open his eyes, already knowing who it was. Homura did look over, however, and another 'eep!' escaped his mouth when he saw who had entered.

Naruto chuckled when Homura sank even further into the water in an effort to hide those globes on his chest. This also caused said fire user to send his Ashikabi a rather virulent glare.

"Um... Hey," Haruka said as he walked into the bathhouse. "Do you guys mind if I join you?"

"You can do whatever you want," Naruto said, still not bothering to open his eyes. "This is Miya's house. She's the one who makes the rules. I'm just a resident."

"Thanks..." Haruka mumbled. Naruto did not reply, and the much younger man quickly cleaned himself off on the same stool that the ancient shinobi had been using just a few seconds prior.

Soon enough, Haruka had joined Naruto and Homura in the tub, letting out a content sigh as the water did its job of relaxing his muscles.

Homura turned away from the boy, not wanting to be seen by him. It was bad enough that Naruto was here, but at least that man was his Ashikabi.

More silence soon followed. For two of the people in the room, it was an uncomfortable, stifling silence. Homura remained buried almost to the nose under the water. Haruka, on the other hand, kept sending unsure glances at Naruto, who continued ignoring the two of them.

Finally...

"You got something you want to say?"

Haruka started in surprise as Naruto finally said something, but he quickly steeled himself. "I just wanted... to apologize, for the other day, I mean," he added, "I was... angry, and scared, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. So... Sorry."

"It's fine." Naruto sighed, and shifted where he sat. "It's in human nature to lash out at others. That's just how humans are."

"You say that like you're not human," Homura finally spoke up, eyes narrowing. Naruto said nothing, causing the fire user to frown.

"I also wanted to thank you," Haruka added, feeling the strange need to continue. "I know you don't have any obligation to help me, so I'm grateful that you have."

"Don't be too grateful," Naruto told the boy. "I didn't do it for you. I did it because this will be a good chance to see how well my Sekirei can fight in a real life and death battle."

"You don't need me to do that," Haruka countered. "If you wanted to test your Sekirei, you could just order them to attack MBI headquarters or something. You don't to help me and my girl escape for that."

Naruto did not say anything, nor did his face reflect any of his emotions. His mind was a different story, however. A tumultuous storm was brewing in his head as conflicting thoughts and emotions ran rampant within him.

Haruka's words rang very true. If Naruto wanted to, he could have planned an attack on MBI headquarters, or he could have had Matsu hack into MBIs satellites, track down the Discipline Squad and have his Sekirei engage them in combat. There were so many things he could have done to test his Sekirei that did not require him helping Haruka.

So why? Why was he agreeing to help this boy, this selfish, spoiled little brat, escape the city?

_'Because that's who you are,'_ a voice echoed in his head. _'You can't help but want to help others.'_

Naruto shook his head irritably, dispelling those thoughts. That was not it. He had long stopped caring for other people.

_'Oh, but it is,' _the voice seemed to chuckle inside his head._ 'Isn't that the reason you chose to forsake most human contact? Why you've never allowed yourself to get close to another person? Why you never allowed yourself to fall in love since her? Come now, don't delude yourself. We both know what kind of person you are.'_

_'You know nothing!'_ Naruto snarled at the voice._ 'I'm not that stupid child that used to form attachments to others! Don't talk to me like you know me!'_

_'Hehehe, but I do know you. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I know you better than you know yourself!'_

A growl escaped from Naruto's throat, causing the two other occupants of the bath to look at him.

"Eeep!"

"Dude, sit back down!"

Naruto blinked, then looked at his surroundings with a startled gaze as he realized he was now standing up in the tub. Just when had he done that?

With a heavy sigh, he sat back down. Homura and Haruka finally relaxed.

"Ugh, I think I've been scarred for life," Haruka groaned as he leaned his head back against the lip of the tub. "I really didn't want to see your thing hanging out like that. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Then you shouldn't have looked," Naruto deadpanned. "It's your own fault for staring at me."

"You were the one who stood up!"

"And you were the one who was staring."

Haruka gaped at the immortal shinobi.

"By the way, Homura," the idle, almost curious tone in Naruto's voice as he spoke had Homura on edge. "When were you going to tell me that you finally lost your fishing tackle?"

XoX

While Naruto, Homura and Haruka were in the bathhouse, sharing in what would have been male bonding if one of them had not been fully transformed into a female and another being an anti-social immortal who spurned human contact, Tsukiumi was standing on the roof of Maison Izumo.

The water using Sekirei's arms were crossed under her well-developed bosom as she gazed at the setting sun. The sky above was casting bright colors onto her hair as it waved in the breeze. Though her face was composed as she watched the dying sun cast it's glow upon the city, her mind was in turmoil.

She just couldn't understand it. Why was her husband agreeing to help that foolish monkey of an Ashikabi and that pathetic excuse for a Sekirei? Her husband had always been a logical, well-reasoned person. So why? Why had he decided to extend his aid to those two when he had first rejected them?

"I thought I might find you here."

Startled out of her frustrating thoughts, Tsukiumi uncrossed her arms and turned her head to look at the person who had snuck up on her.

"Oh, landlady," Tsukiumi greeted the woman with respectful nod. Out of all the people living under this roof, Asama Miya was the person she respected the most. Aside from her husband, of course.

"Are you thinking about what's going to happen?" Tsukiumi did not need the woman to elaborate to know what she was talking about.

"I just don't get it," Tsukiumi released a frustrated gust of air.

"You don't understand why Naruto has agreed to help Haruka and Kuno," Miya stated her response almost like a question, but they both knew it wasn't.

"He shouldn't have to help them," Tsukiumi huffed. "It is not any concern of his whether those two escape the city or not. He did the right thing when he denied them aid when they first asked it of him."

"And now you are wondering why he has changed his mind and decided to help them." Tsukiumi was silent. Nodding her head, Miya walked up to stand beside the water user. She gazed out at the sky for a moment, putting her thoughts together, before looking back at the blond Sekirei. "Would you like to hear why I think Naruto has agreed to help them?"

Tsukiumi hesitated for a moment. There was no way this woman could offer any insight into her husband that she herself did not know. The idea was preposterous! As if someone could ever know her husband as well as she did!

She still ended up nodding, though. Not because she thought Miya had any sagacious wisdom to give that may enlighten Tsukiumi as to what her husband was thinking. No. Of course not. She was just curious.

"Since the very first moment I met Naruto, I sensed there was something different about him, something that no one else, be they human or Sekirei have."

Tsukiumi nodded. She too had come to that conclusion. Her husband was special in some way, though she did not know how special.

"He is a surprisingly complex person, more so than anyone else I have ever met. When you first meet him, he comes across as cheerful and care-free, yet there are times where I scan sense a deep melancholy residing within him." Miya held a hand to her chest. She could feel her heart beating erratically at the thought of Naruto. "He has suffered great loss in his past. I suspect he has lost may loved ones, and it has affected him. He tries to shun contact with others, first by putting up a facade to keep everyone from seeing the real him, then by pushing them away when that fails. I think he is afraid of letting others get to close because he is afraid that he will eventually lose them like he lost those other people he loved so much."

Tsukiumi was silent for a moment, deliberating over everything the landlady had just told her. After a second or two, she scowled and looked away. "That still does not explain why he has agreed to help those two."

"Naruto might shun contact with others, but that does not mean he doesn't want to make those connections," Miya said. "I think that Naruto wants to let others in, but is afraid." She paused. "And just like Naruto desires to form bonds with others, he also wants to help people. It's a part of who he is and is not a facet of himself that can be gotten rid of so easily. This is also why he shuns getting close to others, because he knows that if he sees someone in need, he will want to help them."

"So you're telling me that my husband has some kind of hero complex?" Tsukiumi frowned. "Preposterous!"

"Is it?" Miya asked. "Despite the amount of times he has pushed all of us away, every time someone has come to him for help, he has helped them."

"He's only helping those two because he wants to test our skills," Tsukiumi defended weakly.

"You and I both know that is a flimsy excuse at best," Miya countered. "He doesn't need to help those two to test you. That's just the excuse he uses to justify helping them."

Tsukiumi wanted to deny Miya's words. To tell the woman that she did not know what she was talking about. But she couldn't. Deep down, she knew that the kind and beautiful landlady was correct.

"Naruto is a naturally kind person who enjoys helping others," Miya continued, taking Tsukiumi's silence as a sign that the other Sekirei knew she was right. "It is as much a part of him as his arm or leg." The purple-haired woman smiled at the other female. "Isn't that why you responded to him?"

"I-I ― of course not!" Tsukiumi scowled. "I only responded to him because he is strong... for a human, I mean! Strong for a human." She nodded to herself. "A strong Sekirei like myself needs a strong Ashikabi. None but the strongest would do."

Miya raised her arm, hiding her mouth behind the voluminous sleeve as she giggled demurely. "Oh my, how cute. Getting all tsundere over your Ashikabi."

Tsukiumi scowled and blushed at the same time. After hearing that term from Homura a couple of times, she had looked up the meaning of the word. Needless to say, she had not been pleased. She wasn't tsundere! She wasn't!

Was she?

Just then, as Tsukiumi was about to deny Miya's baseless accusation, fire erupted from the bathhouse, blowing out the windows and causing black smoke to pour out of the now glassless holes in the wall.

"YOU DAMN PRICK! HOW COULD YOU JUST SIT THERE, ACTING LIKE NOTHING WAS WRONG WHEN YOU KNEW I HAD CHANGED INTO A WOMAN!? HUH!?"

"Oh dear," Miya said with a sigh as Tsukiumi gaped at the amount of smoke coming out of the bathhouse. Or maybe she was gaping at the words she recognized as coming from Homura. "I'd better go deal with Homura before she gets out of hand." Miya huffed. "Honestly, blowing up my bathhouse just because her Ashikabi knew _she_ was no longer a _he."_

As Miya jumped lightly off the roof, Tsukiumi stared after her, blinking.

Several seconds later...

"Did she just say Homura has become a woman!?"

XoX

One week. It had taken taken one week of planning and preparation, but Naruto was finally ready to execute his plan.

He and all of his Sekirei along with Seo and the bondage twins, Uzume and Chiho, and Haruka and Kuno were standing around the long table in the dining room of Maison Izumo. Miya was also there, standing off to the side, but as she was not going to be a part of this daring mission, she was not actually a part of the group. Her role here was merely as an observer.

"Did you guys plant the tags?"

"Of course," Seo answered the blond's question, rubbing the nape of his neck as a queer look crossed his face. "Don't know why you wanted all those tag things placed around the city, though. I don't see how a couple hundreds sheets of paper with funny scribbles on them is going to help you."

"You don't need to worry about that." Naruto turned to look at Uzume and Chiho. "You know what your part is going to be?"

"I'm going to be the one escorting Haruka and Kumo to their extraction point," Uzume recited dutifully. Naturally, she and everyone else ignored the mutter of "it's Kuno..." from the Sekirei in question just like every other time she spoke. It was as if she wasn't even there. "Don't worry about a thing, bro. I got this in the bag."

"Be careful, Uzume-chan," Chiho asked of her Sekirei. The young Ashikabi looked at Uzume in concern, causing the busty brunette to squeal.

"Oh, come here you!" Before Chiho could comprehend what was happening, Uzume had pulled the girl's head down to rest upon her bosom. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll be back before you know it! Then you and I can have some passionate, raunchy sex!"

"Ahem," Miya coughed into her hand before plastering a sincerely false smile on her face. The aura of death and despair she was exuding did not help make those present feel any more comfortable around the woman then her smile did. "What were you saying, Uzume-san? I don't think I heard you probably."

"Ah... Hehehe," Uzume swallowed, "What I said was that Chiho and I would be... uh... um... cuddling! Yes, cuddling. As soon as I got back we're gonna snuggle under the blanket and just cuddle. Nothing else. Certainly not erotic, steamy, hot..."

"Uz-u-me!"

"We weren't gonna do the nasty, I swear!"

"Uzume..." Chiho sighed.

"Yes?"

"You're just digging yourself into a deeper grave."

"...I think you're right. I'll be quiet now."

A large trickle of sweat fell down the sides of several people's head as they stared at the cloth user.

Several seconds later, they all decided to ignore what had just happened. It really wasn't worth the trouble.

"Haruka."

Haruka straitened up as Naruto addressed him. "Yes?"

"Here." Naruto handed him a large folder that was tied together to keep its contents from falling out. The young man took a glance at the object, his curiosity obvious on his face. "That folder contains several documents that you'll need. When you arrive at your destination, you're going to meet one of my contacts." Actually, it was one of his brainwashed spies, but there was no need to tell Haruka that. "There's an image of him in the folder, so you'll know who to look for. He'll be able to get you the necessary documentation that will allow you to live your new life; passports, IDs, the works. Don't lose that folder."

"R-Right." Haruka looked at the folder in awe, then sent a grateful look towards Naruto. "Thank you very much."

Naruto did not respond to Haruka's words of thanks. Instead he said, "Uzume, wait until the fireworks start before escorting Haruka and Kuno to the extraction point."

"You got it, bro!" Uzume gave the blond a playful salute, winking as she did so. "You know, you're pretty good at this planning thing. Have you done this before?"

"Maybe."

Uzume pouted. "That's not much of an answer, bro."

"Yeah, well, that's all the answer you're going to get." Naruto ignored Uzume and turned to look at Seo. "Seo, you, Hikari and Hibiki will also be going with them, just in case MBI doesn't take the bait and sends someone to apprehend Haruka and Kuno. I expect you to support Uzume completely. Give all the aid you can in getting to that extraction point. If Uzume is deactivated during this, I am going to make sure you die a slow, painful death."

"Yeah, yeah," Seo grumbled, "I got it ― wait!" He gawked at the blond. "Did you just threaten to kill me!?"

"Now then." Naruto looked at his own Sekirei. He ignored Seo's "Hey! I'm talking to you!" as he addressed the five standing before him. "All of you are going to splitting up into three groups. Tsukiumi and Musubi." The two straitened their backs as his sharp blue irises fell on them. "You two are going to deal with numbers 104 Haihane, and 105 Benitsubasa. Musubi, Benitsubasa is a fist-type like you, however, she also uses Earth attacks for long range. She's going to be your opponent. Tsukiumi will take on Haihane."

"Got it!" Musubi cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Oooh! I'm so excited! I'm going to get to fight a strong opponent!"

"Don't get too excited or you'll pass out before the fight even begins," Tsukiumi snapped irritably. She then turned to look at Naruto. "I understand what you want me to do. And I will make sure that woman rues the day she ever crossed me!"

Naruto, Uzume and everyone else stared at the two Sekirei as they stood side by side, their left hands clenched into fists and metaphorical fire surrounding their bodies.

"Well... at least their pumped up..." Uzume offered weakly. Naruto just shook his head and turned to look at Akitsu and Homura. "You two are going to deal with MBIs military. Akitsu, I want you to attack anything that comes from the air. Homura, you're going to deal with the ground troops. Watch each others back while you're out there."

The two Sekirei of nearly opposing elements looked at each other, nodded, then looked back at Naruto.

"Don't worry, we've got this."

"Ah."

A pause. Everyone stared at Akitsu, waiting.

"Don't worry, Ashikabi-Sama."

"...Right," Naruto shook his head. "I guess that's it. Matsu will be the one keeping all of us in communication with each other via those earbuds I gave you. She's also going take control of one of the satellites once they take the bait."

"Leave it to Matsu!" Said red-haired, perverted hacker thumped her chest. "Matsu will get the job done, Naru-tan!"

"What about Ku-chan!" Kusano pouted as she looked up at Naruto, her arms crossed over her chest. "Ku-chan wants to help too!"

Naruto stared at the Green Girl for several seconds before kneeling down. He gently ran a hand over her hair, causing the girl to squirm under his ministrations.

"You're a bit too young for this, Ku," he said kindly, a stark contrast to how he usually spoke to others. "Plus, you still don't have full control of your powers." Kusano pouted at her Ashikabi. Her cheeks puffed up in childish consternation. "Besides, I need you to keep an eye on Matsu while we're away. Who knows what kind of trouble she might get into with Miya if there's not someone constantly keeping her in check."

"That's a mean thing to say," Matsu gave him a childish pout that would have suited Kusano more than her busty frame and adult face. "I don't get into that much trouble..." she trailed off as everyone looked at her, deadpanned. Rubbing the back of her head, she laughed nervously. "Okay, so maybe I get into a bit of trouble with Miya-tan. It's still a mean thing to say."

Naruto shook his head. Returning his attention to Kusano, he asked, "Can I count on you to keep an eye on her?"

Kusano seemed to think about his proposition for a moment. Several seconds of silence passed before she nodded her head, slowly. "Ku-chan will keep Ma-chan out of trouble." As Matsu pouted even more, the life giver gave her Ashikabi and imperious stare. "But Ku-chan expects Onii-chan to play with her more later!"

"Of course." Naruto leaned over and placed a tiny kiss on Kusano's cheek. The young Sekirei's skin took on a darkened hue, flushing in pleasure at her "Onii-chan's" affectionate gesture.

"Now isn't that sweet."

Naruto sent Seo a sharp glance. "You say something?"

"No, no," Seo took a step back, his hands held in front of him in a universal gesture of peace. "I didn't say anything."

"I thought not."

"What are you going to be doing while all this is going on, Naruto?" asked Miya, finally speaking up. "It's not like you to leave your Sekirei to do all the work by themselves."

Naruto stood up. His head turned towards the open Shoji screen door, his eyes looking out at the grassy backyard, even though it was clear he was not looking at anything on this plane of existence. His eyes were glazed over, as if he were looking at something only he could see.

"I've got my own battle to fight," Naruto said at last. He did not elaborate. There was no need to inform them of what he was going to do. This battle was to be his and his alone. Nothing and no one would stand in his way.

* * *

><p><strong>So, here it is, the next chapter of Ashikabi no Shinobi, finished. The next chapter is going to be very long, and will contain at least half of the Escape from Shinto Teito Arc. There is going to be a lot that's involved with that chapter, as the arc itself is going to be vastly different from the canon arc. No stupid bridge here.<strong>

**Anyways, that's all for now. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, leave a review and I'll likely answer it in my blog, which you can find the link to on my profile page.**


	31. The Start of Chaos

**BIG NEWS! I've got what is quite possibly the biggest news since humans learned the earth was not flat!**

**Okay, so it's not that big, but I do have pretty important news for you guys.**

**By now I'm sure you know that I've been working on publishing a novel. Well, guess what? That novel is now officially published! That's right, the novel is now available in both paperback and Kindle eBook on Amazon. This is the first step into a new journey that I hope all of you will join me on. I know this is asking a lot, but I was hoping all of you would support me by ordering a copy (or if you're too young to have a credit card, getting your parents to order a copy), either Kindle or paperback, and reading it. There is a link to my books Amazon page on my profile. If you don't want to use the link just type in American Kitsune or A Fox's Love on Amazon's main webpage and it should take you right to it.**

****If you need any incentive to order yourself a copy, then tomorrow is my birthday, I'll be turning 25 if any of you are curious**, and no gift could be greater than knowing that the people who have read my fanfictions are now reading my first original novel.**

**Thank you all for supporting me!**

**P.S. I know some of you may be worried that I'll stop writing fanfiction now that I'm a published author. You can stop. There are only a few ways I would ever stop writing fanfiction and publishing a book isn't one of them.**

**Chapter 31: The Start of Chaos**

* * *

><p>If there was one thing Naruto actually thought humans had done right, it was building their cities. Throughout the history of humanity the architectural styles used to build these centers of community and commerce had progressed and grew more and more magnificent; and the styles of the different eras and countries were always so varied that it was impossible to lose interest. It was one of the few parts about human history that involved creating something as opposed to destroying something.<p>

Having lived for as long as he had, Naruto had seen the many architectural changes of each era; the large temples of Greece, with their Corinthian columns, open ceiling and holding the appearance of a sculptural entity within the landscape; the large cathedrals and halls of Gothic architecture, whose characteristics evoked powerful emotions within those who saw them; the traditional style of Japanese architecture, so different from other styles, with their gently curved roofs and paper-thin walls. He had seen them all, and it always filled him with pleasure to see new styles emerge.

Shinto Teito was a perfect example of this beauty. The large metropolis of steel and glass at night was a beautiful sight; the twinkling of a million lights created a brilliant luminescence that outshone even the stars. Large, towering structures so tall they appeared as monoliths to spear the very heavens themselves rose up in great pillars, reaching into the sky like gigantic collosai.

Standing on the highest point in the northern district of Shinto Teito that he could find (a large skyscraper that was about three-fourths the size of MBI's clock tower), Uzumaki Naruto looked down at the city beneath his feet. His sharp eyes could pick out the lights from thousands of cars as they drove down the streets and freeways, like tiny mice scurrying about; they could see the bright glow of neon signs that advertised the many products and services available in this city during the night. And all around him, on the walls of buildings and attached to large columns he could see a number of giant televisions that currently displayed the most recent news. It was all very pretty.

Too bad that beauty was going to be marred this night.

Naruto raised a hand to his ear, pressing a single finger against the small bud inside of it. "Everyone, this is Naruto; check in."

"Hey bro! This is Uzume, in case you couldn't tell."

"Believe me, I could tell," Naruto replied dryly.

"He heh, yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I'm here with Haruka, Kuku―" Naruto could have sworn he heard a wail of "its Kuno!" over the speaker, but played it off as his imagination. Uzume continued. "―The bondage twins and the lazy perv."

"Bondage twins! I dare you to call me that again, you cloth wearing skank!"

"C-Calm down, sis! We're in the middle of a mission! And besides, our costumes do kind of look like, well, that..."

"I don't care! No one insults my style of dress and get's away with it!"

"Oi! Who're you calling a lazy perv!?"

"So yeah, we're all ready," Uzume concluded as the background noise descended into a cacophony of voices that became nearly indistinguishable.

Naruto sighed. These people...they really knew nothing of covert operations. He had known as much when he asked for their help, but couldn't they at least act a little more professional?

"Good," he decided to ignore the groups lack of decorum in a potential combat situation. They would have to learn how dangerous such things were the hard way. "Tsukiumi, Musubi, are you two ready?"

"Of course, husband," Naruto could almost hear the scoff in her voice, as if disappointed that he would even need to ask such an obvious question. For some reason, the imagery that tone evoked made him smile. "I have been ready for hours now." Which was funny, considering the mission hadn't truly started until about an hour ago.

"Musubi's ready too! I can't wait to fight a strong opponent!"

"Calm down, Musubi!" Tsukiumi scolded across the line. Once more, he smiled. Naruto could just imagine the blond-haired water user assuming a lecturing pose as she dressed Musubi down. "This is an important mission that my husband has asked us to do! Don't screw it up because you got overtly excited!"

"Mu~! Musubi won't," there was a pout clear in her voice. "And Naruto-sama is Musubi's husband too!"

As the two began to bring up that nearly age old argument about who the proper wife was between them, Naruto switched channels. He really didn't want to listen to them argue, especially over something like that. Especially on a mission.

Onto the next group then.

"Akitsu, Homura, are you two ready?"

"Yes," at least Homura was concise. It seemed the fire user was, at the very least, a consummate professional. Or she could be when she wanted too.

"Ah..." A pause. Naruto waited for several seconds. During this time waiting, he checked his watch, just to make sure their operation was still within mission time parameters. "I'm ready."

"Good. Matsu?"

"Matsu's ready, Naru-tan! Just say the word."

"Excellent," Naruto smiled to himself. Everything was coming together nicely. Now they just had to survive the night and complete their respective missions. "The parties about to start soon. All we're waiting for is my guy on the inside to give me the signal and we'll start the mission. Remember your roles, follow your mission perimeters, don't get overconfident and we'll all get through this."

A chorus of "hai's!" came across the line. Naruto felt a bit nostalgic as he listened to the chatter on the comm. It reminded him of the many times he had been in a situation similar to this, only back then he was usually the muscle, not the leader.

With everyone having called in and confirmed their ready status, Naruto sat down on the edge of the building, his legs dangling off the side.

All that was left to do was wait.

XoX

Takami was a bundle of nerves as she slowly walked to the elevator. Each step she took sounded like a death knell to her...okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little, but she was still pretty damn nervous. Every bone in her body was jittering like never before; there was a shaking inside of her, a strange shiver that was unlike anything she had ever known. Whether this was from anticipation of what was to come, fear of what was coming, or something else entirely was unknown. It had been like this for nearly a week.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, tonight, all this would come to a head. Takami was unsure of whether she should feel grateful or not.

Tonight was the night Naruto's little operation would take place, and she was quickly running out of options, or more like she had finally realized there were no options to begin with. For the entirety of this five day period she had searched through all the employee profiles and interviewed as many people that worked under her who might have had access to any kind of highly classified information as she could. It had all been for naught. She had not been able to find out who among MBI's staff could be the security leak; every person, even the new employees, had come up clean.

She had considered telling Minaka about Naruto's plan and her suspicions that there was a security risk among their employees, but without evidence that there was someone on the inside leaking information about their operation, there really wasn't much he would be able to do.

Not that Minaka was likely to do anything even if he did know who was responsible. He would probably say something to the effect that it was all just "another part of the game" or something equally stupid.

Really, sometimes that man frustrated her to no end.

A soft "ding" alerted her to the elevator door opening. Her mind clearing as she shook her thoughts away, she glanced up. There was already someone inside, a youthful looking male with gravity defying white hair, a headband that was tilted to cover his right eye and a mask over the lower half of his face. He was reading something and giggling every so often. A small glance at the book in question made her nose wrinkle in disgust. Great, so she would be sharing the elevator with a pervert.

Sighing, she stepped inside and pressed the button for the first basement. MBI's headquarters had a number of basements, but only the first one was accessible to those who did not have authorization. This man, Hatake Kakashi if she was correct (she had done a profile check on him as well), did not have authorization to the lower levels. He was simply a janitor, his job was to clean the facilities that the other employees used. Regardless of what she planned on doing about Naruto, she could not act with this man inside of the elevator with her.

The door soon shut, leaving the pair closed off to the world. An awkward silence ensued, at least for Takami. Kakashi didn't seem to mind at all, busy as he was giggling and flipping the pages of his book. A small vein throbbed on her forehead as she was forced to endure the lecherous noises this man made. Didn't he know that reading while on the clock was a violation of the rules!?

She was so preoccupied with thinking up ways to punish the lecher for this blatant violation of MBI policy that she didn't even hear the sound of a book snapping shut.

She did feel when something sharp and deadly pressed against her jugular, however.

Takami's eyes widened.

"Good evening, Takami-san," the man's voice was mild and pleasant, a complete contradiction from the sharp blade caressing her throat. "I trust you won't make any sudden movements. It would be a shame if my hand slipped."

"You..." Takami swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in her throat. "You're working for Naruto..." But that was impossible! She had done a thorough background check on everyone working under her! Kakashi had come up completely clean!

"In a manner of speaking," Kakashi eye smiled at the woman, even though she could not see it.

"I've already agreed to help him," Takami spoke as calmly as anyone could when they had a very sharp cutting implement caressing their jugular. "There's no need for this."

"Unfortunately for you, I'm afraid Naruto does not trust easily," Kakashi said, his voice completely calm. He might as well be talking about the weather for all the emotion he put into it. "He asked me to make sure you don't try to pull a fast one on him. Consider me an insurance policy to make sure you do only what you were told to do."

Gritting her teeth, Takami was forced to admit the man had a point. Several times throughout this past week she had thought of betraying Naruto and simply using her command overrides to shut down all of his Sekirei instead of disabling the tracking chip and deadmans switch on Kuno. The only reasons she hadn't was because she had no clue what he would do in return, and he had already proven how dangerous he could be when needed.

"There are cameras in here," Takami tried a different approach. "Security has probably already seen what's happening. They'll..."

"Do nothing," Kakashi replied easily. He sounded almost bored. "Because they don't know what's going on. All the security cameras in the elevator have been shut down for routine maintenance, you see."

"Routine maintenance?" Takami blinked, "but that's not scheduled until next week..." she trailed off, causing Kakashi to smile.

"It's an unscheduled maintenance. There's been a tiny glitch in the security cameras, you see. We think it might have something to do with the unusual electrical discharge that passed through the building awhile ago, but we're not completely sure." The rustling of cloth made Takami think the man was shrugging. "Of course, I suppose it doesn't matter why the cameras shut down matter in the end, does it?"

Takami grit her teeth. She did not know what was more galling; the fact that Naruto had truly covered every angle she could think of, or the fact that she could not help but admire Naruto's foresight and ruthlessness when planning an operation like this.

More and more she was beginning to wonder about that man and his unknown origins. It was becoming blatantly obvious that he was a threat, though a threat to who remained to be seen so far.

The soft "ding" of the door reaching it's intended destination snapped Takami out of her thoughts. The door tried to open, but Kakashi reached over her shoulder to press the close button. For a moment, she thought about trying to overpower this man. It was only for a brief second, however, because he seemed to sense her intention―or was just being cautious―and applied more pressure to the object in his hand that threatened to slit her throat should she make any hostile moves.

"Now, Takami-san, if you would please..."

Sighing in resignation, Takami pulled her card key out of her lab coat and slid through the small slot near the elevator buttons. A soft, female voice soon spoke up.

"Password please?"

Takami grimaced. "Minaka the Game Master is the one who shall determine who among those in the Sekirei Plan will get to ascend."

"...Voice recognition confirmed. Welcome, Sahashi Takami."

"That's one hell of a password," Kakashi muttered with amusement.

"Don't remind me," Takami looked as if she had swallowed something truly unpleasant as she pressed the button for the last basement floor.

"Access to the fifteenth basement temporarily denied," the robotic female voice spoke up again. "An unauthorized presence has been confirmed within the cabin. Please confirm that you wish to continue?"

"I wish to continue," Takami stated, "Access command override 3325B12, allow Hatake Kakashi temporary access to basement level 15."

"Confirming..." There was a soft "bing" that echoed in the small chamber before the voice spoke again. "Confirmed, Hatake Kakashi now has temporary access to basement level 15."

The elevator soon began moving down again. Unable to stand the silence, Takami spoke again.

"Does Naruto really think he can get away with this?"

"Do you think he can't?"

"Tch."

Kakashi's amused smile was hidden completely behind his mask. Only the crinkling of his one eye was visible. "I believe you will find that there is very little Naruto can't get away with. And I'm not exactly sure why you're complaining anyway; I have it on good authority that you hate what Minaka is doing. I'd think you'd be happy someone was finally sticking it to him."

"He threatened me. I'm not a big fan of being threatened."

"Ah. I see..."

When Kakashi trailed off, Takami waited several seconds to see if the man would say anymore. When it became apparent that he wouldn't, she opened her mouth to speak again...when the elevator softly chimed with a light "ding" and the door opened up.

"Well...I guess this is our stop."

Kakashi urged Takami out of the elevator. The cavernous room opened up before them. It was a truly vast space, larger even than the building it was built under as far as width was concerned. This place must have been at least as large as one of Shinto Teito's city blocks.

Kakashi kept one eye on Takami while the other took note of all the machines standing on either side of them like small pillars. Most of them were boxy, had dozens of wires sticking out of them, and flashing panels. A few were cylindrical, however, and looked much more steamlined, with a network of glowing blue lines and several tubes sticking out of them.

They soon enough made it to the center of the room where a monstrous, mechanical apparatus of blinking lights and flashing screens stood like a mountainous giant that overshadowed the land before it.

"So that's the computer that controls the Sekirei Crests?" Kakashi looked up at the giant machine, which stood so tall he couldn't actually see the top before it was cast into unfathomable darkness. It certainly had the appearance of an alien apparatus that could control the advanced computer chips located within 110 different sentient beings at the same time.

"Yes," Takami answered simply.

"And you know what to do?"

"Of course I know what to do!" Takami snapped at her knowledge being questioned. She helped create this damn thing, much as she may have regretted doing so. "However, I can't do it with you holding that knife to my neck."

"Kunai," Kakashi corrected, pulling the "knife" away from the woman. "It's a kunai, not a knife, and I've pulled it away. Just remember, if I even suspect you of trying to betray Naruto, I won't hesitate to stick this kunai in your back."

"If you did that you'd never make it out of this building alive," Takami informed him. When Kakashi just shrugged she grit her teeth and marched up to the machine that controlled every single chip within the Sekirei crests. It was an extremely large apparatus, monstrous even. Nearly twenty times larger than Takami was tall and reaching all the way up to the ceiling. What parts of it weren't covered by flashing lights, blinking screens with scrolling data, and innumerable buttons was bright, silvery metal that reflected all the light hitting it with a nearly blinding radience. It was especially bright in contrast to the rest of room.

With a sigh, Takami slid her card into a small slot. A few seconds passed. The machine beeped, then a small panel with a black lens slid open.

"Confirmation of Sahashi Takami needed before access can be given. Please confirm identity."

Takami bent over and placed her head in front of the lens, closing her left eye. A red beam shot out from behind the lens, hitting her face. It moved up, then down, scanning her right eye.

Two seconds later the panel slid closed.

"Identification confirmed. Welcome, Sahashi Takami."

A slight hiss of hydraulics was the only warning they received as the small square section Takami and Kakashi were standing on was raised into a platform. They were soon taken high above their original position. The man with white hair and more than half his face hidden saw that they had reached what appeared to be the heart of this mechanical monstrosity. Situated before them was a small entrance that led into the machine itself.

The pair walked inside. As their footsteps echoed off the walls due to the acoustics, Kakashi eyed his new surroundings. They were in a tiny, cylindrical chamber. Running the length of the interior was a large screen that scrolled through millions of gigahertz of coded data. Symbols of an alien language flashed on the screens. Kakashi could not make heads or tails of those symbols, they were not any kind of code he was familiar with.

Takami walked further into the chamber, Kakashi following closely behind with his kunai gently poking her back. The woman in the lab coat walked over to one particular section of the computer. This part of the screen was scrolling through all the data on various Sekirei. It appeared to be giving constant updates on their status: where they were, blood levels, anxiety levels, heartrate, their physical condition, everything. Kakashi deduced correctly that this was the program where the tracking chip and deadmans switch was located.

A few keys being pressed by Takami caused the screen to go black for a second. A few more seconds had it show off Kuno's Sekirei data, and a few more keys after that caused it to beep several times in warning.

"Sahashi Takami is attempting to shut down the tracking chip and deadmans switch for Sekirei number ninety-five, Kuno. Are you sure you wish to continue."

"Yes," Takami pressed a couple more buttons.

"Tracking chip for Sekirei number ninety-five, Kuno, has been deactivated. Deadman's switch for Sekirei number ninety-five, Kuno, has been deactivated."

Takami turned to look at Kakashi, a scowl on her face. "There, it's done."

"Good," Kakashi eye-smiled at her. Just how the man's single visible eye could actually form the shape of an upside down "u" was beyond her. All she knew was it did, and it was kind of freaky. "I would thank you for this, but considering you won't remember this event ever happening, I won't bother."

"What?"

Takami didn't even have time to blink as Kakashi lifted the small bandana covering his right eye and her world went black.

XoX

Naruto's eyes snapped open as auditory, visual, and sensory information that was not his own entered his mind. His head tilted to ever so slightly to the left at the influx of knowledge and awareness. Less then a second passed when, in a single, swift motion, the young-looking man with spiky blond locks stood to his feet.

He took a small moment to gaze out at the city. A brisk breeze caused his hair to flutter in the wind. Down below, the people went about their business, completely ignorant of what was to come.

It was time.

Without waiting another second, his hands came up to form a single hand-sign; a cross, to be precise.

"What was it Deadeira always said? Art is a bang?" Naruto smiled a bone chilling smile. "I think I'm finally beginning to understand what that explosion freak meant. Katsu."

Nothing could have prepared the people within Shinto Teito for what happened next. Even if they had been forewarned, they would have still been caught with their figurative pants down as all around the large metropolitan city, several explosions went off simultaneously. Around two dozen in total.

Naruto stood there, his face mask covering the satisfied smile he wore as he watched the large pillars of flame rise into the sky. The earth shook something fierce, rumbling like an entire horde of angry frost giants stampeding across the city. Each explosion on their own was enough to destroy everything within a 100 square meter radius; taking out the factories and weapons depots the seals had been placed near was child's play.

Overkill? Maybe, but Naruto didn't care.

As the loud "booms!" from the explosions died down, and the gouts of flames shot into the air to form mushroom like clouds of fire and smoke, the screeching of sirens from numerous firetrucks and emergency response vehicles could be heard all over the city. If MBI followed standard procedure, Emergency Response teams would be heading to each site in order to save whoever and whatever they could, as well as ascertain what had exactly had caused the explosions. They wouldn't find anything, of course; paper bombs left no evidence, but they didn't know that.

And with that the first phase of this plan was complete. Now came the hard part, for Naruto.

Closing his eyes, the immortal reached deep within himself, feeling the chaotic maelstrom that was his chakra. Even after all the exercises he had done, his control was still notoriously awful. His chakra had grown since the last time he'd had to use it seriously (just how many thousands of years ago was that?), it seemed.

That was okay. He wouldn't need control, not for this. All he needed was power.

His eyes snapping open, Naruto looked up. The night sky filled his vision. With most of the city lights having gone out―several of those paper bombs had been set in power plants―he could now see the stars.

Not that the stars mattered. All he cared about was the object currently flying over his head, invisible to the naked eye. It was one of MBI's many surveillance satellites.

Raising his hand to the sky, his fingers splayed out, Naruto reached out with his power. His chakra surged, feeling out the space above him, extending far beyond the atmosphere of this planet; past the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere and into the thermosphere. There he found the satellite he was looking for. He could feel it, or the electricity it was using to power itself. Electricity was just another form of energy, after all.

His eyes glowing brightly within the now dark night, lit only by the fires his explosions had caused and the lights from the helicopters overhead, Naruto reached out and grabbed a hold of the satellite. He could feel it struggle, could feel it trying to correct it's course as he began to pull on it. It's engines were likely blasting at their maximum capacity to keep from being yanked out of the sky.

He wondered: had it managed to capture his image yet? Well, whatever. Time to finish this.

His chakra now surging so powerfully it had physically manifested as a bright blue flame that surrounded his body, Naruto's raised hand clenched into a fist.

Several thousand miles in the sky, the surveillance satellite in the grip of Naruto's immensely powerful chakra groaned and strained. The metal began to buckle, creaking and bending inwards as the gravity shifted, twisted. It was as if the satellite had suddenly gained an epicenter, and the centrifugal force of that epicenter had suddenly increased by a factor of two hundred. With that kind of force pushing down on it from all sides, the satellite did not stand a ghost of a chance.

Seconds later, Naruto's hand lowered as he felt the object in his grasp was no more. His eyes, once glowing with the power his body could scarcely contain, were now back to his normal, azure blue gaze. A soft sigh, like the gentle breeze of autumn escaped his mouth. It was done.

He raised his left hand to his ear. "Matsu..."

"What the hell was that!?" the red head spoke before Naruto could even finish. The blond winced at how loud she was. "Naruto! What's going on!? What was that...that surge of energy just now!? Was that you!? What happened to the―"

"Matsu!" Naruto snapped, silencing the normally childish and lecherous red head. "What you saw is not something I'll be discussing right now." While he could not see her, he could almost imagine the way her mouth opened to release another string of questions. "Did the satellite manage to get an image of me before it was destroyed?"

There was silence on the other end for a second. Then...

"Yes."

"Good," Naruto nodded to himself. Channeling his chakra, he switched to an open channel so everyone could hear him speak now, not just Matsu. "Alright everyone, operation Escape from Shinto Teito is a go. I repeat, operation Escape from Shinto Teito is a go."

XoX

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"

Karasuba winced at the obnoxious shriek Benitsubasa unleashed. The sound was reminiscent of a banshi: loud, shrill and annoying. The Black Sekirei was tempted to gut her younger subordinate just for the headache the noise issuing from her mouth caused. Too bad she wasn't allowed to just off the girl.

Still, the pink head did have a point. The sword wielding woman had been woken up from her light slumber when the nearly two-dozen or so explosions had rocked MBI headquarters like a level five earthquake. The sound had startled her just like it had Benitsubasa (though she was much better at hiding her surprise...and not nearly as loud). Even now she could hear the threnody of sirens as emergency response teams were sent to each location in an effort to put out the fire and determine what had caused all this destruction.

The two members of the discipline squad plus Haihane were in the small lounge that was their briefing room. They had been ordered there as soon as the explosions happened and had been waiting there ever since.

"The city...it's on fire," Haihane pointed out the obvious.

"I know that!" Benitsubasa shouted, glaring at the white-haired Sekirei with the large claws on her hands. Karasuba twitched. "What I meant was how did this happen!?"

"I don't know..."

Haihane looked as clueless as the pink-haired Sekirei did. The woman raised her hand to scratch her head...

"Uwag! Blood! I'm bleeding!"

...And promptly began running around as blood spurted out her head like a fountain.

"Ugh," Benitsubasa face palmed. "You're an idiot, Haihane!" After dragging her hand down her face, she glared at the woman running around the room. "Keep it down, you damn―oof!"

"Too loud," Karasuba complained right before she smacked Benitsubasa in the back of the head hard enough to make the girl stumble forward. Because they were standing near the window, the pink-head's face planted itself into the glass panel that separated the room from the sky. It was only thanks to the glass being heavily reinforced and nearly five inches thick that kept the fist fighter's head from smashing straight through it. The glass still rattled something fierce though. "Keep your voice down..." The girl with light pink hair pried her face from the glass and glared at her leader. She opened her mouth to speak, but Karasuba's next words stopped her cold. "...or I'll have to kill you."

"Meep!"

Yes, Benitsubasa did just go "meep."

Karasuba moved back over to the couch, where she sat down, picked up her blade and a small cleaning ball and restarted the process of cleaning her sword. It was an activity she took far too much pleasure in, and did far too often in the opinions of her teammates.

While the silver-haired dog of MBI began cleaning her sword, Benitsubasa began pacing back and forth across the room while Haihane just continued staring out the window with her normal slumped posture. The waiting was clearly getting to all of them. Even Karasuba, who despite being the least sane of the three had unparalleled focus when required, was unfocused and impatient.

Thankfully, they did not have to wait long. The hiss of an opening door made them all stop what they were doing and turn their heads to see their Ashikabi walk into the room. As always, the young man was immaculately dressed, despite looking a little frazzled.

"Natsuo!" Benitsubasa squealed. Karasuba twitched. If that bitch got any louder... "Are you okay? What's going on? What were all those explosions about? What―"

Natsuo cut off Benitsubasa before she could continue by raising his right hand. The girl with pink hair went silent, always the obedient dog whenever it came to her "beloved Natsuo." Karasuba was just grateful the girl had finally shut up. "We don't yet know what caused the explosions. Response teams are at the sights right now trying to ascertain what happened."

Which basically meant they knew nothing. Karasuba had expected as much. Whoever had done this had obviously done extensive planning.

"While we don't know what had caused the explosions, we do have a clue as to 'who' caused them." Karasuba perked up. "All of the Sekirei currently living at Maison Izumo have left the premise and split off into groups. Two are making things very difficult for our response teams by attacking their escorts. Another two are actually heading this way right now."

"Heading this way?" Benitsubasa blinked. "You mean their coming to MBI HQ?"

"Yes."

"Are they idiots?"

"I believe they are issuing a challenge to us. The Sekirei heading our way are number zero-nine, Tsukiumi, and number eighty-eight, Musubi." Now THAT caused Karasuba to really pay attention. So her little bird was coming to her, was she? How...nice. Absolutely lovely. "What's more, a surveillance satellite was just destroyed through unknown means. Before it went offline, it managed to get an image of the person we believe is responsible for all this."

A photograph was tossed onto the desk. Before anyone else could claim it, Karasuba snatched it up and took a look.

The photo was...not very informative. The image was perfectly clear, but the person was cloaked from head to toe in black: black pants, black long-sleeved shirt, and a black facemask completely covered the person's head almost entirely. The only thing visible on this person were their eyes: two purple orbs that glowed so brightly Karasuba could not actually see their irises or pupil at all. Just the glow.

"Where was this image taken?" asked Karasuba so abruptly that everyone else blinked at her. It took Natsuo several seconds of staring to respond.

"Point Alpha of the Nothern District. It's near the very border that connects the North to central Teito. He was last seen standing on the tallest building in that vicinity."

Karasuba stood up. Her coat billowed as she walked towards the door.

"H-Hey!" Benitsubasa called out, startled by the peculiar behavior of her leader. "Where the hell are you going, Karasuba!?"

Karasuba did not answer the girl, her mind was off to places none of the people in this room would ever go. She was intrigued by this new variable. Who was this new masked person? Were they the ones responsible for all this chaos? Were they in league with that intriguing Naruto character? Or was it Naruto in disguise? So many questions, so much...potential. Not even the chance at meeting Musubi on the battlefield was enough to deflect her from wanting to meet this person.

A predatory smile crossed her face.

She had a feeling the next few hours were going to contain some of the most fun she'd had in a long time. And her feelings were almost always right.

XoX

"Tch!"

Homura glared at nothing even as she proceeded to launch a fireball at the tank that had been traveling with the response team they had intercepted. She hit the war machine's barrel, causing it to melt before they even had a chance to turn it on her. After that she melted their treads and sealed the vehicle shut by melting the top, ensuring they would be stuck inside until the mission was done. Now they wouldn't be able to even think of attacking her or Akitsu.

She was effective like that.

"I can't believe Naruto did that!" She growled, blasting several other vehicles with her fire. This time, her flames were cool enough that they would only melt the rubber. With only the metal left of their tires, the emergency vehicles all spun out of control, crashing into walls and street lamps. "Doesn't he realize an explosion of that magnitude could seriously harm or even kill innocent civilians!?"

Beside him, Akitsu did not speak. Her eyes were turned skyward, watching for any approaching aircraft; several MBI helicopters had come within her range already, and the ice user had used her powers to freeze the motors that caused the rotors to spin, making them to crash into the ground. Thankfully for the people inside, the fuel had also been frozen over, so it was unlikely that any of them had been killed unless they landed wrong and ended up snapping their necks or something.

"He and I are going to have some serious words when this is all over!" Several more tanks came their way, the large gun barrels pointed at the pair. Homura worked her magic. It wasn't more than a second later that the large barrels were nothing more than a red hot heap of slag. With the tanks main weapon no longer operable, the soldiers decided to disembark and use their guns instead.

The guns were also melted courtesy of Homura's fire.

Homura looked over at Akitsu to see the woman take out two more helicopters. The snow woman had decided to be creative this time, creating several large walls of ice that converged on the helicopters to block them in. She would then compressing the "cube" of ice until the rotors broke on the frozen substance and the aircraft were too damaged to continue working. After that she would simply let them drop, cube of ice and all. There was likely to be more than few injuries from that.

"Doesn't it bother you that Naruto doesn't seem to care about hurting innocent people?"

"Not really," there was no hesitation in the snow woman's voice as she shredded apart the nearest downed helicopter beyond repair. Now they wouldn't be able to reuse it ever again. As far as she was concerned, that could only be a good thing.

"What do you mean 'not really?'" Homura scowled even as she used her power over fire to destroy more weapons. It seemed a good deal of the soldiers were beginning to disembark their vehicles now. A smart choice, but it still wouldn't be enough to stop her unless they decided to come en masse. "Don't you care that he's killing innocent people?"

"Ashikabi-Sama's desires are the only things that matters to me," Akitsu informed the former male. "And getting in his pants."

Homura blinked. Akitsu blinked. Several crows could be heard, cawing in the distance most obnoxiously. This was, of course, in spite of the explosions happening all around them.

"Ah..."

A pause.

"Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did," Homura said dryly, a very faint blush on her cheeks.

Deciding there was no point arguing with the woman (she was far too loyal to Naruto for Homura's opinion to change anything), the fire user went back to her task of destroying enemy weapons so they could not use them against her and her fellow sisters.

However, not before muttering softly to herself, "Perv."

XoX

"Would you stop that!?"

"Stop what?"

"That! Stop bouncing around like that! It's annoying!"

"I can't help it! I'm just so excited! I'm finally going to fight a strong opponent!"

Tsukiumi's right eye twitched violently at her "sister's" enthusiasm. While the water user enjoyed proving herself in combat and also craved the rush that could only come from battling strong opponents as much as the next Sekirei, Musubi took things to a new, unprecedented and completely unnecessary level. The girl was the biggest battle maniac she had ever met!

"While I understand your...ardor, please remember that we must hurry if we are to intercept those two before they can find out what our comrades are doing," the water user said dryly, in a manner that was very similar to a certain fire user just a few seconds earlier. Had Tsukiumi known who she sounded like, she would have probably flipped. "It would not do if they were to realize what was really going on. You must remain calm."

"Right. Calm." Musubi did her best to settle down and keep a calm facade, much like Tsukiumi was currently doing. It didn't last more than a few seconds before she was bouncing down the road again. "I'm going to fight a strong opponent~!"

Tsukiumi grit her teeth in frustration. "Are you singing?"

"Strong opponent~! Strong opponent~!"

"You are singing!"

"This is gonna be so much fun~!"

"Stop singing, dammit!"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here..."

At the sound of the unknown voice, the two Sekirei bound to Naruto stopped walking and looked up. There, standing on the roof of one of the many buildings were two people. The most visible of the duo was a young woman with pink hair and pink eyes. The single sleeve of her Kimono-like shirt fluttered slightly as she placed the glove covered hand to the arm it was covering on her left knee, which was propped on the lip of the building. The large red bow to the obi she wore also rustled slightly in the soft breeze, along with her hair, which was tied into a ponytail with just a few bangs framing her face. Tsukiumi could see the girl's thighs as the skin-tight, stretchy black shorts she wore only covered up to mid thigh, maybe not even that.

"AH!" Musubi gasped, then pointed at Benitsubasa. "It's you!"

"Me?" Benitsubasa blinked...then scowled. "What do you mean by that!? Huh!?"

"You're my opponent!" Musubi exclaimed, grinning a childlike grin. "Naruto-Sama showed me your picture! You're the one I'm supposed to fight!"

"You wanna fight me?" Benitsubasa actually looked perplexed for a moment. It only lasted for a second, however, before her scowl was back in place and a large tic formed on her head. "Are you an idiot?"

"Hey!" Musubi's cheeks puffed up in childish anger. "Don't call me an idiot!"

"Hehehe...you called her an idiot...this girl...she is kinda dumb..." the other woman snickered. A quick glance revealed her to be much different than the pink-haired one; she was slender, not like Benitsubasa but still quite thin. Her body was wrapped up in white bandages, which was covered by a tattered black kimono that fluttered in the wind. Her disheveled gray hair and narrowed eyes gave her a wicked appearance. The claws on her hands did not help to rid her of this image.

"Quiet, Haihane," Benitsubasa glared at her companion. "You're ruining my pre-battle banter."

"Whatever you say...hehehe...washboard."

"What was that!?" Benitsubasa shrieked angrily. She fully turned to glare at her partner in crime, completely ignoring the duo down below now that someone else had earned her ire. "I'll have you know that Natsuo happens to like my smaller chest!"

"Yeah, because it makes you look like a man, and Natsuo likes hotdogs instead of tacos."

"How dare you insult my Natsuo like that!" Benitsubasa shrieked in outrage. "Just you watch! One of these days I'm going to get Natsuo to love me!"

"Yeah...it's not gonna happen, like, ever," Haihane shrugged, "Face it, you're never going to make him love you."

"Grrr! Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I don't know what they're talking either," Musubi declared, turning to Tsukiumi. "Ne, Tsukiumi-san, what are they talking about?"

"I believe they are speaking about a man," Tsukiumi determined, her head cocked to the side as she listened to the argument going on above. "Their Ashikabi, perhaps? That is my guess at any rate..." she trailed off, a tic forming on her head and her left eye twitching as she realized something. "And why am I even listening to this!? How dare they ignore me!"

Raising her hand towards the pair, Tsukiumi quickly shot out several dozen condensed balls of water. The water spheres shot forward at a remarkable speed. They moved so fast that a loud thunderclap resounded as they shot forth like bullets fired from a gun.

The two Sekirei of the Disciplinary Squad narrowed their eyes as they sensed the attack headed their way. With incredible swiftness they jumped part, allowing the water spheres to shoot between them. Once on their feet again, the duo looked back down at ground level to see Tsukiumi glaring up at them.

"Enough of this bickering!" The blond-haired woman shouted. With her traditional stance of feet spread shoulder-width apart and a single hand on her hip taken, the water user pointed a single digit of her left hand at the two members of the Discipline Squad. "I did not come here to listen to you two argue! I came here to challenge you!" She directed her finger to Haihane. "To a fight!"

"Me?" Haihane pointed at herself with a single clawed finger.

"Yes, you!"

"Huh?"

Haihane raised her hand to scratch her head. Too bad she forgot she was wearing claws on her hands.

"Ugwa! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!"

Musubi and Tsukiumi stared at the gray-haired female as she ran around the roof of the building, a fountain of red spraying out of her head like a miniature fountain.

Benitsubasa facepalmed. "Haihane, you're just so..." Her eyes narrowed before she could even finish her sentence. Not even a second later, she was forced to leap backwards to avoid getting a fist buried into her gut. She glared at the young woman with the large knockers who had just jumped onto the building as said female pulled her fist out of the small crater she had made.

"I'm number eighty-eight, Musubi!" the girl in Shrine Maiden garb said in her usual bright and cheerful voice. "Let's battle!"

_'So this is Musubi,' _Benitsubasa narrowed her eyes. _'The girl that Karasuba keeps talking about.'_ She looked the other woman up and down, then snorted. _'Hmph. I don't see what's so special about her. She just looks like some kind of large-breasted bimbo.'_

"You really are stupid if you're picking a fight with me."

"Hey! You called me stupid again!" Musubi cheeks puffed up in comical anger. "That's not very nice."

Benitsubasa just snorted again. "Whatever. Still, if it's a fight you're looking for..." Her legs spread shoulder-width apart and she brought her hands up in a guard position. "I can oblige you. Just don't come crying to me when I kick your ass."

"Yay!" Musubi threw her hands up in the air. "I'm FINALLY fighting a strong opponent!" Her excitement finally getting the best of her, Musubi blasted off the ground, charging towards the woman at speed.

Seeing this, Benitsubasa also charged forward, the pair meeting in the center of the roof. As their fists clashed a small shockwave was unleashed, causing the air around them to whip up in a frenzy and buffet their hair.

The battle was on.

XoX

Naruto stood where he had been standing since the very start of this mission: on the edge of the towering skyscraper in the Northern section of the city that bordered the center of Shinto Teito, staring down at the chaos his plan had unleashed below. There were fires everywhere in the city; not just the north but the south, east, and west as well. From where he stood he could see numerous helicopters traveling towards each fire, as well as tanks and trucks filled with medical personnel and soldiers moving along on the ground.

A number of those helicopters were felled by Akitsu, who was in the exact epicenter of the destruction, an equal distance from each explosion. From his vantage point, Naruto could see as she unleashed icy death upon her opponents. Some would survive, no doubt, but unlike the other Sekirei who had no desire to kill humans, the ice user had no real compunction against it. She would not go out of her way to kill them, but she would not stymy her own power to not kill them.

She would keep them from getting organized, and Homura would keep the ground forces from attacking her. For using elements that nearly opposed each other, they made a very good team.

Scanning the streets revealed the citizens were in a panic. Many were running every which way, unsure of where to go or what to do; they screamed and cried and yelled, unable to comprehend what was happening, like sheep without a shepherd.

Just as many had hunkered down, hiding under whatever cover they could find. Naruto had to snort at their stupidity.

His arms crossed over his black-clad chest, the immortal shinobi watched everything happening down below with his unnaturally sharp eyes. Strapped across his back was Kubikiriboucho. He had thought about using one of the other seven swordsman weapons for the coming battle (Nubari was a much faster blade, being a katana), but had decided on this one in the end. It was the weapon he was most comfortable with, probably because of the past he shared with it.

As Naruto stood there he appeared completely unaware of the shadow that descended upon him until the sharp end of a katana was sticking out of his chest...or so the shadow thought.

A second later Naruto's form wavered, like a ghost or hologram that had been disrupted, before vanishing altogether. The person holding onto the katana grinned a savage, bloodthirsty grin as she saw her prey had escaped.

"You're pretty fast," Karasuba complimented, turning around to face Naruto, who was now standing behind her. The woman with gray hair tied into a ponytail quickly noticed that Naruto had not even uncrossed his arms. That caused her to grin to widen, making her look even more deranged.

"And you're pretty rude," Naruto's voice was muffled by his mask. Even if it wasn't there was no way she would be able to tell who he was by voice recognition alone. The jutsu he was using that deepened and distorted the sound of his voice would make sure of that. "I happened to be enjoying the view."

"I see, I see," Karasuba nodded, "enjoying your handiwork. I can understand that." The grin on her face had yet to fade. "I just don't care." She pointed her sword at him. "The only thing I want is to see if you're the one who's going to finally give me a good time."

Really..." Naruto sighed. "You're such a rude child." His right hand reached up and gripped the hilt of Kubikiriboucho, the weight and feel of the handle was comfortingly familiar in his hand. He pulled it out of the sheath in a single, fluid motion, like it weighed less than a feather. Then he swung it around several times, once more showing off his incredible muscle strength before finally setting the blunt edge against his shoulder, much like Zabuza had often done. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders, girl?"

"Stop talking like an old man," Karasuba's grin remained fixed in place as she brought her sword into a traditional two-handed grip. "You can't be any older than I am." Naruto snorted, but said nothing. "Now shut up and give me a good fight, pretty please?"

Karasuba did not wait for Naruto to respond as she launched herself at him, her physical form moving so quickly it seemed to disappear from the eyes of most mortals and even most Sekirei. Unlike the other three Sekirei he had fought, Karasuba was fast. Really fast. She was quite possibly the fastest person he had ever seen in a long, long time.

She was still too slow for him. His eyes could keep up with her movements easily.

"Tch! What an impatient girl." The young looking man wrapped in black lifted the large head cleaving blade off his shoulder and raised it into the air. Just as Karasuba came within range he brought it down against the Black Sekirei's own sword. A loud "clang!" rang out like thunder, signifying a start to would be the final battle of the night.

* * *

><p><strong>Before I end this chapter I would like to just say a few first.<strong>

**First, I want to thank everyone who reads my fanfictions. Very few things give me greater joy than knowing you like reading my stories.**

**Second, I would like to thank everyone who plans on going onto Amazon and ordering a copy of "A Fox's Love." There are absolutely no words in the existence of man that can describe how grateful I am for your support.**

**And finally, I would like to mention the SOPA. Apparently it's back again. If you want to sign the petition to stop Obama and the government from trying to make fanfics illegal in America, please go onto google, type SOPA petition and sign it.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**


	32. Bloodstained Hands

**I mentioned this last chapter, but I just recently published a book on called A Fox's Love. For those of you who enjoyed Girls Bravo, To Love Ru and other ecchi anime and manga, this is something you'll love to read.**

**I know I'm asking a lot, but if you guys could support me by ordering a copy, either the Kindle edition which I would recommend (I read all my books on Kindle now) or the paperback copy, I would be very grateful to you. If you've already ordered a copy, read it, and want to let me know what you think about it or how you feel I could improve, do not hesitate to PM me. I'm always willing to talk to you guys.**

**To all those who have bought my book and all those who plan on doing so, thank you very much. Hopefully with your help, my dream of becoming a novelist will become a reality.**

**And now, onto the chapter you've all been waiting for.**

**Chapter 32: Bloodstained Hands**

* * *

><p>Standing on top of the large clock tower, the Headquarter for MBI in Shinto Teito, was Minaka Hiroto, the mastermind behind the Sekirei plan and a man whose sanity Takami had long since stopped questioning years ago. As per the usual, Minaka was looking down on the metropolis, his city, with a smile of unabashed glee. Smoke rose up in several quadrants of the city and still he smiled. Fires raged, buildings were felled and chaos reigned supreme.<p>

And still Minaka smiled.

"It looks like it's starting," a thoughtful hum escaped the man with white hair and the ridiculous cape.

And speaking of his cape, it was flapping about wildly, even though there was no wind blowing.

Absently, Minaka rubbed his chin with an expression of deep contemplation, or what passed for deep contemplation with him. It was hard to tell whether or not he was actually thinking or just trying to look like he was thinking.

"I wonder how I can make this moment more exciting...oh! I know!"

Pulling out his cellphone, Minaka quickly typed in a short message and then hit the send button. In just a few short seconds, every Ashikabi and Sekirei pair aside from a select few―two to be exact―would be receiving a very interesting text message. Then...then this surprise stage of the game could truly begin.

"Hehehehe...hahahahahaha, yes! Show me what you can do Uzumaki Naruto! Show me your real power!" Throwing his head back, Minaka let out a laugh that resounded across the city, or it would have, if it weren't the explosions and crashing sound of buildings being toppled. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Yeah, his laugh went something like that.

Talk about creepy.

XoX

While Naruto was starting his battle with Karasuba, Musubi and Tsukiumi were beginning their own fights with Benitsubasa and Haihane respectively. Akitsu and Homura were also continuing to deal with ground and air support, and Uzume was taking Haruka to the exit point where the young man and his Sekirei would be leaving Shinto Teito.

Said young man in question was currently being carried by her piggy back style as the cloth using Sekirei hopped from one building to another. His arms were wrapped tightly around her neck as he tried not to freak out at the fact that they were literally a couple dozen meters above solid ground, which was passing by underneath them in a literal blur. Haruka's eyes could barely make out anything as they crossed the city at a pace that had to at least match those of most high performance vehicles.

Trailing behind them were Hikari and Hibiki. The two Sekirei of Seo's were moving just as swiftly as Uzume, as they leapt from one building to the next. On their backs were Kuno and Seo respectively.

"Dammit, Seo! If you keep groping my breasts, I'm going to fry you!"

"It's your own fault that I'm groping them at all. Maybe if they weren't practically staring me in the face I wouldn't be so tempted!"

"My fault!? You're the one who can't keep his hands to himself, ya damn pervert!"

"I don't see why you care. I grope you all the time!"

Seo's words earned him a healthy dose of lightning.

"Not in public you don't!" Hikari shouted at the now smoking body that was barely hanging onto her back. With his arms flailing limply in the wind and his entire torso flapping about just as uselessly, the only reason Seo was still attached to the girl was because she had a firm grip on his legs. "Idiot!"

"...Ouch..."

Uzume shook her head in amusement at the pairs antics. She had often wondered about those two. They were almost like a comedy routine, and she could not help but wonder if they did that on purpose because they enjoyed interacting like that, or if Hikari was just into blasting her Ashikabi with lightning because he acted like a typical male.

Well, whatever. It wasn't any of her business.

Surveying her surroundings with a keen eye, Uzume realized they were nearing their destination. All of the buildings were becoming smaller and wider. The once tall skyscrapers they had been hopping across had changed to the more squat looking warehouses. The material the structures were made from was changing as well, moving from glass and steel to brick and steel. Judging from the salty scent on the wind they were nearing Teito bay.

"I think we're close enough," Uzume said mostly to herself. She then turned her head back to address Hikari and Hibiki. "Let's set down and go the rest of the on foo―"

Uzume was unable to finish her sentence, for in that exact moment a shadow appeared on top of her. Looking up, the cloth using Sekirei had just enough time to see a staff swinging down to bash her skull in.

"What the hell!?"

The cloth using Sekirei was just barely able to dodge the blow by leaping backwards. She skipped along the metal roofing until she had put a good distance between her and the staff, which had blasted a large hole in the warehouse.

Uzume glanced at the damage the staff had done, and was tempted to wipe the sweat from her forehead as she realized how close she had been to possibly being deactivated. It was a very good thing she had not been in the air when the person wielding the staff had decided to attack or she wouldn't have been able to dodge it.

Behind her, Hikari and Hibiki were about to send a blast of lightning towards the Sekirei who'd just appeared before them and attacked their partner for this mission. And they probably would have succeeded too, had they not been forced to jump backwards and split apart in order to avoid getting struck by several objects that were tossed at them. The objects, small, innocuous looking balls exploded violently as they struck the roof they were on.

When the two stopped dodging they were able to see the damage done to the structure. Aside from the fact that there was a large, gaping hole in the middle of the roof, the metal around the edges had turned a violent red with tinges of yellow and blue. It hissed as steam rose from the warped material, showing that the area of that structure had not been blow to bits but the metal had also been superheated to the point where it was melting off.

The three Sekirei, Uzume, Hikari and Hibiki, leapt to the ground below. They were quickly followed by the two Sekirei who'd attacked them. The trio who had almost been done in by the surprise attack were finally able to get a good look at their attackers now that the ambush had failed.

The one who'd attacked Uzume was a girl with long black hair that was pulled over the left side of her head and draped across her shoulder. She was wearing a traditional kimono without sleeves and had an obi wrapped around her waist that was tied into a bow behind her back. A flower was also tied around the front. On her left shoulder was a tattoo and in her right hand was the staff she had used to almost break Uzume's head in.

The other Sekirei was a girl with large, doe-like brown eyes and short, messy raven hair. She was a very lithe girl. Not necessarily tiny, but she didn't have the voluptuousness of someone like Uzume. Her clothing consisted of a sleeveless turtle neck shirt with the number 44 on the front in bold lettering, two arm bands that went all the way up her arm and stopped just as they reached her shoulders. Around her hips was a skirt that revealed a healthy portion of her milky thighs.

"What luck, who would have thought we'd run into these three so soon," the staff wielder said as she pointed her weapon of choice at Uzume. "I am afraid you're time is up! Prepare to taste defeat!"

"Oh great, this is just what we need," Uzume muttered under her breath. She then addressed Haruka. "I won't be able to fight with you on my back. You might want to get off me right now."

"Ah, okay," Haruka said unsurely. He got off the girl, nearly collapsing due to how badly his legs were shaking. He really didn't like heights. The explosions and nearly having a staff cave his skull in had not helped either. Not at all.

"So what do you think we should do, Seo?" asked Hikari as she glared at the girl across from her. The Sekirei with doe eyes simply stared back with large, carefree smile on her face.

Seo, who had miraculously recovered from having a couple dozen volts of electricity shoved through his body, hummed to himself as he took stalk of their current predicament. His eyes scanned back and forth across the street, observing not just their possible opponents but also the environment itself. The streets were completely abandoned at this time of night, which was good as it meant his girls could let loose if this did end up becoming a battle. From his position behind Hikari, he could see several alleys between the various warehouses located in this section of the south.

He looked back at the two Sekirei apparently belonging to Mikogami. Being one of the few with insiders information he knew who they were. He was surprised to see them so far out this way. While the south was considered Mikogami's territory, it wasn't often his Sekirei traveled to Teito bay. Mikogami's mansion was located in the center of southern Shinto Teito.

Not that this changed the facts, and those facts were that he and his Sekirei had run into some of Mikogami's. At least it was only two of them.

After a moment or two he rubbed the back of his neck an sighed. "I guess we've got no choice. We were paid to make sure the kid got to Shinto Port safely, so we need to make sure these guys can't go after him and his girl."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Hikari grinned as lightning began sparking from her fingers. Without ceremony the woman in the purple bondage outfit dropped her Ashikabi on his ass. She ignored Seo's "Ouch! What the hell was that for!?" and instead looked at her sister. "You know what that means, don't you Hibiki?" she asked as her look alike let Kuno down much more gently than her twin had their Ashikabi.

"It means we get to cut loose, right?" Hibiki said as lightning began coalescing around her hand as well. Unlike her sister, who had lightning shooting from her fingertips, Hibiki's entire arm from the biceps down was covered in blue lightning that crackled several times every second.

"So you have no intention of running away? How foolish," the girl with the staff scoffed, as if the very thought that they could beat her was idiocy at its finest. She spun the weapon in question around with ease. When she finished her flashy maneuver, she set herself up in a basic stance with her feet spread apart and knees bet. One end of the staff was pointed towards the ground while the other pointed towards sky. "In that case, I hope you're prepared to be deactivated."

"You're the one who better get ready for a pounding!" Hikari shouted back in her usual boisterous and angry manner. "We're going to fry your ass!"

"You'd better take Haruka and Kuno and get out of here," Hibiki said to Uzume. "We'll deal with these two."

"Right," Uzume was not going to argue with either of them on this. Even if she wanted to she wouldn't. This was a Sekirei battle, and Sekirei battles were supposed to be one on one anyway. She looked back at the two under her care and gestured for them to follow her. "Come on you two. Let's leave them to it."

"Hey!" The girl with the staff shouted at the trio that were trying to make their escape. "Don't think you can just run off like that! Get back here!" When the three didn't stop running, she started to make her way towards them. Kicking off her feet the woman launched herself into a quick dash.

She probably would have caught up with the trio before they managed to turn the corner, but a blast of lightning that scorched the ground in front of her forced her to stop moving. Her gaze soon traveled towards the person responsible for keeping her from reaching the three who had run away.

"Sorry bitch," Hikari said, her hands crackling as she channeled lightning through them, "but they're not your opponent. I am. Sekirei number eleven, Hikari."

"Tch," the woman in the sleeveless kimono tsked. "Very well then, I'll just have to deal with you before I get them." She spun her staff around her hand, twirling it about her body. Her movements were so fluid and quick that all Hikari could see was a blur. "I'm Sekirei number one-hundred and three, Juusa. Remember the name of the one who defeated you."

"The only one who's going to be defeated here is you!" Hikaru angrily raised a fist into the air and shook it at the other woman. Ominous sparks of lightning struck the ground and left black scorch marks on the surface.

"We'll see."

XoX

Tsukiumi made several quick hops backwards, using her powerful legs to leap at least a meter with each "step" made. While she was not a physical type Sekirei like Musubi or one of the other fist or leg types, or even as strong as a weapons type like the one she was currently fighting, she was still a Sekirei and her body was still enhanced to levels far beyond those of a humans. She even had the advantage of being a single digit. While she had not been blessed with super strength or speed, she was still more physically powerful than the average double-digit Sekirei.

Of course, Haihane was not just any double-digit. She was a member of the Discipline Squad and had undergone a lot more enhancements than the average double-digit like Musubi had.

The woman in question swooped down from the sky like an avenging angel, her fluttering cloak made this vision of a fallen angel descending to exact revenge on the person who had wronged them feel even more authentic. Not even a second after Tsukiumi had jumped, the blue Sekirei crashed into the ground where the blond-haired water user had been standing. Her clawed hand dug deeply into the concrete, penetrating the dense and sturdy material like it wasn't even there.

Realizing she had missed, Haihane pulled the claws of her gauntlet covered hand out of the ground and turned to face Tsukiumi, who was already preparing her attack.

"Water Celebration!"

Proving her worth as one of the first nine Sekirei to be released, Tsukiumi reacted quickly. Her left hand shot up, palm pointed towards Haihane. Calling out the name of her technique caused a large wave of water to burst forth almost as if it were being summoned from the nether and rush towards Haihane with the intent of blasting her into the nearest building.

Unfortunately for Tsukiumi, defeating Haihane was not going to be that easy. Despite her sluggish and lackadaisical appearance and personality, she was actually quite quick. Long before the rushing tide of water reached her, the so-called Blue Sekirei leapt into the air. Her powerful thigh muscles carried her far above the raging torrent of water down below, which tore apart the street she had been standing on with ease and sent large chunks of debris blasting down the thoroughfare. By the time the water had finished rushing over the spot she had been stationed there was a large trench that had been created due to the constant pressure of the incredibly powerful blast of water eroding the pavement and a good portion of the ground underneath it.

Haihane didn't waste time gawking at the destruction visited upon the earth down below. She had seen Karasuba at work, and while the attack her enemy had just used was certainly powerful and destructive, it was nothing compared to what the Black Sekirei could do.

Her giant leap off the ground took her several feet backwards. With her body flipping and twisting in mid-air, Haihane was able to plant her feet on the side of a building. She did not stay there for very long. Using the wall as a sort of kick off, the Sekirei with the gauntlet covered claw launched herself at Tsukiumi with incredible speed. The water using Sekirei's eyes widened slightly when she saw her enemy coming at her with one thought on her mind.

_'Fast!'_

Her surprise did not last long. Her wide eyes narrowing into a fierce glare filled with determination, Tsukiumi made a swiping motion with her hand.

"Slicing Waters!"

From her hand a crescent shaped wave of water formed. It flew through the air at incredible speed. Haihane's eyes widened as she saw the attack coming her way. There was very little time to do anything against the incoming wave. With her options practically zero, the gauntlet wielder realized the only thing she really could do was take the attack head on and whether the storm. With that in mind, she raised her gauntlet covered arms in front of her face to try and protect herself from the worst of the damage.

Then the crescent of water struck.

"Gyah!"

Haihane was sent flying further into the sky as the crescent blade of water tried to sheer her in half. Thankfully, Sekirei were made out of tough stuff. She was more than strong enough to withstand an attack of this level. And even if she wasn't, the gauntlet on her hand was made out of a very special kind of alloy with unique properties. It was more than durable enough to withstand the crescent blade of water.

Gritting her teeth, Haihane pushed against the crescent blade as it continued trying to eviscerate her. With a loud shout of effort, she finally managed to push the water blade's trajectory enough that it slipped by her. As the crescent disappeared into the everlasting sky, Haihane fell back towards the ground. The moment she landed it was to hear a loud shout from Tsukiumi.

"Water Dragon!"

Turning her head to her left, she saw a large raging dragon composed entirely of water towering over her like something from a Godzilla movie. Haihane's eyes widened. The monstrous looking creature speeding towards her like a raging hurricane was at least four times larger than she was and ten times longer. It rushed towards her, tearing the ground apart with impunity, its mouth open in a roar.

"Talons of Execution!"

With a battle cry, Haihane called out the name of her attack. At the same time she thrust both of her gauntlet covered hands forward just as the dragon smashed into her head first.

The water was split down the middle as Haihane enhanced her gauntlets cutting power with her own Sekirei powers. The tips of her claws began to glow brightly as the water parted around her, traveling several meters on either side before splashing against the ground with a loud rumble. When the water dragon finally dissipated, Haihane looked behind her to see the devastation wrought by Tsukiumi's attack.

Her eyes widened. While the water dragon had been split in half that did not mean it didn't cause a lot of damage. There were two very large, very deep craters gouged into the concrete. Each crater was about twice as large as she was.

"Ha...damn...she's...so strong..."

"Hmph! Of course!" Tsukiumi scoffed as she flung her blond hair over her shoulder. With her feet spread shoulder width apart, her hands on her hips and her chest thrust out, the water using Sekirei gave the very image of a haughty princess. "I am the strongest, after all."

"The strongest...?"

"Yes! That is correct! I am the strongest Sekirei!"

"Hmhmhmhm...hehehehehe...she thinks...she's the strongest..."

"Are you laughing at me!?"

"Yes...hehehehehehehe!"

"Stop laughing, dammit!" Angry, Tsukiumi stomped her foot on the ground. It would be inaccurate to say she looked mildly put out. The blond woman was practically steaming. "How dare you laugh at me! Grrr! I'll show you!"

Before Tsukiumi could actually show Haihane how angry she was, a loud explosion sounded out nearby. Along with the explosion came a deep and violent rumbling as the earth shook with a fierceness that had most of the inhabitants running around in a panic...more than they already were from the explosions and super-powered battles at any rate.

The explosion also served to knock both Tsukiumi and Haihane cleanly off their feet.

Lying on the ground as she tried to regain her bearings, Tsukiumi looked off into the distance where a large cloud of dust was slowly rising into the air.

"W-what the hell was that!?"

XoX

A little ways away from were Haihane and Tsukiumi were ducking it out, Musubi was finding herself in the fight of her life. Loud bangs rang out as she and her opponent fought each other. Each time their fists met they created a shockwave that caused the air around them to burst. Their fists were mere blurs as the two wove their way around each other, constantly moving and seeking that opening that would allow them to win.

A fist came screaming in at her as her opponent launched a straight jab at her face. Musubi's hair whipped about her with reckless abandon as she dodged the attack by stepping to the side. As the fist flew past her face, Musubi reached out with a hand and attempted to grab it. If she could just yank Benitsubasa towards her...

Unfortunately it was not to be. Benitsubasa was far too experienced to be caught off guard with such a simple tactic. When Musubi's hand came up to grab her forearm, the pink-haired fighters other hand rose up to meet it. She smacked the arm away, then with the same arm, launched a blindingly fast punch towards Musubi's face. The attack missed, but only because Musubi had stumbled backwards when her own arm was knocked off course.

"Did you really think such a simple grapple would work on me?" Benitsubasa asked with a glare on her visage, as if she were insulted by the mere fact that Musubi would attempt such a pathetic technique against her. "Such a simple trick won't work on me."

"Wow...you're so strong," Musubi was wearing one of the biggest, brightest smiles anyone would ever see. Unlike Benitsubasa, who was scowling and looked like she had swallowed something vile, the brown-haired fist-fighter in Shrine Maiden garb appeared to be having the time of her life. "I've never fought such a strong opponent before! This is so exciting!"

Benitsubasa stared at the young woman with the largest tits she had ever seen, a large drop of sweat trickling down the side of her head. "You...really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"Hey!" Musubi's cheeks puffed up in childish anger. "That's the second time you've called me an idiot!"

"That's because you are an idiot!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are―gggrrraaa! This is so stupid!" Benitsubasa glared at the girl in frustration. The idiot of a Sekirei had to be the dumbest, most annoying person she had ever met! And she knew Haihane! "That's it! I'm going to pound you into the ground!"

"Does that mean we're going to be fighting some more?" Musubi asked with a brilliant sparkle in her eyes. She looked like Christmas had just come early. "Yay!"

Benitsubasa's right eye twitched violently for several seconds before she just decided to ignore the girl's stupidity. She was better off just pretending the last few seconds of this conversation never happened.

Bending her knees, Benitsubasa blasted off the ground with an earth shattering bang. She put so much force into her kick-start that the pavement she had been standing on cratered to form two small, perfectly shaped indents of her shoes.

Her form moved in a blur, her body traveling so fast that no human would have any hope of seeing her. Musubi, as a Sekirei, was more than capable of seeing her, even if her body was nothing but a blurry outline on account of how quick she was.

She was on Musubi within seconds. Before the vivacious fist-fighter could even think of launching her own attack, Benitsubasa struck out at her with a right hook.

The fist connected with Musubi's face before just as quickly retracting. The kinetic build up of energy caused the number forty-eight's head to snap back. With a jerk, Musubi stumbled backwards, dazed and frazzled by the powerful punch. There was a slight ringing in her ears and she could sworn stars had exploded in her vision for a second.

Not wanting to give Musubi any time to recover, Benitsubasa began launching a dozen combination attacks in just as many seconds. A jab to the stomach had the brown-haired Sekirei nearly doubling over. She didn't, but only because of the cross she received to her face, which caused her entire torso to nearly bend backwards as her head snapped up.

Over and over again Musubi found herself on the receiving end of a number of powerful attacks that connected with her body at blinding speeds. She tried to guard against the other Sekirei's vicious assault, and even managed to succeed on occasion, but it was becoming increasingly clear who the better fighter was. Despite the training she had received at the hands of Miya she still wasn't at the level of this girl.

Not that this meant anything to Musubi. There was no way she would let herself lose to her junior. Especially not since Naruto-Sama was counting on her. For him, she had to win this.

Fortunately she did have at least one technique that she might be able to use. It was one of the only techniques Naruto-Sama had been able to teach her thus far, though he promised he would begin training her soon. Now if only she could find an opening to use it.

Doing her best to keep the pink-haired girl in her vision―which was much harder than it looked because everything was beginning to look like one big blur―Musubi did everything she could to keep from getting her face pounded in. She received a swift jab to the shoulder, but managed to avoid the bolo punch to her face that would have more than likely knocked her out cold. A cross nearly did her in, and it probably would have had she not seen it coming and brought her left arm to bare in order to block the punch. Despite managing to get her arm up in time, she was still sent skidding several feet backwards simply due to the amount of power her adversary put into the blow.

"You're pretty sturdy, I'll give you that," Benitsubasa said, her eyes narrowing into a glare as she stared the naive Sekirei down shaking out her now sore arm. She was sure the girl would be feeling that in the morning. At least she would if Benitsubasa had any intention of letting the girl go. "All the other Sekirei I've dealt with would have been deactivated by now."

"I told you before, I won't let myself lose to my junior!" Musubi declared as she got into her own fighting stance: a sloppy approximation of an orthodox stance, with her left foot further in front of her right foot, thus presenting her weaker side to Benitsubasa. "I'm going to win!"

Benitsubasa snorted as she took in the girls fighting stance. "Not with the crappy brawler style you won't." The pin-haired female smoothly slid into her own combat stance. It was a Southpaw stance, which was a mirror image to the orthodox stance with the exception that southpaw led with the right hand and right foot as opposed to the left. "You're nowhere near strong enough to beat me."

Musubi puffed up her cheeks and glared at the other girl. Because she was so naive and childish, the glare ended up looking too cute for it to actually be effective, but that was neither here nor there.

"I will beat you! Just watch me!"

"Keep dreaming, loser!"

With a burst of incredible speed, Bentsubasa launched herself at Musubi. She was next to the girl in a split second, so fast that Musubi had to blink before she realized her opponent was stepping into her guard. Her eyes widening in shock, the bustier Sekirei of the two tried to backpedal to put some distance between them. Too bad Benitsubasa wouldn't let her get too far.

Sticking to the girl like glue, the member of the Discipline Squad launched a straight jab with her right hand, or so it seemed. Musubi didn't even realize her mistake when she raised her arm to block until all the air was knocked from her lungs as something plowed into her stomach with enough force to launch her away from her opponent. Gasping in asphyxiating pain, Musubi stumbled backwards, her hands automatically going to her stomach.

Doing that proved to be a rookie mistake, one she would soon regret.

With her guard no longer up, Benitsubasa managed to land several powerful blows to her opponent's face. Two right-handed jabs followed by a powerful cross had the girl seeing stars. Musubi tried to gather her wits about her, but the other girl didn't appear to have any intention of letting her recover. Several more powerful blows impacted against various locations of Musubi's body. Each one was powerful enough to rattle her bones and force her to stumble back.

Shaking her head, her breathing heavy, Musubi blinked as sweat began stinging her eyes. Benitsubasa was coming in again, and fast. Two steps brought the pink-haired girl into her guard. She raised her arm as her opponent sent another jab at her. The loud thudding of flesh meeting flesh was drowned out by the powerful shockwave the block generated. Musubi's hair was uplifted and whipped about her face, waving about in front of her eyes.

Perhaps that was why she didn't see Benitsubasa's fist come screaming at her. Regardless, she certainly felt it when that same fist dug fiercely into her stomach.

Pain flaring like she'd been struck by a bolt of lightning in the stomach, Musubi doubled over the fist imbedded in her gut. Sweat flew off her hair as it made a forward whipping motion, and bile and a bit of blood was coughed up as a result of the attack causing blood to well up in her throat.

"Do you get it now?" asked Benitsubasa, her fist still implanted into Musubi's gut. She glared down at the naïve Sekirei. "You're no match for me."

"You're the one who doesn't get it," Musubi coughed. Benitsubasa's eyes widened. She tried to pull her fist out of Musubi's stomach, but the girl had grabbed onto her arm with both hands and was holding onto it in a vice grip. Despite it being clear that Benitsubasa was a much better fighter, it was equally clear that Musubi was physically stronger. And while the Sekirei with pink hair was glaring at the girl with wide eyes, Musubi looked up from where she was doubled over, blood trickling down her lips and a surprisingly bright smile on her face. "I refuse to lose to my junior!"

Musubi's left foot slid back so as to give her better traction. Her right foot bent and her torso began to twist as she liberally lifted Benitsubasa off her feet. Unable to do anything in time, the pinked haired member of the Discipline squad not only found herself being hauled off the ground, but also spinning in a dizzying circle as Musubi began to spin around and around like some kind of out of control carousel.

"HYA!"

Exactly three full rotations and a loud shout later, Musubi let go of Benitsubasa's arm. With a surprised cry her opponent was sent flying high into the air. With the amount of strength she had put into her swing, the apex of Benitsubasa's ascent was far above even some of the taller buildings that towered above the ground.

Not wanting to lose her advantage, Musubi's legs bunched underneath her as she crouched down. Her muscles tensed before, with a loud shout, she launched herself into the air like some kind of human rocket. As gravity began to take affect and Benitsubasa started falling back to earth, Musubi continued climbing towards the girl, her left fist extended.

Despite being in the air, Benitsubasa was not defenseless. Using her incredibly strong arms and liberal use of her abdominal muscles, she twisted her body around so that she was facing Musubi, who was coming at her like superman.

The two soon crashed into each other. Musubi's fist still hyper-extended in a punch. It was only after several seconds in which time seemed to stand still that she realized Benitsubasa was not injured by her attack. In fact, the girl had managed to catch it in the palm of her hand, though the wince she was giving at least indicated that catching the attack hurt.

"Didn't I tell you..." Benitubasa grit her teeth as she struggled to keep a firm grip on Musubi's fist. How strong was this girl? "There's no way you can beat me!" With a loud roar, she launched a fist at her opponents face. However, because she was in the air, the attack was not as effective as it would be otherwise. Musubi was able to dodge the blow by tilting her head.

"And I told you, I'm not losing to my junior!" Using her own powerful stomach muscles, Musubi began to twist her body around. "HAAA!" With an exertion of effort, the busty young woman threw her opponent back towards the ground. As Benitsubasa soared through the air, her body coming closer and closer to the earth, she managed to twist and reposition herself so that when she hit the pavement she landed on her feet.

The pavement cracked underneath her feet as she struck the ground. Her knees bent to absorb the shock of the impact. Several spiderweb-like cracks spread out from where she landed.

"Hyyaaaa!"

A battle cry alerted her to the fact that she was still in battle. Looking up, Benitsubasa caught sight of Musubi descending towards her, her right fist pulled back into her torso. Her actions made it clear what she was hoping to accomplish with this. Well, Benitsubasa had no intention of letting the other woman hit her with an attack, especially one so obvious and easy to dodge.

Several hops backwards took Benitsubasa nearly two meters from where she had been previously standing. She looked up a second later to see Musubi descend on the spot she had been standing. The large explosion of earth, pavement and debris flew out from the center of impact, clogging up the area in dust and making it impossible for Benitsubasa to see anything. Large cracks spread along the street, outpacing the expanding cloud of dust.

Benitsubasa glared into the makeshift smokescreen. It only lasted for a second, however. When the dust cleared and revealed the large crater Musubi's attack had created, her eyes widened in surprise. That crater had to be at least four meters wide! And she couldn't even see the top of her opponent's head, which meant it wasn't just wide, but also deep.

"What the hell!?"

She hadn't even used a special attack of any kind to create that crater! Granted, she had been falling from the sky at near terminal velocity, but Benitsubasa knew that even with that there was no way she herself could have created such a large crater without using one of her special earth attacks. Just how strong was this stupid bimbo?

A hand reached out from within the crater and grabbed a hold of the ledge. A second hand soon appeared, followed by a head, and then a body, as Musubi slowly proceeded to pull herself out of the large hole in the ground her attack had made.

"Ouchie."

Upon finally exiting the giant several meter crater, Musubi sat down on her backside and began rubbing her sore hand, which had swelled up enough to almost look like a balloon. That had really hurt. Maybe she wasn't ready to start making craters like her landlady...or maybe she should just not pound her fist into the ground after falling from a height of several dozen meters.

She was so intent on soothing her poor hand that she didn't even notice the way Benitsubasa was glaring at her. The younger looking of the two (on account of her breasts being so much smaller) stared at the other Sekirei for several seconds, as if waiting for the idiot to finally remember she was still in combat. When it became abundantly obvious that Musubi had pretty much forgotten about her, the pink-haired Discipline Squad member exploded.

"Oi! Did you forget we're supposed to be fighting!?"

Musubi looked up, her eyes blinking as she focused on Benitsubasa. She put a finger to her lips as a contemplative expression crossed her face...or at least as contemplative as someone like Musubi could look.

"Oh yeah," she mumbled, "I almost forgot, we're supposed to be fighting." Knocking her knuckles against the top of her head, Musubi poked her tongue out from between her lips. "Sorry about that."

Benitsubasa palmed her face. "What an idiot..." She had never met someone as dumb as Musubi. Ever.

Straightening out again, Benitsubasa fixed a narrow eyed glare on the girl. "This battle has gone on long enough! I'm ending this right here and now!"

Musubi stood to her feet. When she stood, she gingerly flexed her hand and, upon determining that she could still fight with it, focused a look of determination on her opponent. "Good! In that case I'm going to finish this fight too! I won't lose to you!"

Benitsubasa's right eyebrow began twitching and a vein pulsed on her forehead as she stared daggers at the busty brunette. She didn't say anything though, she was through using words. It was time to end this!

Raising her clenched right hand, power began crackling from her core and up her arm. A deep earthen glow covered her fist.

"Extreme Quake!"

Calling out her technique with a loud shout, the girl pounded her fist against the pavement.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. A second past, then another. It was only after the third second that something happened. The world exploded violently. From the point where her fist impacted against the ground, a massive and violent outpouring of energy caused the ground to literally burst outwards like someone had planted several plastic explosives underneath the ground and detonated them.

The large blast of green energy tore up the ground around it as it traversed the space between Benitsubasa and Musubi at speed. The brown-haired Sekirei wearing the shrine maiden outfit was unable to do anything as the destructive power smashed into her with all the force of a level five hurricane.

XoX

"It looks like this is where we part ways," Uzume told Kuno and Haruka with a cheery grin. How she could grin so broadly when in such a situation was beyond the Ashikabi/Sekirei pair. The girl just seemed way too cheerful for someone who was essentially sneaking a couple of wanted criminals out of the country.

The group was standing in front of a large crate, which would be loaded onto a cargo ship tomorrow. There was a small doorway that could be opened to enter the crate. It was currently unlocked and wide open, allowing those outside to see the interior, which looked like a very sparse bedroom complete with fuuton, table and a fridge filled with enough basic foodstuff to last two people for a week.

"Yeah, looks like it," Haruka said. His left hand came up and absently rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the young woman with an awkward air about him. "Listen, could you tell that Naruto guy I said thanks for getting us out of Shinto Teito?"

"I could," Uzume grinned mischievously, "But I don't think he'd really care."

"Probably not," Haruka grimaced, "That guy seriously confuses me. One day he says he won't help Kuno and I, then the next he changes his mind and decides to help us escape. I really don't get him."

"Yeah," Uzume snickered, "To tell the truth, I don't think even bro knows why he agreed to help you. Anyway," deciding a change of topic was in order Uzume stuck her hand in between her cleavage. Haruka turned red while Kuno began crying in envy. Uzume ignored the two as she rummaged around. "Let's see...I know it's in here some...ah ha! Here it is!" The busty cloth using Sekirei pulled her hand out of her cleavage, as well as a folder of documents that came with the hand. She handed the documents over to Haruka, whose blush had yet to recede. "This is for you."

The young man, in an attempt to get over his embarrassment, opened the folder to see what was inside.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"These are passports!" Not just passports, but also alternate identification, a bank account in his new ID's name and a Drivers Licensee. Everything someone needed to restart their life was located inside that folder.

Naruto had literally given them a new lease on life with this.

"I...I really don't understand that guy at all," Haruka murmured as he flipped through the folder. There was even contact information letting him know who would be meeting him on the other side complete with physical description and what Haruka should do when the man found him. "He acts so adamant about not helping us and then he does something like this."

"You're probably better off not trying to understand bro and just accept the help," Uzume told him informatively. "You'll be better off that way...and it's less likely to cause you a massive headache."

"You're probably right," Haruka mumbled.

"I'm definitely right" Uzume replied adamantly. Just as she spoke an explosion occurred outside. Kuno screamed as the lights began flickering. "Damn, looks like those four are really getting into it." The cloth user looked at both Haruka and Kuno. "You two should hurry up and get in there. I'll meet up with the bondage twins and help them drive off Mikogami's forces."

"Right." Haruka and Kuno quickly stepped into the crate. The young man turned back to look at Uzume and raised a hand. "Thanks again," he said before shutting the door closed.

With nothing left for her to do there, Uzume turned around to face the entrance where she could see several explosions and bursts of blue lightning coming from outside.

"Ha...those two..." Uzume sighed, "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

XoX

Hikari growled in anger as she shot another large blast of lightning at her opponent. Unfortunately, the girl with the staff was not only quite nimble, but somehow seemed capable of negating her lightning by rotating her staff at high speeds. Just as the lightning was about to reach the other Sekirei, said female spun the staff in front of her. The long, cylindrical object moved so quickly it was nothing but a mere blur in front of her. The lightning struck the staff, only to bounce off harmlessly and strike the ground around the girl.

"Grr! Stop blocking my attack!"

"Yeah, that's not going to be happen," Juusa declared as she spun her staff around some more before setting herself up in defensive stance. "And you're an idiot for thinking I would just let you attack me."

"Did you just call me an idiot!?" Hikari raged, "I'll show you an idiot! Eat this!"

While Hikaru was trying to ineffectively deal damage to the staff wielding Sekirei who expertly twirled her weapon around and deflected each bolt sent her way, Hibiki was having her own problems.

Sixteen small spheres came soaring towards her as the girl that did the throwing jumped back several feet to put some distance between them. Each small sphere was destroyed by a very precise blast of lightning. Upon each sphere being blasted into subatomic particles they exploded violently. Hibiki sent several more bolts of lightning at the girl, which barreled through the smoke the explosions created, but the lithe figure dodged each blast with ease and then lobbed several more of those explosives at her.

"Tch!" Hibiki grunted as she fired off enough lightning to fry all the explosives in a single shot. "This is getting me nowhere." Every time she sent a blast of lightning at the girl, she would either dodge or throw those explosives, of which she seemed to have an unlimited supply of. Worse still, whenever those spheres exploded they created a powerful smokescreen that made it impossible for her to see through.

Not even bothering to try and see through the large cloud of dust and smoke Hibiki sent a powerful blast of lightning at the other Sekirei's last known location. The smokescreen parted as the lightning blew through it. However, when it got to the other side, the lightning simply continued on to strike the nearest building, the wall of which was destroyed by the powerful attack. The girl she had been battling was nowhere to be seen.

"Dang, where did she go?"

Hibiki frowned, her brows furrowing intently as she searched for her query. While trying to determine where the Sekirei she was fighting was located a shadow came upon her from above. Looking up, the Sekirei in the S&M costume was granted the sight of the girl she had been fighting descending from the sky and prepared to launch her attack. Situated between each of her fingers were four small explosive spheres, which she soon threw at Hibiki.

"Dammit!"

Reacting with a quickness reminiscent of the very lightning she wielded, Hibiki began backpedaling. The explosive spheres struck the ground with earth shattering force. Six different explosions combine into one, the blast of which created a large shockwave as all the air was pushed outwards to make room for the giant conflagration the detonation caused.

Raising her arm to her face, Hibiki winced as several large chunks of pavement bashed against her arm and body. Those were sure to leave a couple of bruises come the next morning.

"You've left yourself open!"

Eyes widening behind her arm, Hibiki looked past the appendage she had used to shield herself to see her opponent leaping over the smoking remains of the explosion. Yosuga tossed several more explosives at the lightning user, who bit back a curse as she sent her lightning out in a large wave even as she began jumping back to put some distance between her and the soon to be explosions.

A good thing too because less than a second later, the spheres, which had been nearly upon her, detonated with concussive force. Hibiki did her best to ignore the heat from the blast and focus most of her attention on her enemy...

...Or at least she would have...if it weren't for the fact that her opponent was currently wrapped up in several sheets of cloth like something out of an S&M movie.

"What the heck?" Hibiki stared at the girl as she struggled and squirmed in surprise. It was only after several seconds of staring that she realized there was someone behind her.

"By the veil of my contract, my Ashikabi's nightmare will be dispelled."

There was a bright glow from the base of Yosuga's neck that lasted for several seconds. In that time, before the glow vanished, the Sekirei's movements slowed. As her eyes began to dim, Yosuga called out to her master in desperation, "No...Mikogami...sama..." her voice whispered pleadingly before her head dropped and her body went limp.

"Uzume?"

"Hey there," Uzume peered at Hibiki from around the body now in the grasp of her cloth, "Looks like I made it just in time."

"Yeah, thanks."

"He heh, not a problem." Uzume grinned brightly. "Now lets get that sister of yours and get out of here. We'll take the deactivated Sekirei with us. Wouldn't want MBI crawling all over this place and finding Haruka and Kuo."

The two suddenly paused as a loud wail of "it's Kuno!" resounded from the building Haruka and Kuno were in.

"Did you hear something?" asked Hibiki.

"Nope. Not a thing."

XoX

It hurt everywhere. Every single muscle fiber, bone, bit of flesh and organ was screaming at her. Her flesh felt like it had been flayed alive. Hundreds of cuts littered her body, small enough that on their own they would not be too detrimental, but the sheer amount littering her flesh was more than just a few. Her bones felt like they had all been broken at the exact same time, healed, and then broken again. Her organs, particularly the one that pumped blood through her body, felt like they had been compressed by several tons of concrete closing in on all sides, or if she had been dropped in the Marriott trench. And her muscles, her muscles were crying out in agony, like someone had taken a hot knife and used it to slowly carve through her muscles with torturous slowness.

Her ears were ringing loudly. The noise bounced around her head, giving her a headache unlike anything she had experienced before. It was a wonder she could even hear the sound of footsteps over the din of that loud ringing.

Wait. Footsteps?

Blinking several times, Musubi's unfocused eyes cleared enough that she could see more then just a bunch of vague blurs and outlines. And what she could see was a girl, a familiar looking girl with pink hair and pink eyes. This girl...Musubi knew this girl, even if the name escaped her at the moment.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Benitsubasa asked as she stared down at the girl laying limply in the large crater her last attack had caused. The crater was at least four meters across and two meters deep. She crossed her arms and gave the busty shrine maiden a superior smirk. "I can't believe a wimp like you actually thought they could beat me."

"Not a...wimp..."

"What was that?" When Musubi didn't say anything, or maybe couldn't say anything, Benitsubasa glared at her. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Growling in anger when the girl's mumbled reply didn't reach her ears, the pink-haired Sekirei swore before sliding down the crater. She skidded to a stop right next to the brunette and leaned her torso over so that she was directly in front of Musubi's eyes. "What was that you said just now?"

"I said...I'm not...not a wimp..."

"Tch!" Benitsubasa scowled. "Still think you're hot shit, huh? Well, I know just how to change that!" Without warning, Benitsubasa kicked Musubi in the stomach, not just ellicting a scream from the busty Sekirei, but also forcing her onto her stomach. She then jumped into the air, her fist raised near her head. "This is the end for you!"

BOOM!

The incredible pain caused by having a fist smashed directly into her crest was intense but short-lived. Not even a moment after the unfathomable pain struck did it begin to disappear. In fact, now that she thought about it, everything else was disappearing too, not just her sense of touch, but also her sense of smell and vision. She couldn't...she had to...

"...Naruto...Sama..."

Her last thoughts were of her Ashikabi. And then everything went dark.

XoX

"Water Wave!"

Like the swelling of the ocean water rose up from the ground in front of Tsukiumi as she pulled the very water molecules from the air to help form her attack. The wave, which took only seconds to form, was at least twice as tall as Haihane and several times as wide. The moment it was fully formed, it rushed towards the Blue Sekirei like a tidal wave of absolute destruction.

Many of the surrounding buildings on either side of the street not only became drenched in water, but several were also felled as the wave crashed into them, eroding the walls with several thousand gallons worth of high speed water pressure. These buildings toppled to the ground with a loud crash, and would have kicked up massive amounts of dust were it not for the water washing them away.

Haihane leapt into the air, over the wave as it descended upon her. Using the many chunks of wall from the destroyed buildings as springboards, she hopped across the wave and towards Tsukiumi who, upon seeing what her adversary was doing glared at the woman.

"Why won't you go down!?"

Haihane did not answer, of course, at least not verbally. Upon reaching the last of the brick walls she could use as a springboard, the gauntlet wielding Sekirei leapt high into the air, at least twenty feet. Her body spun like a top as she extended both clawed hands and descended upon Tsukiumi like some kind of human sized dradle.

"Water Bullets!"

Seeing the woman bearing down on her from above, the water wielder sent several very small, compressed balls of water at the other Sekirei in the hopes of deterring her from her current path. Despite the numerous bullets hitting their mark, they did not even leave a scratch and merely splashed harmlessly against Haihane who was spinning so fast the for from the water that struck her was negated. She continued descending towards Tsukiumi, whose eyes widened a bit before narrowing into a teeth bearing glare.

Backpedaling, Tsukiumi was able to avoid getting struck by Haihane's gauntlet covered hands. The ground wasn't so lucky. When Haihane struck the earth, a terrible, ear-splitting sound erupted as the claws on her gauntlet sheered through the ground like it was made of paper. As Haihane stood to her full height after realizing her attack had missed, Tsukiumi caught a glimpse of the damage done to the street.

Eight large, deep slash marks had been gouged into the pavement. The ease at which those claw marks had been created was startling. If those had hit her...she shook her head. It was best not to think about that.

Raising her left hand, Tsukiumi made a swiping motion.

"Water Crescent!"

A crescent-moon shaped blade of water raced towards Haihane at speed. The Blue Sekirei did not run, but stood her ground and dug her heels in, both figuratively and literally. Raising her gauntlets into the air above her head, she brought them down just as the crescent blade of water reached her.

"Ha!"

With impunity, Haihane sliced through the crescent shaped water attack with ease. The water, unable to hold its form and consistency after being so thoroughly sliced apart by eight different blades, dissipated and splashed against the ground behind her.

"Grr! Quit dodging and blocking my attacks!" Tsukiumi glared at her opponent. So far this battle had been a stalemate of the worst kind. None of her attacks seemed to work. The larger, more powerful attacks were simply dodged while her smaller and more concentrated attacks were cut apart by those gauntlets. In return, Haihane was unable to land a single blow on Tsukiumi, who had so far proven to be very adept at keeping her distance.

"Uhuhuhu...I think I'd rather keep dodging."

"Fine!" Tsukiumi growled. "Then let us see you dodge this! Hydra Blast!"

A rush of torrential water sped towards Haihane. As it blasted its way across the street, the water began to take shape; a large, reptilian head formed, followed by a streamlined body with two clawed front legs and two bulkier but just as deadly looking hind-legs. The body grew smaller upon reaching the back, from which a long, pointed tail emerged. The reptilian sea beast raced towards Haihane, the roar of the rushing waters that composed it sounding almost like the angered roar of the very creature it was molded to look like.

Haihane's eyes widened as her entire vision was filled with the giant monster.

"That...is one big snake."

It wasn't a snake, but Haihane didn't know much about Greek Mythology. All she knew was there was a giant monstrosity gunning for her.

Leaping into the air, the Blue Sekirei was just barely able to dodge the head that lunged at her. It missed her, but ended up hitting the street instead. It tore through the already destroyed ground and pavement without a hint of resistance.

"Woah...powerful attack..."

Letting gravity pull her back down to earth, Haihane lashed out with her gauntlets, slicing into the neck of the creature. With a grunt of exertion, the Sekirei with shock white hair managed to behead the monster.

Not that this did much good. Almost as soon as the head was chopped off, two more heads grew in its place. The two heads swerved around for a moment, as if they were sentient creatures taking in their new surroundings, before their gaze landed on Haihane.

"Uh oh."

The Blue Sekirei barely had time to dodge as one of the two heads charged her. She managed to roll out of the way, but just barely. Seconds after vacating her position the head smashed into the ground and destroyed even more of the already ruined earth.

Just because she missed getting struck by the first head did not mean she was out of harms way yet. Not even a second after dodging the first head by rolling along the ground did the second head crash into her. Unprepared for such an attack, the only action Haihane could take was to raise both of her gauntlet covered hands in the shape of an X across her chest. Seconds later the attack crashed into her with the power of a maelstrom.

"Guu!"

Haihane's body slid along the ground as the reptilian head did everything in its power to crush her. Because much of the street was destroyed and the ground beneath her was wet thanks to Tsukiumi's water attacks, her feet created deep trenches in the muddy earth. She continued sliding and getting unwillingly pushed back by the powerful creature Tsukiumi had created.

A roar from above alerted the blue Sekirei to another problem coming her way. Looking up her eyes widened when she saw the second Hydra head bearing down on her from above. Unable to dodge thanks to the first head threatening to blast her into a wall should it be given the opportunity, Haihane could do nothing as the second head fell on top of her.

Tsukiumi watched as the two-pronged attack crashed into her opponent, one from above the other from the front. Colossal amounts of water exploded out in all directions as the attack made it impossible for the hydra to keep its form and consistency. The water, unable to remain where it was, rushed outwards from the center of the collision point. When it reached her, the water was forced to divert from it's path as Tsukiumi used her powers over the water to force it away from her. The water split, flowing around her on either side and leaving both herself ad the ground she was standing on completely dry.

When all of the water had flowed by, Tsukiumi was finally able to see her opponent. Haihane was lying face down on the ground, her body indented into the mud. She was spread eagle, her arms and legs splayed out on either side. She was completely inert.

"Hmph!" Tsukiumi huffed in satisfaction at seeing her opponent finally beaten. With haughty elegance, she flicked her long blond hair over her shoulder, set her hands on her hips and glared at the downed Sekirei. "It was foolish to think you could beat me, the strongest Sekirei in the Sekirei Plan!"

Whirling around, Tsukiumi began to walk away. There was no more need for her to stay there.

"Cough. Cough. Cough."

She froze after only making a couple dozen steps. Turning her head to glance behind her, Tsukiumi's eyes widened.

"Impossible..."

"Ha...hu...ha..."

Her body twitching like some kind of marionette whose strings were being jerked around by an amateur puppeteer, Haihane slowly began to move. Her hands twitched, the muscles in her arm spasming as she pushed herself off the ground. She slipped a couple of times, causing her to face plant in the mud. But each time this happened she would just wipe the mud off her face and continue pushing herself up. Eventually, the Blue Sekirei managed stand up on her own two feet, though her legs were wobbling like nothing else. It was only due to her incredible willpower that she was even conscious.

"How are you still standing!?"

"Ha...ha...that attack...it was powerful..."

Haihane breathed heavily as she turned to face her adversary. Her body was hunched over, more so than usual, and her arms were hanging limply at her sides. Much of her clothing was gone by this point. In fact, only her panties, boots, gauntlets and a little bit of her tattered cloak remained. Her bandages were gone, having been soaked thoroughly enough they had simply dissolved, leaving her breasts exposed to the world.

Her body heaving from the effort she was putting into standing, Haihane looked at Tsukiumi with half-lidded, tired eyes.

"I won't...be defeated...so easily..."

Tsukiumi scowled. "So be it then! This time I will make sure you stay down!"

Despite her words, Tsukiumi would never actually get a chance to follow through with her threat, for in that moment both she and Haihane were crushed by an overwhelming force the likes of which neither of them had ever felt. Along with the pressure came a sickening sensation that nearly had them both vomiting.

If asked, Tsukiumi would be unable to truly describe how it felt. It was like all the world's hatred had suddenly invaded her body. And it wasn't just hatred she felt either, but pain, never ending anguish coupled with a sense of indescribable loss. Were it not for the bond she shared as a Sekirei, Tsukiumi would have never realized where this feeling was coming from.

As Haihane fell flat on her face, drool leaking from her mouth as her mind found itself unable to cope with the incredible sense of hatred combined with the overwhelming pressure that had been pushing down on her, Tsukiumi's head turned in the direction she could feel where this power, this loss, this unending, undeniable hatred was coming from.

"Husband..."

What was going on?

XoX

The moment Naruto's Kubikiboucho met Karasuba's blade, a powerful shockwave erupted from between them. The wind buffeted Karasuba's hair, her ponytail whipped around behind her in a frenzy. Her crazed grin was easily visible on her face as she pushed her katana against Naruto's oversized blade. Sparks flew between them as she stared into the strange purple eyes of her opponent.

"Those are some interesting eyes you've got there," she said. Naruto did not respond to her words. The smile on Karasuba's face widened as her irises flickered to the sword. "Are you overcompensating for something?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Naruto's eyes remained impassive as he pushed Karasuba away from him. His muscles flexed and his strength increased exponentially, forcing the woman with silver hair to skid backwards for several feet. Dust kicked up in her wake and a slight trench was formed out of the black concrete.

"Ooh, seems like you've got some strength to you," Karasuba gazed at him with half-lidded eyes. Her crazed grin seemed to gain a new level of insanity as she raised her blade near her head. "I hope that means you'll be able to show me a good time!"

Karasuba came at him again, her feet kicking off the ground and pushing her to incredible speeds. Her body became nothing more than a series of flickers as she crossed the distance between them. Naruto had to admit, out of all the Sekirei he'd fought so far, Karasuba was definitely the fastest.

But she was still too slow.

As the woman appeared within his guard, her katana flashing out like greased lightning as it sought to severe his head from his shoulders, Naruto's blade rose to meet it. Kubikiriboucho accepted the attack head on with a loud clang and another shockwave. Seeing her attack had been effectively negated, Karasuba continued her assault with even more ferocity and speed.

Strikes came at Naruto with greater and greater speed as the woman sought to penetrate his defense. She focused primarily on thrusting motions. Each time her the sharp end of her katana was thrust forward, a whistling sound emerged as it literally cut through the air. Naruto avoided being impaled by the many piercing attacks that came his way by making minute adjustments to Kubikiriboucho's position and angle. Whenever an thrust came at him, he simply adjusted the large head cleaver and let the sharp side of Karasuba's katana simply slide off the oversized sword, creating a bright shower of sparks.

As he continued battling defensively, the blond-haired shinobi began to backpedal. Karasuba followed after him relentlessly. The Black Sekirei looked like she was having the time of her life. Naruto was actually positive the woman was getting off on this.

"I hope this isn't the best you can do! I'm just starting to have fun!"

"Really..."

Naruto sighed as he almost gently moved his blade to the left. Karasuba's sword struck the edge of Kubikiriboucho and slid off in a shower of sparks.

"...This girl..."

He took exactly one step to the left. At the same time the massive sword in his hand came down as Karasuba broke her own rhythm and made a full rotation before bringing her blade up in a diagonal slash that would have carved his flesh from his left hip to his right shoulder. Instead of slicing his flesh, her sword met his in a loud clang as steel clashed against steel.

"...Is just so..."

Deciding to up the ant, Karasuba began to increase the speed of her thrusts until her arm was moving so fast it almost appeared as if her blade was in multiple places at once. It was still too slow, as Naruto proved when he aptly deflected each blow using the minimalist movement approach he had taken to using while defending against her assault.

"...Similar..."

The heel of his left foot met air as he found himself standing on the very lip of the building they were fighting on. Karasuba came at him again, this time deciding to change things up with a powerful overhand slash. No doubt she was hoping to meet him in a contest of strength.

"...To her..."

Instead of letting himself be drawn into a battle for supremacy, Naruto took one last step back and allowed himself to fall off the side of the building. He heard Karasuba's shout of "get back here!" as he dove headfirst towards the ground. When he was only a few feet from bashing his head against the pavement, the immortal shinobi twisted his body around and let his feet strike the ground. Despite the speed at which he had been falling, not even a crack appeared on the pavement. It was a testament to how talented Naruto was at landing lightly on his feet.

Hearing the sound of whistling, Naruto looked up to see Karasuba bearing down on him, her face wearing a rather maniacal looking grin.

Naruto backpedaled several feet as Karasuba crashed into the very spot he'd been standing on. The pavement around her feet shattered, several cracks spread out from the two places where her boots hit the ground. Her legs bent, not only absorbing the shock of the impact but also transferring all that built up kinetic energy to her legs so she could use it to launch herself towards Naruto at incredible speed.

She reached Naruto in seconds. Her blade came screaming in at him.

Reacting with a swiftness that would shock most people, Naruto spun around a full three-hundred and sixty degrees. Kubikiriboucho soared upwards from the bottom left, moving diagonally across his body. It struck Karasuba's katana with a loud "clang!" that was soon followed by the equally powerful "boom!" of a shockwave being unleashed. The attack served not only to block Karasuba's attack, but due to Naruto making the full rotation, it also had enough force put behind it that the katana in the Black Sekirei's hand was knocked backwards, out of position and high overhead.

His opponent was wide open.

At the apex of Naruto's swing, the oversized sword stopped, the blade reversing course and traveling back towards Karasuba in a diagonal overhead slash that would tear her body apart if it connected.

If it connected.

Showing just how quick she was, Karasuba spun to the left and back, avoiding the swing. Her sword was soon coming in to counterattack, a quick, piercing thrust that would impale Naruto through the heart. It was diverted when Naruto brought Kubikiriboucho back up and used the massive head cleaver to deflect the katana away from his heart and over his left shoulder.

The two jumped back after their last exchange, eying the other in interest. While Naruto's visage, what could be seen of it, remained impassive, Karasuba was grinning like a madman.

"You really are good," she complimented. "This is the most fun I've had in ages!"

"I'm so pleased you're enjoying yourself," Naruto said dryly, "You don't know how happy that makes me. Now, if you could hurry up and start attacking me again, that would be appreciated. I've got things to do and I can't accomplish them if you just stand there looking like a lemon."

"So impatient," Karasuba chided, "Don't worry your pretty little head. I have no intention of letting this battle grow cold. Now let's see what else you can do!"

And just like that Karasuba was attacking again, with renewed vigor it seemed. Her swings began coming in harder and faster than they had been. Her moves began to get more elegant and her blade became nothing more than several flashes of light.

As their battle pressed on, Naruto continued analyzing his opponent. Karasuba was a damn good swordswomen. Her moves here fast, elegant and deadly. Her strength and speed were some of the fastest he'd seen so far. There was also something else, something that surprised Naruto, though it probably shouldn't have.

Karasuba was better than him. He was faster, stronger, and had better reflexes, but Karasuba was better at using a sword than he was. The only reason he had yet to actually receive an injury was because his physical prowess was far above hers.

Ah, the benefits of having a regeneration factor that allowed him to train ten times harder than even the strongest of Sekirei.

An overhand strike was blocked by Naruto bringing his sword up from his left hip. The two attacks clashed, but only for a second as Karasuba pushed her blade off her opponents and used the build up of energy to launch her body in a spin. Her blade shot out as she spun around. In return, Naruto raised his sword, the tip of the blade pointing down, and when the two attacks clashed he redirected Karasuba's weapon over his head.

As he and Karasuba continued fighting, Naruto reflected on his reasons for being here. This battle, more than anything else, was the reason he had agreed to help Haruka. Beyond the strange emotions that boiled out and forced him to contradict his own actions previously by agreeing to help, this fight was the main reason for his decision to help. He could have used the Hiraishin to simply teleport Haruka and Kuno to one of the many locations outside of Japan, but that would have not only meant revealing a power to someone he didn't trust, it also meant this battle would not have taken place.

"More! More! Give me more!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as Karasuba began chanting what sounded almost like the kind of mantra a woman would give when they were orgasming. It was only after his nose caught of whiff of something he only ever smelled on a woman after he finished ravishing them that he realized his opponent was really getting off on their battle.

"Did you just orgasm?"

"Come on and show me a good time!"

"And she's ignoring me."

Disengaging from their latest contest of strength, Karasuba hopped backwards for several feet with three large leaps. She slid along the ground on her last jump, coming to a stop with her sword raised above her head, the tip of which was pointing towards the sky.

"This battle is getting so exciting! Let's take it up a notch!" With a shout of effort, Karasuba swung her blade down. "Razer Storm!" As her blade severed the air in front of her, several hundred razor sharp shockwaves screamed towards Naruto. In response to this new attack, the blond-haired Uzumaki held Kubikiriboucho in front of him, the massive sword running parallel with the ground.

A brilliant green glow surrounded the blade.

The razor sharp shockwaves were almost on him.

Naruto swung his blade in a sweeping arc.

A fierce wind kicked up, creating a powerful crescent shaped blade of green energy. It sped towards the shockwaves. The two respective attacks met in the center and detonated. Like several dozen military grade explosives going off at the same time, the explosion that went off howled with an unbelievable fury. Thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of tiny blades of wind shot off in all directions, striking the streets, sidewalks and walls of buildings. Several buildings became so perforated with holes their structural integrity was no longer strong enough to hold them up.

Dust soon kicked up as a number of the buildings around them were destroyed. It settled over the battlefield like a thick cloud, obscuring everything from sight.

This did not stop Naruto or Karasuba, who charge into the dust and met each other in the middle. The shockwave from their clash blew away the dust with ease. Soon enough the two were mercilessly battling it out, their blades flashing and their bodies moving as they kicked the fight up another notch. They moved across the battlefield that was Shinto Teito, attacking and counterattacking with enough speed and power that each time their blades met the very air in front of them exploded.

Naruto soon found himself backed against the wall of a large skyscraper. Rather than attack Karasuba as she bore down on him, he spun around and lashed out at the wall behind him. His blade flashed. At first, the attack did not appear to have done anything. It was only after Naruto had rolled out of the way that something unfathomable happened.

The building began to tilt.

Karasuba only had enough time to widen her eyes as the building toppled over with a suddenness that was startling. Before she could even move out of the way, the entirety of the large skyscraper fell on top of her.

Of course, saying it fell on top of her was a misnomer. It didn't just fall on her, but on the next building over. That building, another skyscraper that was several dozen stories high, was ripped from its very foundations as the skyscraper Naruto liberally sliced through with his sword hit it. Like a set of dominos that had been lined up in a row, that skyscraper ended up hitting the next one, which hit the one after that and so forth. Soon enough, sixteen towering structures were felled, leaving a gaping path of destruction that could be easily seen by anyone with a birds eye view.

The building that Naruto had cut, and the one that had crushed Karasuba, soon exploded and the Sekirei in question jumped out of the hole her power had created. She landed on the wall, now the roof, of the building. Her face was lit up in a grin so joyous she looked like a child who'd just been told Christmas had arrived early.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! This is exactly what I want! This is what I crave!" The Black Sekirei crowed in delight. Her clothes had been partially ruined. There were several large tears in her uniform, including one that exposed a good deal of her underbreast. "Give me more of this wonderful feeling, won't you!?"

She ran towards the edge of the building and leapt off, her body making a perfect parabolic arc as her jump took her towards Naruto. With her body corkscrewing and flipping around like some kind of acrobat, Karasuba, her blade being held perpendicular to her body, lashed out the moment she reached Naruto. It was an attack that was bound to miss.

Naruto leapt backwards, his body moving so fast that he simply seemed to blink from one place to another. His feet slid across the ground, stance widening as he hefted the large blade over his head. A green glow began to swirl around the Kubikiriboucho as he used "Chakra Flow" to channel wind chakra through the blade. With a minor grunt, his muscles tensed as he swung the sword down.

The attack unleashed from that single swing was incredible. A large blade of wind in the shape of a crescent burst forth. Easily twice as tall as Naruto, the wind blade sliced a deep trench through the pavement like it was made of butter as it shot towards Karasuba at the speed of a high-performance vehicle.

Grinning madly, the Sekirei with long silver hair widened her stance and held her ground. Her blade was sent into its sheath and her hand gripped the handle tightly as her fiercely grinning face glared at the incoming attack. While not as skilled as Miya in Battojutsu, she was more than good enough for this.

When the attack reached her, Karasuba drew the blade a single, quick and fluid motion.

"HYA!"

Her blade was nothing more than a flash of light as she used it to sheer straight through the wind blade. Now separated in two, each blade veered off course. The one on the bottom struck the ground, tearing the street apart even more. The other one struck the wall of a building, cutting straight through that wall, reappearing outside of the wall on the other side, and then traveling through four more buildings before it ran out of power.

Neither opponent paid attention to this. Before the wind blade had even struck the first wall, Karasuba had reached Naruto and was engaging him in a sword fight unlike any other. Had anyone else been around to see it―provided their eyesight was accustomed to high speed movement―they would have been astounded by the level of skill, speed and power being displayed. The two fighters, Karasuba and Naruto fought with styles that were very different from each other, but that did not diminish how awe inspiring―not to mention terrifying―the battle between them was.

Karasuba was a whirlwind of activity and fancy footwork. Her blade was everywhere, striking out at perceived gaps in Naruto's defenses. Her feet were constantly moving. She never stayed in the same place for very long. She moved, left, right, back, she spun and danced and flipped, never letting herself stay in the same place for more than a second. Her sword style was very acrobatic, relying on God-Impulse speed and airborne assaults to wear her enemy down at strike at their weakest point.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was Naruto. It was abundantly clear the immortal shinobi had no set style like Karasuba. His sword skills were a patchwork of hundreds of different styles that he switched on a whim when the need or desire suited him. One moment he was moving with grace and speed that matched Karasuba, the other he was battling with choppy, half-hazard motions that disrupted the flow of battle but had enough strength to send the silver-haired Sekirei flying should the attack connect.

In spite of the many different styles Naruto had at his disposal, it was still clear that Karasuba was the better fighter. Not that this made much of a difference. Naruto's superior physical traits allowed him to easily keep up with his current foe.

As the battle reached a new level of destruction, Naruto's mind thought back to why he was testing this woman. Musubi. It was Musubi's desire to do battle with Karasuba. No. She wanted to do more than just fight. When she and Karasuba finally did battle, they would be putting their ideologies on the line. Musubi wanted to prove to Karasuba that love was not a weakness, that it was only when you loved and cherished someone else that you reached your true potential.

Naruto did not believe in Musubi's idealogy, not anymore. He had once and it cost him everything. Love was not just a weakness, but an invitation to pain when the people you fell in love with died. It was better to not love and never feel that pain again than it was to love and constantly end up getting hurt.

Or so he used to think. He really wasn't sure what he thought anymore. His mind was a jumbled mess.

Regardless of all that, of his beliefs, Musubi wanted to prove to Karasuba that having an Ashikabi to love was not a weakness. Naruto, in spite of his own beliefs, could not bring himself to tell Musubi that her ideals were unrealistic at best and self-destructive at worst. Despite himself, he wanted Musubi to prove Karasuba wrong. Or maybe he wanted her to prove him wrong. He could not longer say with one-hundred percent certainty why he was doing this. All he knew was that he had decided to help Musubi. It's what a good Ashikabi would do.

Naruto had spent his entire battle with Karasuba analyzing the woman; her fighting style, her physical prowess, her strength, her speed, her reflexes and ability. He studied her and compared what he saw of her skills to those of Musubi's.

As things stood right now, if Karasuba and Musubi were to fight, his Sekirei would lose. No question. Karasuba was stronger than Musubi, much stronger.

That was okay, though. Musubi might not be able to defeat Karasuba right now, but she had the potential to do so in the future. Naruto had just finished his latest project a few days ago. He would use it to help Musubi reach her full potential. By the time he was done with her, the overly enthusiastic fist fighter would be more than capable of defeating Karasuba.

Two steps back. Move to the left. Sword up. Block. Sparks flew.

Naruto's mind was brought back to the here and now as Karasuba changed tactics. Her once elegant swordsmanship became sloppier, but also much more powerful. He wondered if she was getting impatient, or maybe her enjoyment of the battle and her lust for blood was beginning to affect her swordsmanship.

"Hyaaa!"

With a fearsome roar, the woman swung at him. Naruto raised his sword to block, and became mildly surprised when the attack sent him flying backwards.

As his feet skid across the ground he tried channeling chakra to the bottom of his feet. This didn't work, not because he couldn't get right amount of chakra to his feet, but because the moment his soles stuck to the concrete of the street they ended up ripping a large chunk of the stuff off and it merely became a piece of debris that flew with him.

"Tch!"

Disengaging the chakra on his feet, Naruto moved himself into a series of back handsprings. He kept a firm grip on Kibikiriboucho even as he placed both hands on the ground and began using them to flip himself backwards.

"Not so fast!"

Karasuba followed him. Her speed easily letting her catch up with him. Or it would have, but by the time she reached him, Naruto was handspringing himself up the side of a wall. The woman with silvery-gray hair watched him literally flip up the wall as if he were standing on a horizontal surface. When the blond stopped several meters up, his body crouched, she grinned.

"Oh hoh, now there's an interesting trick. I've got a neat trick to, wanna see?"

Without giving Naruto time to respond, Karasuba let out a powerful yell and jumped vertically up the wall. Her sword was angled near her feet, until she reached the last Uzumaki, after which she slashed her sword upwards at Naruto. The attack cut a deep gouge in the surface of the wall and also sent several larger than average chunks of debris in the spiky-headed blond's direction.

Or she would have if he was still there. Naruto had already moved.

Karasuba looked around. It took her a minute to find Naruto. When she did discover his whereabouts, it was to see him behind her, falling to the ground.

"You won't be getting away from me that easily!"

Letting go of the ledge she had been using to keep herself attached to the wall, Karasuba used her powerful legs to blast off the building. She ignored the way the entire wall crumbled behind her and focused the entirety of her attention on the male whose entire face was covered except for those freaky eyes of his.

Within seconds she had reached her quarry. Her sword flashed out, but it was blocked by the several times larger Head Cleaving blade the man swung around with ease. Over and over again Karasuba's katana met Naruto's blade as they descended towards the ground. When the pair finally struck concrete they jumped away, only to reengage each other a second later in a flurry of fast paced sword strikes.

When they disengaged again, Naruto was the one who jumped away. He leapt high into the air. His body began to rotate. As it spun about like some kind of mad top, his sword lashed out at the air in front of him. Each time the Head Cleaver sliced through the atmosphere, a blade of wind was launched towards Karasuba.

Ever the one up for a challenge, Karasuba did not even bother trying to dodge. Instead she held her ground. When the wind blades reached her, her own sword came into play. Using God-Impulse reflexes, her sword sliced through each wind blade with ease. When the attacks subsided, she threw herself into a run at break-neck speeds.

Her goal? To reach Naruto before he descended back to earth.

Unfortunately for her, Naruto saw this and used his control over wind to push himself towards the ground faster. At the same time, he angled the giant blade in his hand at the ground.

He reached the ground before Karasuba could reach him. As his body crouched low to absorb the impact of falling, his sword sank into the earth almost up to the hilt. The results were devastating.

Smashing Point, or Hasaiten, as Mutsu called it, was the act of creating a small-scale earthquake. To use this attack, the Sekirei in question would tap the end of his scabbard against the ground while channeling the power from their tama. The ground front of them would tear apart, creating a miniature yet powerful earthquake that would cause anything in its range to become uplifted.

Naruto's attack was like that, except on a scale far beyond what Mutsu was capable of. The earth in front of him was rent. Large cracks appeared, as if Satan had decided the time had come for him and his legion of demons to take over the world had arrived. Large chunks of earth became uplifted, including several buildings that were in his immediate path. The cracks soon became gaping chasms that looked like someone could fall for miles before reaching the bottom. Really, the only thing the scene needed to look like something out of a hellish nightmare was fire, brimstone and a legion of devils crawling up from the fissures.

And Karasuba was caught in the middle of this attack. Despite her shock at seeing such a powerful and destructive ability being used, she still managed to react with efficiency and speed.

She leapt into the air before the giant earthquake that looked like it would easily be a level ten on the rictar scale could reach her. As she soared over the attack, her body spun as her jump took her to Naruto.

Or it would have, had she not been blasted backwards by a powerful tornado being launched from her opponent's left fist. The attack slammed into her with more force than anything Kazehana was capable of. It tore apart what was left of her clothes easily and began to grind away at her flesh. Karasuba could do nothing but grit her teeth as the attack launched her away from her opponent.

She did not hit the ground, at least, not at first. Instead, the tornado smashed her into the wall of a building, then through the wall and into the next wall.

She then went through that wall too.

And the wall after that.

And the one after that.

It wasn't until she had plowed through nearly six buildings that the tornado dissipated, its chakra spent. With the powerful attack no longer pushing her back, Karasuba plowed into the ground, where she smashed her shoulder against hard concrete. She rolled across the street several times, her body jerking and tumbling about like a doll that had been tossed aside by an angry god. She only came to a stop after smacking into a street light.

Groaning, the woman stood up. Her body was pretty battered. There were a number of cuts on her skin, as well as numerous bruises. Not to mention her clothes were pretty much gone, even her panties had been ripped apart. The only article she had left were her boots.

She was definitely going to be feeling the effects of this fight in the morning.

Despite the pain she was in, Karasuba was grinning.

The sound of footsteps coming towards her alerted her to the fact that her opponent had arrived.

She looked over to see the man who had pushed her to her absolute limit and beyond. He was walking towards her with calm, measured footsteps, as if he were not in a hurry and just out for a stroll.

"You..." Karasuba rasped. Her throat was sore for some reason. This did not bother her, though, as she could care less about her physical condition. "You are strong..."

He stopped several meters away from her.

"I am," Naruto nodded in agreement.

"You beat me..."

"I did."

"Aren't you going to finish the job?" she asked curiously.

"No," Naruto shook his head, "Your defeat will not come at my hands, but those of someone else. I've got everything I came here for."

Karasuba frowned. He got everything he needed? What did that mean?

She opened her mouth to ask him to elucidate her, but Naruto did not hear what he said. Mind rending agony tore through his body and seared his soul in a way he had never felt before, not this acutely anyway. The pain was unbearable and almost caused his knees to buckle. Only the fact that he was used to pain kept him from falling to the ground.

This did not stop him from feeling shock. Or fear. Or emptiness. There was a hole in his soul, a feeling of indescribable loss the likes of which would have caused most minds to shatter into a million fragments as they tried to comprehend the incomprehensible.

His bond with Musubi, it had just vanished.

* * *

><p><strong>So, kind of a long chapter, eh? I hope this one had enough action for you guys. The next one will have a good deal more.<strong>

**Just a reminder, if you want to order a copy of my book you can either go onto Amazon and look it up by typing in either A Fox's Love or American Kitsune. There are also multiple links on my fanfiction profile page that will lead you directly to the books Amazon page based on which country you live in.**


	33. Wrath of an Angry God

A normal high school boy that has trouble talking to girls? Check. A not-so-secret crush that everyone except said secret crush knows about? Double check. A super hot, shape-shifting vixen whose soul purpose in life seems to revolve around getting into our hero's pants? Che―wait, what?

Follow the tale of Kevin Swift as he deals with all of the ordinary things that most sophomores in high school have to deal with...as well as a few not so ordinary things that you would only ever expect to see happen in a Shōnen manga.

**I know you guys probably don't want to hear this, but my novel, ****_A Fox's Love_****, is available on Amazon as both a Kindle eBook and paperback. The price of the Kindle edition has been lowered and is now $4.99 instead of $6.99, which was the original price. There is a link to each different Amazon on my profile. Please, if any of you would be willing to help me out, go to my profile page, click on the link to your respective country, and order a copy of my book. You're help would mean the world to me.**

**Chapter 33: Wrath of an Angry God**

* * *

><p>Naruto stood where he had been standing since defeating Karasuba in combat, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping and his mind desperately searching for something that was not there. His bond with Musubi, that constant feeling of warmth that let him know she was with him, why was it gone? Where did it go? What happened to it!?<p>

He was so caught up in searching through his soul for the bond that had been there since Musubi became his Sekirei that he didn't even notice when Karasuba stood to her feet.

He also didn't notice the look she was giving him.

Karasuba had no clue what was going on. One second the man she'd been fighting was standing over her, the next he was staring off into his space with a wide, frightened look in his eyes. Still, this was a good. Now she had a chance to return the favor for the beating he'd given her. There was no way she was going to let this opportunity for some serious payback go to waste. Grinning like the madwoman she was, the Black Sekirei grabbed her sword from where it lay a couple feet from where she stood. Without much preamble or even a hint of thought, she rushed towards Naruto with all the speed her battered body possessed.

When she reached him, she thrust her blade forward. The sword sank into the soft, pliant flesh of his chest, right where his heart was located. She continued rushing forward, not only making the sword sink up to the hilt but also lifting Naruto right off his feet as the rest of her body crashed into him.

As Karasuba continued running forward at incredible speeds, Naruto was thrown backwards. Seconds later he was impaled upon the wall of one of the many buildings that had been toppled during their battle.

He didn't even notice. The sword had pierced right through his heart, and he wasn't even paying attention, could hardly even feel it. His mind was delving further and further into his soul, searching for something that should have been there but wasn't. As he continued to delve desperately into his mind he felt a sense of apprehension the longer he stayed there.

"It looks like the tables have turned," Karasuba's voice seemed to come from a great distance. He heard the words, but his mind was so far gone that he hardly paid any attention to them, only noticing that the woman had spoke in an abstract sense. "Now then, let's see what's behind that mask of yours."

He felt a hand grab his head none too gently. Felt the hand clench as it gripped a fistful of his hair along with the mask. Naruto was too far gone to really care. After searching through the reaches of his soul, scouring every corner he could fine, he was forced to come to a single conclusion.

The bond he had shared with Musubi, that small part of his soul that contained a never ending joy and happiness was gone. It was gone. It had disappeared. He couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel her. It had been severed. Gone-gone-no-more-it-was-no-more-why-was-it-gone-where-did-it-go-why-why-why-WHY―

The mask was pulled away and Karasuba took a step back, blinking in surprise as she saw who the person behind the mask was. "Well, this is a surprise. I never expected the one who gave me such a good time would be you...eh?"

Snapping out of his fugue, Naruto's head whipped up to snarl at the girl. "Out of my way!" He lifted his hands and pointed his palms towards her. "Shinra Tensei!" Not even a second later, Karasuba was hit with a force greater than anything she had ever experienced, like a large rocket had smacked against her only ten times more powerful. The woman with silver hair was not just thrown backwards, she was blasted away with so much force that her body blew a whole straight through nearly two dozen buildings before smacking the ground hard enough that she ended up leaving a mile wide trench in the pavement.

Naruto did not pay attention to the large scale destruction his plowing of Karasuba through several buildings caused. Yanking the sword out of his chest, he tossed the weapon away and took off running. His body moved so fast it looked like he had simply disappeared. He flickered out of his existence, reappearing only as a brief blur of movement when he leapt over a building or made a sharp turn. He would only be visible for a split second, less time then it took to blink, and then he would disappear again in a burst of pure speed. In no time flat he had reached the area where his soul had last sensed Musubi's location.

While this part of the city was not a complete disaster zone like the sight of his and Karasuba's battle, there was still an impressive amount of destruction. At least two of the buildings in this quadrant had been turned to rubble. The streets looked like they'd been ripped apart after a hurricane had run through it. There were cracks and pitfalls everywhere, like an entire horde of construction workers had gone to town on the place with a shit-ton of jackhammers and some TNT.

None of that mattered. The only thing his eyes saw was the figure lying face down in a small, human sized crater. With hundreds of cracks spread out from where she had obviously been smashed against the ground with an impressive amount of force was none other than the busty young woman whose presence within his life had been like a bright, nearly blinding beacon of light.

"Musubi!"

He rushed towards her, his form vanishing as he put on an intense burst of speed that had the pink-haired girl standing next to Musubi in squawk in shock.

"What the hell was that!? How did you get over here so damn fast!?"

Naruto ignored the pink ones blathering in favor of kneeling down next to Musubi. He gingerly turned her over and pulled her into his arms. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even, yet when he placed two fingers against her neck to check her pulse he found nothing. There was no pulse. She was breathing, but she had no pulse. How was that possible? Why didn't she have a pulse?

Eyes widening Naruto turned Musubi over and looked at her back, which he had neglected to do in his haste, and saw that the Sekirei Crest that should have been located on her back was not there.

"No..."

"Hey! Are you listening to me!? Who the hell are you!?"

Her crest couldn't be gone. Had she fallen in battle? That shouldn't have been possible. Musubi might not have been the strongest Sekirei on the planet, but according to the data he had collected on Benitsubasa, so long as she stayed in close and didn't give the girl time to use her more powerful earth attacks, she should have been more than strong enough to defeat the Disciplinary Squad member.

"Pay attention to me, dammit!"

Had Musubi not listened to him? Her crest was gone, so he guessed she had forgotten all the advice he'd given in her. She probably got over enthusiastic and let her lust for battle take over in place of her common sense.

"If you don't start paying answering my questions, I'm going to beat your ass!"

He couldn't believe Musubi was really gone. She had been such a strong presence in his life these past few months that even the idea of her no longer being a part of his life, of her presence no longer brightening his day, was not something he could fathom.

"Hey, asshole! I'm talking to you!"

Damn it! He should have kept more clones in the area. He'd only made a few for this mission, having focused more on the mission itself than keeping tabs on his Sekirei. Was this the result of not having people to cherish and protect for so long? Had he really grown so cold to others that the idea of keeping an eye on them from afar via shadow clones no longer even occurred to him?

If only there was some way he could bring her back. If only...

...Of course!

"God dammit! Listen to me when I'm talking to you!"

Ignoring the annoying pest trying to get his attention, Naruto went through a series of handseals. "Gedo: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu!" As he intoned the name of his jutsu, the earth around him began to shake. Benitsubasa squawked in shock as she stumbled, just barely managing to catch herself and falling to the ground.

"W-What the hell is going on!?"

Seconds later a large figure rose from the rubble of the destroyed street. It was an ethereal and demonic looking head that rose from a purple border just to the left of Naruto. Benitsubasa screamed in shock as the giant head with the large, gaping mouth rose up from the ground like some demon rising from the underworld.

"What the hell is that!?"

Naruto glared at nothing. He focused all of his attention on the King of Hell as he willed it to bring out Musubi's spirit and put it back in her body. He focused, and focused, and focused. It was only after nearly five minutes of unsuccessfully being able to revive Musubi that he realized something important.

Musubi's soul was not at the borders of life and death. Her body wasn't even dead. It was still alive, still breathing, but her heart was no longer pumping blood to the rest of her body. Not that any of this mattered. All that meant was that he couldn't revive her.

Naruto dropped the technique, allowing the King of Hell to vanish back into the realm from whence it came. He lifted Musubi back into his arms. His eyes landed on her face.

"I can't believe it..."

She was gone.

"I can't bring her back..."

What was the point of having all this power if he couldn't even use it when he needed it?

"Why can't I bring her back?"

It should have been easy. He had powers that rivaled even a god. Bringing back the dead was a snap for him, and he'd done it thousands of times in the past. Was it because Musubi was a Sekirei that he couldn't bring her back? Maybe the reason he couldn't bring her back was because she was from a planet that did not recognize his powers. Or perhaps it had something to do with that crest all Sekirei had. Dammit, if only he had more information...

"Hey! You fucking cumquat!" Benitsubasa shouted, finally getting Naruto's attention. "Who the fuck do you think you are!? Barging over here like this and ignoring me! Don't you know who I am!?"

Naruto looked at Benitsubasa for another second longer. He then tilted his head back down to look at Musubi. His long bangs covering his forehead cast the upper half of her face in darkness.

"You...are you the one who took Musubi from me?"

"Huh? Musubi?" Benitsubasa frowned at him. After a moment, she looked down at the half-naked girl lying limply in Naruto's arms. "Oh, you mean that big-breasted bimbo? Yeah, I'm the one who kicked her ass. What of it?"

"I see, I see. So you're the reason I can no longer feel her."

"So? What the fuck are you going to do about it?" Benitsubasa scowled, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. She obviously had no clue who she was dealing with.

_'This girl, she took Musubi from you...'_

Yes. This girl, this Sekirei took Musubi away from him...

"Hey! Are you ignoring me again!?"

_'That makes you angry, doesn't it?'_

"Yes," Naruto whispered too softly for Benitsubasa to hear him.

"The fuck! Listen to me when I'm talking to you, you fucking pussy!"

_'You want to get revenge, don't you? Just like last time?'_

"...Yes..."

"Goddammit! Who the hell do you think you are!? You can't just ignore a member of the Discipline Squad like this!"

_'Then you know what you have to do. Destroy her. Make her suffer. Make her feel the pain you feel right now. Kill her.'_

"Kill...her..."

"Eh?" Benitsubasa looked down at the blond man. "Did you say something."

_'Kill her!'_

"Kill her..."

_'KILL HER!'_

Naruto's eyes widened. A scream tore from his throat, unleashing with it all of the rage he felt. Chakra burst from his body in an explosion of power so great it created a shockwave that sent Benitsubasa flying away like a rag doll that had been caught in a maelstrom.

The chakra, a dark, vile looking purple energy, lashed out at everything around him. Large chunks of earth were gouged out of the ground as purple tendrils of chakra struck it. Soon, the dark miasma of energy began to swirl around Naruto like a tornado. It created a large pillar that reached into the very heavens, pushing far passed the atmosphere and Destroying a large number of MBI satellites that were in its path.

As the chakra shot into the air Naruto poured out the emotions that had been bubbling inside of him ever since he'd woken up in this God-forsaken world so many millennial ago. All of his despair, all of his rage, all of his hatred was unleashed upon the world for the first time in almost two-thousand years.

To Benitsubasa, who was staring in terror at the power raging around the blond man, and to every person living in Shinto Teito who had not already passed out from the overwhelming power and hatred, it felt like the world had come to an end.

XoX

"Tch!"

Homura began jumping backwards, leaping at least one meter each time she jumped back. After each jump the fire user took a large trident would find itself embedded into the spot she had just vacated, penetrating the concrete with incredible force.

These tridents were being conjured by a young woman with short, boyish blond hair and blue eyes. The outfit she was wearing consisted of a red dress that was similar to a sailor fuku uniform. Around her waist, acting a belt was a golden band. She was wearing a tan, short-sleeved jacket that was left open to reveal her modest chest covered by a red dress. On her hands were a pair of black biker gloves, and wrapped around her thighs were black stockings. Her Sekirei uniform was finished with a pair of black shoes.

She had introduced herself as Sekirei number fifty-four, Kuruse, right before attacking Homura with great vigor.

She also happened to be the third Sekirei Homura had fought in the past hour. The fire user didn't know what was going on, but nearly an hour after their mission had started she and Akitsu had found themselves under attack by several Sekirei/Ashikabi pairs. It was beginning to get annoying.

Kuruse conjured sixteen more tridents around her, hurtling each one at Homura. Most of them were dodged as the silver-haired Sekirei moved backwards, but her opponent's aim was getting a lot better; the girl was even beginning to predict her movements and adjust her aim accordingly. That last thrown trident had managed to actually slice through her coat.

She really liked that coat.

Gritting her teeth as several spears homed in on her location, Homura's fists ignited in a blaze of fire. With nary a thought she sent several compressed balls of fire hurtling at the tridents. Her aim was dead-on and each tri-pronged weapon was destroyed in an explosion of flames. The lithe fire user glared into the brilliant blaze of flames before her, waiting.

She didn't have to wait long as Kuruse burst out of the fire seconds later, a trident in each hand. The blond Sekirei ran at Homura with speed, reaching her in a matter of seconds. As soon as she came into contact, the weapon wielder began a coordinated assault with both of her tridents.

Homura was forced to dodge the fast-paced and powerful combination of attacks. She ducked under a quick thrust towards her face, then stepped to the left even as she came up from her sudden crouch. Her left hand ignited and, just as the trident in Kuruse's left hand slashed at her, she dodged to the right by using some seriously fancy footwork and grabbed onto the trident. The entire weapon became ablaze in an inferno of orange and yellow fire, forcing the girl holding the butt end of the weapon to let go and leap back before she too was consumed by the flames.

Despite managing to avoid becoming a living torch, Kuruse was not able to dodge Homura's follow up attack, a powerful sphere of fire that struck her in the face.

"Gya!"

The powerful blast of compressed fire detonated with concussive force, making Kuruse stumbled back with a yelp of pain. While the blond girl had her hands pressed to her face as she tried to somehow rub the pain from getting her face nearly burnt off, Homura rushed forward.

She jumped over the other girl, flipping around until she was standing behind Kuruse. Upon landing, Homura then proceeded to place her index finger on the Sekirei Crest located on the back of Kuruse's neck. "I am the flame that shall burn all of the enemies in my Ashikabi's path!"

Kuruse's eyes widened as the crest on her back disappeared. "N-No..." she whispered, her body trembling. "I can't lose...not...here...Ashikabi-sama..." With one last gasp, Kuruse proceeded to topple forward. She would have hit the ground face-firs had Homura not been kind enough to catch her. The trident user was gently laid to rest on the ground.

"No, Kuruse..."

With a scowl, Homura stood up and glared at the young man who had made his Sekirei attack her. He was a very plain young man, black hair, dark eyes and boring features. He was the kind of man that could easily blend into the background.

"Why are you and all those other people attacking us!?" Homura demanded. When the boy didn't answer her, simply choosing to sit there on his hands and knees staring at his now deactivated Sekirei, she decided he needed a little physical reinforcement. Reaching down and lifting the boy by his shirt, the flame wielder brought him in close and glared. "I'll only ask this one more time, why did you and all of those other Sekirei and Ashikabi attack us."

"I-It...I received a message from the Game Master," the man stuttered as he stared fearfully into the blazing inferno hidden within the depths of Homura's eyes. "He-he said that there were a number of Sekirei causing trouble, and that if we defeated them we would be allowed to leave Japan and live the rest of our lives together without having to take part in the Sekirei plan."

Homura's eyes widened for a second as he listened to the boy's words. A second later they were frowning as she realized what this meant. Immediately thereafter she dropped the young boy, allowing him to scramble away from her as her body literally became encased in writhing, yellow and orange fire due to a loss of control of her power.

"Damn that Minaka!" She growled, the already white shade of the skin of her knuckles turning several shades lighter as she clenched her hands into tight fists. "Damn him to hell!"

The young boy, not wanting to stay there any longer, stood up and tried to run over to the body of his deactivated Sekirei.

He didn't get more than two feet before he was forced to his knee as what felt like a thousand fold increase in the earth's gravity crashed into him like the wrath of an entire pantheon of angry gods. Homura was also forced to her knees, but unlike the boy, who had passed out almost immediately after the feeling began crushing him, the lithe fire user was not only awake and able to experience the emotions associated with this incredible force, she also knew where, or to be more precise, who it was coming from.

'Naruto!'

XoX

"Muuu~!"

Asama Miya smiled to herself as she watched Kusano pout. The little Sekirei looked so cute with her arms crossed over her chest as she sat in front of the table with her cheeks puffed up and her eyes narrowed as she glared at nothing. She really was quite adorable.

"What's wrong Ku-chan?" Miya asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Ku-chan wanted to help onii-chan," the Green Girl pouted, "But onii-chan said Ku-chan's not old enough to help onii-chan. Onii-chan's a meanie. Baka, baka, baka, baka, muuu~!"

Miya almost shook her head at the little girl. "Naruto-san only wants you to remain safe, Ku. You still can't control your powers very well."

"Ku-chan knows that," Kusano said with all the petulance of a child. "But Ku-chan is twaining! She's getting strong. Ku-chan...Ku-chan can help onii-chan."

Leaning down, Miya ruffled the youngest Sekirei's hair. "Well, I guess Ku-chan will just have to show onii-chan how strong she is when he gets back."

Ku-chan smiled at that, nodding her head with an effusive "Mm hm!" that caused Miya to smile.

Turning her attention away from the Green Girl, Miya looked out of the large porch window to see the sky was filled with fire and smoke. A small frown crossed her face as the atmosphere lit up from more explosions. She blinked when she saw several buildings located somewhere in the center of Tokyo crumble violently. And was it just her, or was the earth actually beginning to shake?

That incredible destruction of property had Naruto's name written all over it. Was this a part of his plan to help Haruka and Kuno get out of Shinto Teito? What did all of that violence and devastation serve? Deciding that she was going to find out, Miya left the living room and made her way up to Matsu's hidden bedroom.

Matsu was sitting in front of her dozens of screens, typing away on her key board. As the light reflected off her features, Miya saw a small bead of sweat trickle down the side of the perverted Sekirei's face. She looked like she was having difficulties with something, though just what that something was Miya couldn't say.

As she walked further into the room, Miya glanced around at all of the monitors. Many of the screens were currently centered on various members of Naruto's harem. Miya could see Uzume, Hikari and Hibiki battling against three Sekirei who appeared to have ambushed them on the way home. Homura and Akitsu were also locked in combat with a group of Sekirei. Meanwhile, Musubi and Tsukiumi were duking it out with two members of the Discipline Squad.

"Where is Naruto?" asked Miya as she stepped up behind Matsu to stare at the monitors, a small frown marring her beautiful face. "I do not see him on any of these monitors."

"I've disabled every camera in his vicinity," Matsu answered, her fingers speeding across the keyboard. "Tch! It looks like MBI knows I'm hacking into their system. They're constantly changing their security algorithms in an attempt to keep me out. Dammit, just staying hooked in is going to be a task, never mind retaining control over the satellites."

"What of the satellite near Naruto?" asked Miya. "If you are still in control of them for now, couldn't you fix one of them on Naruto to see what he is up to?"

"Even if I could I wouldn't," Matsu said, "Naruto-san doesn't want MBI having any chance of getting whatever it is he's up to on record. If I set an MBI satellite on him, then Minaka would be able to see everything that happened even though I'm in control of their satellites."

"I see," Miya sighed, "Well I certainly wouldn't want that man to see anything he might be able to use against Naruto." She was curious to see what Naruto was up to while his Sekirei were fighting, but she didn't want to do so at the cost of giving Minaka anything he could use against Naruto.

"And besides that, I can't actually bring any satellites around to watch Naruto-san, not without making some serious adjustments to their trajectory." Matsu was practically gritting her teeth now as she attempted to stay in MBI's system. "The satellite that was supposed to be watching in Naruto's general vicinity was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Miya blinked. "Destroyed by what?" What could possibly destroy one of MBI's satellites? Those things had their own defense systems, and Miya knew that nothing short of a nuclear explosion would be enough to put those things down.

"Not by what, by who," Matsu corrected. She typed some more on the keyboard and quickly pulled up the only video file Naruto had allowed the MBI satellite to take of him.

Miya narrowed her eyes as she watched a figure clad head to toe in black who looked like he was staring directly into the satellites camera lens. The figure then lifted a hand and slowly clenched it into a fist. As they did this, the screen began to grow fuzzy with static. The amount of white noise increased with each passing second before, with almost startling suddenness, the screen went completely blank.

"Those eyes..." Miya had never seen such an unusual set of eyes before. Were those eyes even human? They looked more like the eyes of some otherworldly being. Not only were they highly unusual with their strange ripple pattern, but they also looked inhumanly powerful with the way they were glowing.

Despite the inhumanity those eyes contained, Miya could almost instantly recognize them.

"That is Naruto."

"Yep."

"How did he destroy that satellite?"

"You're guess is as good as mine," Matsu said, "Despite the amount of time I've spent trying to find out what I can about him, I haven't been very successful. The only thing I've been able to find are a few photos that have been posted online and a portrait made a long time ago." Not just a long time ago, but nearly five centuries ago. She did not know if that portrait was of Naruto himself or just a relative. It looked exactly like him, but there was simply no way a portrait made in 1523 BC could possibly be of her Ashikabi.

Right?

"I see," Miya pursed her lips before making a decision. "I believe Naruto and I will be having a very long talk when he gets home from this mission." She nodded her head to herself. Yes, a nice, long chat between her and Naruto was definitely going to be needed when he got back.

She wondered if she should get out her katana for this conversation.

Just as she was thinking about this, Miya and Matsu were sent to the ground as an incredible, overwhelming force began crushing them under its weight. Miya's eyes widened as he found herself lying on her stomach, struggling to breath. She managed to push herself to her hands and knees, where she began to breath heavily as she tried to finish standing to her feet.

And then came the hatred.

Bile rose up in her throat. She felt like vomiting as what she could only describe as all of the world's hatred swept over her like an avalanche. Every single negative emotion that had ever existed overwhelmed her senses, sending her mind spinning and making her dizzy.

Gritting her teeth, Miya struggled not to let herself fall face first to the ground. She looked over at Matsu to see the red head had already passed out. Her eyes were wide open and drool escaped her lips. Her body was twitching and spasming as intense negative emotions overwhelmed her. And if Matsu was unable cope then...

_'Kusano!'_

With a supreme amount of effort, Miya struggled to her feet. Her legs shook as she walked out of Matsu's hidden room, down the stairs and into the living room. When she got there it was to see Kusano lying on the floor, curled up into a ball and her body shaking even worse than Matsu's. Surprisingly enough the little girl was still conscious, but there were tears pouring down her face as she sniffled and hiccuped.

"Ku," Miya worked her way over to the Green Girl. Each step she took required more effort than the last. Her legs felt like they would give out on her at any second. When she finally managed to reach Kusano, she knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ku, are you okay?" she asked, even though she knew it was a stupid question. Of course she wasn't okay. She was suffering under a planets worth of hatred and darkness. How could she be okay after that?

"Onii-chan..." Kusano curled herself into an even tighter ball, her arms wrapping around her shaking legs as she brought her knees to her chest. "Onii-chan is hurt...onii-chan he...he...he..." As Kusano began wailing as the overwhelming power began increasing exponentially, Miya found herself staring at the little girl in shock and confusion.

_'Onii-chan?' _Her mind was so overpowered by the negative emotions that it took her a second to realize who Kusano was talking about. _'Naruto!?'_ Was she saying that he was the cause of this overwhelming darkness? But how could that be?

Looking out at the window once more, Miya's eyes widened as she saw the large pillar of dark purple energy rising into the heavens. What on earth was going on?

XoX

Miya and Homura were not the only ones to feel the undeniable and overwhelming pressure from Naruto's power and rage. All across Shinto Teito people, both humans and Sekirei, were literally sent crashing face first to the ground, unable to get up as the inexplicable amounts of power and hatred made them feel like gravity had increased by a factor of ten.

Most of those people were lucky enough to lose consciousness almost as soon as they were sent to the ground, incapable of withstanding the full brunt of Naruto's hatred. Those few who were unfortunate enough to have a stronger will suffered much longer before succumbing to the bliss of unconsciousness. A few particularly unfortunate individuals, mostly those who were in the hospital and those people who had some kind of disease that made their mind or body fragile, died as their hearts literally exploded within their chest.

The Sekirei had it particularly hard as their powers made them stronger and more able to withstand the awesome might bearing down on them like the wrath of an enraged god. Some might consider this increased strength a blessing, but all it meant was that they felt the unbearable power that was crushing them into the ground that much longer.

Of course, none had it worse than Benitsubasa, who was the closest person to the blond figure all of this power and rage was coming from. Lying flat on her face, the Sekirei with light red hair stared at nothing with sightless, glazed over eyes as drool escaped her mouth. Her body was twitching intermittently and she had long since lost control of her bladder.

Because her adjusters had souped her up to be much stronger than the average double-digit, she was still conscious, most unfortunately. And because she had not passed into sweet oblivion, the young-looking pink head was forced to endure the insufferable torture as her body was crushed and her mind was bombarded not just by the blond immortal's rage and hatred, but by visions.

_'Agony lanced up her body as a thousand sharp blades sliced into her, cutting straight through her flesh, muscle and bones like a hot knife through butter. Blood sprayed from the many wounds that opened up on her body, splattering across the ground. Sharp, unbearable pain slashed across her arms and legs as they were cut into several different pieces. She didn't even feel as her back hit the ground, the pain from having her limbs slashed apart was overwhelming. As she stared at the sky, her eyes widened as she saw a sword descending from the heavens...'_

A gasp escaped her lips as visions of her death, her death, filled her mind, consuming all that she was in a never ending cycle of violence and gore.

_'Benitsubasa was unable to do anything as clawed hands tore into her body. Blood flew through the air as nails raked across her chest, creating long, deep trenches in her flesh. Crimson liquid trailed down her lithe figure and pain overrode all other senses. But that pain was nothing compared to what she felt when a hand was suddenly and violently thrust straight through her stomach. As Benitsubasa doubled over, blood and spittle dribbling down her mouth in equal measures, a hand with sharps claws clamped down over her mouth and began to squeeze. Screams emitted from her mouth, muffled by the hand as strong digits began to crush her jaw. The last thing the red-haired Sekirei saw was sharp nails striking at her throat.'_

A shudder coursed through her body as the vision went away. Her legs and front were slick with a combination of sweat and urine, which had formed a large, ever expanding puddle underneath her. Tears leaked out from her eyes as she prayed for the visions to stop. She just wanted this to end.

The visions did indeed end after a while. Even the pressure let up enough that Benitsubasa could raise her head and stare at the pillar of energy. It was shrinking, the purple pillar that had once rose up to the sky, piercing the very heavens themselves, became smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely, revealing Naruto still crouched on the ground and holding Musubi.

There was a deep circular scar surrounding him from where his power had literally cut straight through the earth. It was almost like the tornado of energy had somehow been confined to that one spot, even though everyone in the entire city, and maybe even the entire world, had felt it.

Gently setting Musubi down on the ground, Naruto stood up and took several steps forward. It was then that Benitsubasa got a good look at the young-looking man.

Not much about him had changed physically. He still looked the same as he always did. The difference lay in the dark wisps of purple energy that wafted off his form like some kind of vile toxic mist, and the way his hair seemed to wave in a strong breeze that did not exist.

Quite possibly the most obvious change in Naruto was how his body seemed to be disintegrating before Benitsubasa's eyes. The power he had unleashed caused his shirt and pants to tear, exposing his torso. She bore witness to how his left arm blackened and cracked before crumbling into dust, only to reform seconds later as pristine as ever. After that the left side of his face began to crack and disintegrate to reveal the decaying muscles of in his face and his cracking teeth. The skin reformed soon after, but even as it healed itself at an astonishing rate his left leg began to decompose and waste away.

It was the most disgusting thing Benitsubasa had ever seen. She wanted to turn away from the putrid sight, but found herself unable to so much as move an inch. It was like watching a train wreck. No matter how much you didn't want to watch it, you just couldn't look away.

"What...what the hell this? What the hell is he?" Benitsubasa's horrified whisper sounded surprisingly loud. It was so loud that it had the unfortunate effect of making Naruto focus on her. And that was when Benitsubasa saw it. More horrifying than the dark energy wafting off him with repugnant vileness, more terror inducing than the way his body seemed to be disintegrating and healing in equally rapid measures, his eyes inspired unfathomable amount of fear the likes of which she had never known.

Those eyes. They were no longer the same purple eyes with the ripple like pattern. Now they were red, both sclera and iris were a bloody crimson that glowed with an unholy light. Several black circles like ripples on the waters surface spread from where the pupils should have been to the rest of the eyes, expanding outwards. Nine tomoe could be seen within his eyes. They followed the circumference of each ripple starting at the inner most one and moving outward. Each ripple had three tomoe each.

More than just the way they looked, it was the immeasurable amounts of power and rage within those eyes that caused Benitsubasa to quake in fear.

As she continued to stare at Naruto with wide eyes the monster (because in her mind, Naruto could be nothing else) disappeared. There was no indication that he had moved. One second he was there, the next he was not.

"W-what―gah!"

Benitsubasa cried out in pain as something gripped the back of her head with unbearable force. Fingers clenched around her skull, causing her to scream as the feeling of her skull being crushed overrode her senses and made her feel nothing but the incomprehensible agony of incredibly powerful digits cracking her cranium. She grabbed onto the hand, trying to force it off, but it was no use and she was soon lifted off the ground.

_**"You're the one who took Musubi away from me..." **_Naruto whispered, his voice sounding like there were several different people speaking at once rather than one. As he spoke, Benitsubasa's legs kicked out to try and force him to let go. It didn't work. No matter how hard she kicked or even where she kicked him, Naruto was as immovable as a rock.

The hands soon slackened, allowing her to fall to the ground. She didn't get far as Naruto lashed out with a kick with spine snapping force. As her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream of agony, Benitsubasa was sent blasting away with the speed of a fighter jet going full-throttle. Her body soon struck the wall of a nearby building, plowed straight through that wall, then came out the other side where she hit the ground and tumbled across the street like a rag doll.

Coughing and choking as she tried overcoming the pain in her back, Benitsubasa tried to stand up.

She had barely even managed to push herself to her hands and knees before a foot struck her in the face with incredible force, causing her to soar high into the air. The physical anguish her body was suffering under caused the pink head to instinctively close her eyes as her body flew higher and higher.

She would have been better off leaving them open. At least then she would have seen the heel of a booted foot descending towards her face.

"Gah!"

With a cry of pain, Benitsubasa was sent hurtling to the ground, a loud sonic boom echoing across the city to mark her descent. Her body struck the earth with impressive force. A large crater formed around her. The ground was up-heaved and large chunks of cement were broken apart as a series of spiderweb like cracks formed around her body.

Benitsubasa lay there, panting and grunting, tears leaking out of her eyes and streaming down her cheeks as the pain overwhelmed her. Those same eyes soon widened as they saw Naruto descending from above, right before his fist was driven into her gut with the force of gravity behind his strike.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Blood and spittle flew out of her mouth as her body folded over the fist implanted into her gut. All around them the ground exploded as a shockwave traveled out from underneath her body due to the amount of power that had been put into Naruto's strike.

A hand soon clamped on her face. Benitsubasa would have put up one hell of a struggle, but with the pain she felt and the way her body had literally been broken, she didn't really have much strength left to put up a fight. Thus the young girl with pink hair was lifted off the ground and then forced onto her knees.

_**"Now tell me what it is you cherish most,"**_ Naruto said, a twisted grin on his face._** "Give me the pleasure of taking it away."**_

"I..." Benitsubasa grit her teeth as she tried not to let her terror induced fear overcome her. "I won't...tell you...anything..."

_**"Hmmm..."**_ A malicious chuckled escaped his lips. _**"I see, so you cherish your Ashikabi above everything else. Natsuo, is it?"**_ Benitsubasa stiffened. How had he known that? She hadn't said anything! _**"How interested. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."**_

The blond man, his body still in a constant state of decomposition and regeneration, knelt down to whisper in Benitsubasa's ear.

_**"Do you know the best way to kill a human?" **_asked Naruto. Benitsubasa began to shake. _**"The first step towards killing a human is to inject them with the poison of a paralyzing agent. There is a snake in the jungles of South America that not only paralysis its victims, but can also keep them alive no matter the injury they receive by forcing their heart to continue beating. It only lasts for about an hour,"**_ he added to the quaking pink-haired girl. _**"But an hour is long enough to break some pathetic human."**_

By now the young Sekirei in Naruto's grasp was hyperventilating. The man with eyes that seemed to embody the very definition of darkness grinned at her when he saw this.

_**"After the venom has been injected you can do whatever you want. I personally like to slowly peel the skin off their muscles. There are tools to accomplish this, but I always felt it was more satisfying to use my hands. Their stronger than any pair of pliers anyway."**_ A pause. Naruto tilted his head to the side with an almost quizzical expression. He then shook his head and began grinning again. _**"After their skin has been peeled off and their muscles and organs exposed to the open air, you need to hang them by a pair of meat hooks. You see, the next step is to lower them down into a large vat of alcohol. It's a very painful experience from what I know. The screams humans give when I do this to them creates quite the symphony."**_

He looked at Benitsubasa with those crimson eyes that had nine tomoe and smiled at her, nearly causing the Sekirei in his grasp to die of a terror induced heart attack.

_**"I wonder...perhaps I should do that to your precious Natsuo..."**_

"No..." Tears ran down Benitsubasa's face as she pleaded with the entity before her. "Please...please don't...please don't hurt my Natsuo...I beg of you..."

_**"Oh my, resorting to begging, are we?" **_The smile on Naruto's face turned into a vicious snarl as he suddenly smashed Benitsubasa's face into the ground. The red head cried out as he literally began grinding her face into the cement with enough force that several layers of skin were peeled off and blood began leaking from the wounds. _**"And why should I even bother listening to you!? Huh!? You killed my Musubi!" **_He lifted her head and slammed it back into the ground. _**"You took her from me!" **_Another slam. The earth cracked and Benitsubasa cried out. _**"You!"**_ Slam. _**"Took!"**_ Slam! _**"Her!" **_Slam. _**"From me!"**_ Crunch! _**"I can't even bring her back thanks to you!"**_

He pried her head from the indent it made in the large crater to stare into her half-lidded eyes. Benitsubasa's face was in bad shape. Several areas were missing skin, allowing not only copious amounts of blood to leak out of her, but also revealing the bone and muscles in her jaw. The skin around her eyes were large, black and swollen and there were a number of lacerations littering her face.

Naruto leaned in, his breath washing against her face and causing Benitsubasa to shudder._** "It's only right that I return the favor, don't you think?"**_

"No..."

_**"No?**__"_ Naruto was grinning again, _**"You don't get to make this decision. I am going to kill your Ashikabi."**_

"Please don't..."

_**"I am going to kill him, and I am going to force you to watch."**_

"Please...please don't kill my Natsuo...please..."

The smile on Naruto's face was vicious as he watched the despair fill the young Sekirei's eyes. He watched as salty liquid poured form her eyes and stung her face as they entered her wounds. He drank in her suffering like a fine wine.

"Husband!"

Naruto turned his head to look at Tsukiumi as she stumbled his way towards him. The blond-haired water user flinched when she got a good look at him, but did not stop moving forward. From the way she was breathing heavily, it was clear she had run all the way here despite being nearly crushed by the weight of his hatred.

_**"Tsukiumi..."**_

"Husband, please stop this!" As she reached his side, the water user dropped to her knees and clasped his arm, holding onto it even as it began decaying. "This isn't you! Please stop doing this!"

_**"Tsukiumi," **_Naruto smiled at her. It was a warm smile, despite how freaky it looked as the skin on his face to deteriorate to reveal his bones and teeth._** "I love you, but please do not stand in my way. I have to do this...for Musubi..."**_

"Musubi?" Tsukiumi looked around, wondering where her rival for the title of wife was. It was only after a good deal of searching that she found Musubi lying on the ground nearly two dozen meters away. She was moving. "Musubi!" Her blond hair whipped around as she stared wide eyed at Naruto. "Husband, is she...Musubi..."

_**"She's dead,"**_ Naruto said softly, his teeth grit. _**"She's dead and it was this girl who took her from me."**_

Tsukiumi waffled for a moment, but quickly steeled herself. "Musubi wouldn't want you to do this. You know she wouldn't!"

_**"It doesn't matter what she would or wouldn't want because she's dead!"**_ Naruto's glare almost made Tsukiumi let go out of him. _**"Gone! Don't you get it!? I can't feel her anymore!"**_

"Husband..."

_**"That's why you need to get out of the way,"**_ Naruto continued, _**"I need to make this bitch suffer! I need to make her feel the same pain I feel!"**_

"Are you even listening to yourself!?" Tsukiumi shook her head back and forth before looking at her Ashikabi imploringly. "This isn't you! You might not have any trouble hurting people, but you're not the type to make others suffer needlessly. Not like this."

_**"You obviously haven't been paying attention to what's going on around you,"**_ Naruto said dryly. _**"I don't care who dies so long as I get what I want. As long as it accomplishes my goals, the deaths of a few hundred or even a few thousand don't matter."**_

Balking for a second, Tsukiumi got over her shock quickly. "That may be the case, but you would never torture someone just for the sake of torturing them. I know you, and I know that this isn't you!"

Naruto shook his head in a pitying manner. This girl, she knew nothing about him. She did not know of the depths he had gone to, the darkness he had allowed to enter his heart. Tsukiumi had no idea how depraved he could be when the mood struck him. There was a reason the Greek Gods were both feared and awed in equal measure, why the bible was filled with stories of the world being flooded and cities of people being wiped out.

_**"Tsukiumi,"**_ his voice was still warm, but there was now a hint of warning in it. _**"I am only going to say this one more time. Do not stand in my way."**_

"And I'm telling you that I won't let you do this!" Tsukiumi shouted back. "You are my husband and I am your wife. And as your wife it is my job to make sure you don't stray from your chosen path and degrade yourself by living in darkness like this!"

Naruto smiled at her. _**"Tsukiumi." **_The beautiful blond looked at him, a smile on her face as well...right up until the point where he struck her on the cheek and sent her flying several yards away. When she sat up, tears in her eyes and a large bruise forming on her cheek, it was to see Naruto glaring at her. _**"If you are not with me, you are against me. Do not go against me, Tsukiumi, or you will regret it."**_

Tsukiumi stared at the back of the blond man she had created a bond with in shock. Her hand went to her cheek where she could still feel the sting of his slap, frustrated and hurt tears welling up in her eyes. He had just hit her. Her husband had just...no. No! This man was not her husband! Her husband was unusual, a mass of contradictions, and he didn't even seem to know who he was anymore, but he was also kind and compassionate, and he helped people even when he had no reason to. This...this thing before her, hurting that Sekirei with pink hair, drinking in her suffering as if it were a fine wine, was not her husband.

Knowing that she couldn't reach him, that whatever had taken control of the man she loved was beyond her ability to defeat, Tsukiumi decided to go to the one person who could reach him. She rushed over to Musubi and knelt down, taking the girl in her arms and beginning to shake her...violently.

"Wake up, Musubi!"

No response. Tsukiumi began to shake her more.

"Wake up, damn you!"

XoX

"Wake up, damn you!"

Musubi blinked as the words penetrated the place where she was and echoed all around her. She looked around, searching for the voice, but couldn't find anything. The voice was simply bouncing around everywhere.

Not like she'd be able to find anything in this place anyway. She didn't know where this place was, or how she got there. All she knew was that she had been fighting that really strong Sekirei and then she had woken up here.

"Here" was just what Musubi called the white space she'd found herself in. All around her everywhere she looked was white, stretching out for miles...maybe. It was hard to tell just how far the space stretched out because it was all one uniform color. There didn't seem to be any floors either, as she couldn't feel anything beneath her feet.

"Hmmm..." Musubi placed a finger against her lips and looked up. "How did Musubi get here? Where is here?"

"Musubi..."

Blinking, the young girl looked around the space as another voice echoed through it. It was a familiar voice. Musubi could swear she had heard it before.

As she looked around, she saw that there was nothing there, or so she thought.

"Musubi..."

Several feet in front of her a figure materialized. The person, a woman, looked almost like a carbon copy of Musubi herself. She had brown hair in a style almost identical to Musubi's with just a few minor difference in length and a single strand of hair on top of her head. Really, the biggest difference, or rather, the smallest difference between them two, was her breasts; they were much smaller than Musubi's.

"Ah!" Musubi gasped, "It's Yume-sama!"

Yume smiled. "Hello, Musubi."

"What are you doing here?" Musubi blinked, then looked around some more, "And just where is here?"

"I suppose you could say we're in your mind."

Musubi just tilted her head. "My mind?"

"Yes," Yume spread her arms, encompassing the area around this. "This place is your mind, well, it's a place inside of you. I personally prefer calling this place your soul scape."

"Soul...scape...?" Musubi looked at the other woman with an expression that told Yume the girl was completely lost, causing the older, more experienced Sekirei to giggle.

"Don't worry about where we are too much, you won't be here for much longer." Yume smiled gently at the girl. "You need to go back?"

"Go back? Back where?"

"Back to the outside world, of course," Yume answered in a "duh" kind of voice. "Your Ashikabi needs you."

"My Ashikabi?" It took Musubi a second to figure out what Yume was talking about. When she did, her eyes widened. "Naruto-Sama!"

"Yes, your Ashikabi is suffering greatly because of your absence. The loss of his bond with you has caused his mind to snap." Yume frowned for a second before continuing. "Naruto-san seems to have suffered a great deal throughout the years. I do not know what he has been through to become the person he is now, but I believe that after whatever suffering he has gone through, the loss of you was the last straw. You need to go back to him. Right now you are the only one who can snap him out of his rage."

"Yes!" Musubi looked determined. She clenched her hand into a fist and brought it up to her face. "Musubi will go to Naruto-Sama and help him anyway she can!"

"That's the spirit!" Yume cheered, looking almost like a more mature version of Musubi. She even had her own fist clenched and was standing in a similar stance. "Now go! Go and help your Ashikabi! For Love!"

"For Love!" Musubi parroted with an identical expression right down the fire in her eyes.

The busty young woman soon vanished, disappearing in a burst of spirit particles.

Now left alone, Yume stared at the spot where Musubi had been standing. A second later, she smiled. "Musubi, it is up to you to save your Ashikabi. You are the only one who can truly understand Naruto, and therefore the only one who can bring him back from the brink of darkness that he has fallen into."

XoX

Musubi felt someone shaking her as she woke up. Her eyelids fluttering open, the brown-haired, large chested Sekirei was greeted to the sight of an angry and frustrated Tsukiumi shaking her violently.

"Dammit Musubi! I demand that you wake up right now! There is simply no way my rival could be defeated so easily!"

"Uwa-wa-wa-wa, T-Tsukiumi-s-san, I'm awake!"

"I swear on the honor of my crest that if you don't wake up right now, I'm going to―eh?"

Tsukiumi blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. She then looked down to see Musubi staring at her with swirly eyes while her head wobbled back and forth dizzily.

"Musubi!" Tsukiumi cried out as she pulled the girl into a fierce hug.

"Tsukiumi-san?"

Tsukiumi just held onto her tighter. "I swear if you ever scare me like that again I...I...I don't know what I'll do, but your going to regret it if you ever worry me like that again!"

"I'm sorry," Musubi said as she hugged Tsukiumi back, "I'll try not to worry you again."

"That's not important right now," Tsukiumi pulled away from the girl and stared at her with a hard look. In return, Musubi just looked confused. "You need to stop Naruto! He's going out of control!"

At the mention of their Ashikabi, Musubi's eyes automatically went to Naruto. He was standing in front of Benitsubasa, his hand on her head, and he seemed to be talking. Whatever he was talking about it was obvious that he was taking some kind of sick pleasure with it; there was a dark and twisted grin on his face that she had never seen before.

She knew right away that the person she was seeing was not Naruto. He had Naruto's body, he spoke in Naruto's voice, but he was not Naruto.

"Don't worry, Tsukiumi-san!" Musubi gave the blond woman a smile. Standing up, her face took on a determined expression as she looked down at her rival for the position of Naruto's wife. "I'll bring our husband back!"

"Our husband..." Tsukiumi tested the words for a second before smiling. She gave the brunette a nod. "I'm counting on you."

Musubi poked her tongue out from between her lips and winked. "Hehe, just leave it to me!"

XoX

Naruto smiled as he watched Benitsubasa begin to truly break. He was so close now, so close to destroying her mind completely. It would not be long now before this girl became nothing more than an empty shell, a fitting end for the person who took Musubi from him. Death would be too easy for her.

"Naruto-Sama!"

Naruto's eyes widened. That voice! He knew that voice, almost as well as he knew his own, but it shouldn't be possible to hear that voice! She was dead! Gone! Not even he had been able to bring her back!

"Naruto-Sama! Stop this!"

Slowly, Naruto turned around. As he did his eyes widened when he got sight of the person walking towards him. It was Musubi. She was there, alive. But how was this possible?

_**"Impossible,"**_ Naruto shook his head, an attempt at denying the sight before him. _**"There's no way you can be Musubi...there's no way you can be her!"**_

"Of course Musubi is Musubi, Naruto-Sama." The fake even talked like her. "Who else would Musubi be?"

"No. No, no, no, no, no!" In an effort to get away from the young woman walking towards him, Naruto let go of Benitsubasa's head, allowing the drooling, insensate mass of flesh to crumble to the ground. Without having Naruto grabbing her head to support her, the pink head had no way of keeping herself upright. "You can't be her! You can't be Musubi! I felt her die! You're not her! You're not!"

Tripping over a lose piece of pavement, Naruto fell backwards to the ground. Even still he continued scrambling away from the woman who was getting closer and closer with each passing second.

_**"Stay back! I said stay back!"**_ Naruto thrust his hand forward, shooting out a wave of invisible energy that caused the air to ripple in front of him. It traveled towards Musubi, but ended up passing right by her head, ruffling her hair. In that entire time, the busty Sekirei had not stopped walking forward.

Eventually Naruto found himself pressed up against one of the many up-heaved pieces of pavement that littered the street. Even with nowhere to go his legs continued trying to push him backwards.

Musubi knelt down next to him, a sad expression on her face as she saw Naruto's reaction to her revival. He must be truly broken if he had not even sensed their bond being reestablished.

Well, she would just have to fix that.

"It really is me, Naruto-Sama," she said in a voice that sounded a good deal more mature than normal. "I'm back."

_**"No..." **_he shook his head. _**"No. It can't be you. Musubi can't be back. I felt it...I felt it! It just...I...I..."**_ Whatever Naruto had been trying to say became stuck in his throat as Musubi pulled his head to her chest, letting it rest against her bosom.

"My Naruto-Sama," Musubi began stroking his hair with great tenderness and care. "You really have suffered so much, haven't you? Don't worry, Musubi is here and she won't let anything happen to you anymore. You're safe."

Naruto did not answer her. The moment Musubi had touched him the Sekirei bond had reestablished itself and flared up inside of the blond immortal. An infinite well of love and acceptance filled him, overflowed from him.

It was too much. For a man who had lived for as long as he had, who had seen the worst humanity had to offer and delved into some of the darkest reaches of his soul, having that much love and compassion filling him was simply too much.

As the incredible warmth and feelings engulfed him, Naruto slowly closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was a very large breast capped with a light pink nipple.

What a great sight to fall asleep to.

* * *

><p><strong>This marks the end of the Escape from Shinto Teito arc. I'm pretty excited by this, because now that the arc I've been wanting to get out of the way for a long time is done and over with, I can focus on the REAL story. From here on out almost everything in this story is going to be original content. No more following canon except for one small and more or less inconsequential moment for this story. From here on out, it's all original...or as original as a fanfiction can get.<strong>

**For now though, I plan on finishing Book 2 of my Harry Potter series. It's only about 3 chapters from being done, so I want to finish it up soon.**


	34. Change can Hurt

**Chapter 34: Change can Hurt, but Sometimes it's for the Better**

* * *

><p>"Dammit, Homura!" Takami scowled into the phone pressed against her ear. She was pacing back and forth across an empty room within the MBI Clock Tower. "Several large portions of the city have been destroyed, the citizens are in a panic, and we're still counting the bodies from the stunt you and your Ashikabi pulled! I'm not dealing with this shit! You tell me what I want to know right now, or so help me god, I will come over there and force you to tell me!"<p>

It wasn't an idle threat either. Takami was not in the mood to deal with Homura trying to keep a secret from her, not after what had happened. Even now she could see the fires outside raging as MBI's forces tried mounting a rescue operation. The red blaze from the smoky conflagration cast the entire city in a crimson haze. Even from her place several stories high, the lights reached her, reflecting red off her pale skin.

"_You know there's nothing I can tell you, Takami," _Homura sounded equally frustrated, though whether this was because she honestly couldn't say anything or was annoyed that Takami kept trying to push the issue was unknown. At least to Takami. _"My Ashikabi made me promise not to tell you anything. It was one of the first things he did before telling me about his plans. And you know a Sekirei can't go against their Ashikabi as well as I do."_

Takami grit her teeth. She did know that. She knew that very well. It came with having worked so closely with the Sekirei and been one of MBI's top adjustors. That didn't make hearing it any easier to deal with.

Over the past few hours, Takami had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. First she had woken in the heart of MBI tower―or maybe the brain would be a better word for it, as it was where all the security and Sekirei data was located―with no memory of how she got there or what happened. When she went into the elevator and headed back up, she tried to regain her bearings and figure out why she had been in such a secure location when the entire clock tower had been rocked by the sound of multiple explosions going off. She had rushed up to the observatory deck, only to find the entire city in a state of chaos.

It had been a horrendous sight. Skyscrapers had crumbled. Explosions rocked the earth. Fires and smoke tore through the light, lighting the city ablaze. Takami had tried to coordinate the rescue squads, but found herself being blocked at every turn. Someone was destroying all of the helicopters and land support. And because the satellites had been shut down by some unknown persons―she suspected Matsu, she had not even known who had been curtailing her efforts until one of her choppers radio'd in and informed her of the Sekirei fighting against their forces.

Now the battle was over. Naruto's Sekirei had retreated. She didn't know why. Takami wasn't even sure what they had been hoping to accomplish, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She'd began coordinating MBI's forces from the clock tower as soon as the fighting was done. Choppers had been sent out, tanks roamed the city, and soldiers had begun searching the wreckage for survivors. The fire department was also around, helping MBI put out the wild conflagration that had spread to nearly one-third of the city. They were doing everything they could to help quell the raging blaze and see to the people's safety.

As she stared at her reflection within the window pane, her scowl growing more fierce by the second, Takami found herself thinking about that damned blond haired fool. What had he been thinking? Sending his Sekirei out to destroy most of the city. That was in clear violation of the rules of the Sekirei plan! You weren't supposed to reveal the existence of Sekirei to anyone! Yet that's exactly what Naruto had done. There was no way people wouldn't know about the fact that there were several people with supernatural powers roaming the city. Takami could only imagine the amount of effort it was going to take to quell the masses.

It was this whole fiasco that had caused her to call Homura. She knew nothing would really come of it, but she was frustrated and angry and needed to vent. The fire user offered the perfect target for her anger.

"So you're telling me that you don't care that you and your Ashikabi just killed hundreds of people?" asked Takami, practically roaring into her cellphone. "What the fuck, Homura! I thought you were better than that! You used to have morals! What, did you just forget all about them the moment your cock changed into a pussy and he started fucking you?"

"We've never had sex," Homura's muttered voice was low and embarrassed, but with a hint of something building as well. Takami didn't care.

"Now there's a surprise. But then again, maybe not. Perhaps that's why you're so willing to go along with that man's plans. He holding his cock over your head? Taunting you with it. Maybe he told you if you do a good job he'll reward you by letting you suck his―"

"Shut up, Takami!" Homura roared from the other end, actually startling the silvery haired woman. "I understand that you're angry, but if you think I'm going to let you degrade and insult me just because you're upset, then you've got another thing coming! You know as well as I do that a Sekirei cannot disobey the orders of their Ashikabi. You know that even better than I do! So you know that when I say I can't tell you, it's not because I don't want to, but because I can't! Don't take your anger out on me just because you don't like the situation!"

Shock coursed through Takami. Homura had never raised his―now her―voice to her. Ever. As far as she knew, the fire user had never raised her voice to anyone.

"H-Homura, I'm―" Takami tried to speak, but Homura was the angry one now.

"And don't judge my Ashikabi based on what he does! I am well aware that Naruto isn't sane or even a good person, but he's still my Ashikabi, and there are things about him that you know nothing about! Things I'm only just beginning to understand! As much as I am horrified by what he's done, I know there is more to it than him simply killing for the sake of killing! I may not know what it is yet, but I believe in him! And I don't need you insulting me or him right now! Especially when I'm not even sure of what's wrong with him! So kindly do me a favor and piss off!"

Before Takami could speak to Homura again, the line went dead. The woman frowned as she stared at the phone, sleek and thin, with a touch screen and blue tooth. She thought about calling Homura again, but after another moment, sighed, and then slipped it into her pocket. Calling again would serve no purpose, and she didn't want to get into another argument.

She would apologize to Homura later, when they were both much calmer than they are now.

Leaving the room, Takami eventually reached Hiroto Minaka's office, though the term office was used very lightly. It looked more like an ante chamber belonging to a king than the office belonging to the manager of a massive technology corporation. The room was massive, and long, with dark black tiles that shone in the light. As she walked into the room, her heels clicking against the floor, she spied the soft blue lights that were situated on the walls at evenly spaced intervals. They didn't do much to illuminate anything, but they gave off this creepy feel that made her skin crawl.

Hiroto Minaka was sitting in the very back of the room, his back to a massive window that spanned the entire wall, revealing the outside world to his gaze, should he turn around. His large desk gleamed from the light of the monitor sitting on it. Lights and shadow reflected off his grinning visage, and Takami grimaced. Could she really be mad at Homura for having a crazy Ashikabi when the man she worked for was just as if not more insane than Naruto?

Yes. Yes she could. It was irrational, she knew, but since when have emotions ever been rational?

"Ah! Takami! How nice of you to join me!" Hiroto greeted with enthusiasm, even though his eyes never left the monitor. Whatever he was watching must be very interesting. "Was there something you needed?"

"Yes," Takami tried not to glare at the man. What the hell was he doing? Did he not see the chaos going on outside? How could he just ignore everything around him in favor of whatever was on his computer. "I have several reports detailing the damage done to the city, the number of civilian casualties, as well as the number of people who have yet to turn up in our search."

"Just put it on the desk. I'll look through it later."

Takami glared at Hiroto. This was important, dammit! With MBI having bought out the city, it was their job to ensure everything was running smoothly. It was also their job to protect the citizens from stuff like what happened tonight, especially since the Sekirei had been their problem from the very beginning.

She didn't say anything, though, knowing that Hiroto wouldn't care. It had become blatantly obvious in the past few days that the man really didn't care what she thought. He let her speak because it amused him, but that seemed to be about the only reason he allowed her to say whatever she wanted in their conversations. If her words actually held any weight, then he would have listened to her when she offered him advise

Instead of berating him for his lack of care, she looked at the monitor on his desk and asked, "What are you watching?"

"Hm? Oh, I am just watching Karasuba's battle with Naruto."

"Naruto?"

What did that mean? Had one of Naruto's Sekirei also fought Karasuba? Impossible. No one could stand up to Karasuba, except Miya, and as far as she was aware, Miya was not Naruto's Sekirei.

Minaka began chuckling, the lights from the monitor playing off his glasses. "Oh yes. It's quite the stimulating battle. I'm so glad I decided to keep one of my satellites off the MBI grid. It would have been a shame to miss this."

Her frown growing ever more prominent, Takami walked over to the side so she could get a glimpse of the battle Minaka was talking about.

What she saw shocked her.

Her eyes widened as she watched two beings of incredible might clash, their battle tearing apart the streets and surrounding architecture. Buildings were felled and streets torn apart by ripping winds and powerful energy blades. It looked like something out of those manga her daughter loved to read so much. Two beings that appeared more like forces of nature than actual people, clashing against each other, locked in a struggle of eternal combat while the world around them slowly eroded, destroyed by their.

Even more worrisome was the fact that it looked like Karasuba was, dare she even think it, losing. As more time passed, Karasuba began sustaining more injuries. Her clothes became torn. Bruises formed on her body. Yet still the woman fought, she fought with a savage grin on her face, slicing a building apart. The rubble from the building was destroyed by several powerful blasts wind, the large chunks reduced to small pieces that scattered across the city at high speeds.

And then the Black Sekirei was thrown straight through several buildings, coming to a stop after rolling for several meters, where she lay mostly still, with only the occasional muscle twitch as her body tried to get up.

More surprises followed. After her shocking defeat, Karasuba and the masked individual seemed to hold a conversation of some kind. Takami couldn't see or hear what they were talking about, nor could she read Karasuba's lips. But, from the look on the Black Sekirei's face, it was an interesting one. The masked person then lurched forward unexpectedly, Karasuba taking the opportunity to stab him with her sword, driving him all the way into a wall and penetrating him up to the hilt.

And then the biggest surprise came when Karasuba unmasked the figure.

"That's...!"

"Isn't it magnificent!" Minaka crowed, his eyes gleaming from beneath his glasses, a strange glow causing them to look brighter than . "Look at that, Takami! That is the power of a man who could become a god! A power that has long since been lost to the annuls of history! And we're some of the first in the last thousand years to see it! This is history in the making! Oh, it's so glorious! Do not disappoint me now, Uzumaki Naruto! I want to see more of what you're capable of! Mwahahahahahaha!"

As Minaka began laughing a deranged, madman's laugh, Takami could only stare in horror at the familiar blond-haired man. She had studied his profile for so long now, that she knew it by heart, even if his eyes were purple and had those freaky swirls in them.

And as she stared at the figure just as he sent Karasuba flying without even touching her, only one thought remained on her mind: just what the hell was Uzumaki Naruto?

XoX

Naruto was not quick consciousness. The process of waking up that morning, or night, was slow. His mind felt addled, slow, numb. It reminded him of this one time he'd decided he wanted to get drunk, and then made a seal that stopped his metabolism from being able to process alcohol. The only difference between now and then was A) he didn't have the massive headache that came from getting shit face wasted, and B) the night before had not ended in crazy, wild, and raunchy sex.

As more and more of his mind became aware, Naruto was able to pick up some things. The first was that he felt sore, not necessarily in body, but more of a metaphysical or spiritual soreness. He could feel the damage that had been done to him, the kind that only came from unleashing his power. It was the reason he never did it anymore. It hurt like nobodies business.

He'd only ever done it a few times in the past, enough that he could count all the times on one hand.

The first time had been after he'd just woken up and found that the world he knew was gone. It had been an accident that time. The result of realizing that everything he'd fought for had been for nothing, that all of his friends, the people who'd become a family to him, were gone.

The second time had been deliberate. It had happened when his first wife had been killed. He'd met her about thirty years after he'd woken up to discover that the world he knew was no more. She had been a child that he had rescued from slavers and decided to raise since her family had sold her off. They'd married several years later, after she had grown up, and settled down in a small village. Unfortunately, people found out about his immortality and while he was in another village, had killed his wife in a public display of violence. He had come back to find her body hanging off a tree.

That very same day the entire village had been annihilated down to the last man, woman, and child.

There had been other times he'd unleashed his power, of course. That time when he destroyed Atlantic. And the only other time when he'd tried settling down again and gotten married to a woman in England. Both his wife and child had died that day, and he'd rampaged across the entire country, butchering several villages in his rage.

Blinking, Naruto came out of his memories of the past just as the door to... where ever he was, opened.

He turned his head, his eyes widening when he saw who entered the room.

"Oh! Naruto-sama, you're awake!"

Musubi walked further into the room. She was carrying a tray with some kind of food on it. From the smell it was a simple breakfast of oats and honey. Unusual as Miya often made traditional Japanese breakfasts. The generously proportioned young woman set the tray on the floor and sat down by his side in seiza.

Naruto continued to stare.

"I was really worried when you fell asleep on me," Musubi continued talking, completely heedless of the deluge of emotions threatening to break free from Naruto's well-constructed barrier. "You blacked out after I hugged you. It was so weird. You must have been really tired." She smiled down at Naruto, bright, cheerful, and oblivious. "I'm glad you're awake now. Did you get enough sleep?"

"Mu...su...bi..." Naruto mumbled, feeling something hot and wet poor down his face.

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi looked down at him, her head tilted and her eyes blinking in confusion. "Are you alright, Naruto-Sama? You're crying."

Naruto shook his head, whether this was to tell Musubi that, no, he was not alright, or to inform her that he was not crying and just had something stuck in his eye was unknown. Less than a second after she mentioned his tears, the ancient blond had launched himself from where lay and gripped Musubi in a fierce hug.

"N-Naruto-Sama?"

"You're here! You're really, really here!" The words came out of Naruto's mouth before he even realized what he was saying. His face pressed into her chest, hot tears pouring out of his eyes and onto her clothes. "I can't believe it! You're here! I thought you had―I couldn't feel you anymore! You'd just disappeared, and I didn't know where you went! I couldn't find you, and I tried bringing you back but it didn't work! And I... and I..."

Musubi had no clue what was going on, that much was evident. She was staring down at Naruto as he cried into her chest, watched as great, heaving sobs racked his body, her eyes blinking in confusion and shock at seeing her Ashikabi so vulnerable. Yet as she sat there, listening to her Ashikabi sob and feeling the emotions coming to her through the bond, a soft, loving smile touched her lips and her eyes grew warm as she continued to look down at Naruto's spiky haired head.

"It's okay, Naruto-Sama. Everything is going to be alright," she whispered. Her arms came up and wrapped around Naruto's body. With the strength granted to her as a Sekirei, she pulled him closer. She then raised one hand to his head, where her fingers curled into his hair. The other began to rub his back in gentle, slow motions that helped ease the way his body racked and shook as he cried. Musubi buried her face into Naruto's hair, closing her eyes taking in the scent that was unique to him. "Just let it all out. Everything is going to be okay."

While Musubi was comforting Naruto, the door to the room burst open and all of Naruto's Sekirei, plus Miya and Kazehana, stood in the doorway.

"Husband!"

Tsukiumi was the first to rush in, pushing her way through the crowd. She panted in the doorway, her shoulders slumped and her back hunched as she heaved in deep breaths of air.

"Are you alright? I felt..." she trailed off when she saw the scene in front of her, of Musubi holding onto Naruto as he cried. Her right eye twitching, she pointed a slim finger at her rival. "Musubi! What do you think you're doing to my husband!? I demand that you―hmph! Mmph mm mmp mmm!"

Her eyes widening as she found her ability to speak hampered by a hand, Tsukiumi tried to find out who was attacking her. It was Homura, the young woman stood right next to Tsukiumi, one arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder to keep her from moving, the other clamped over her mouth to keep her quiet. When the water user found out that it was her rival who was responsible for her inability to speak, she glared at the fire user and demanded that she let go.

"Mmp mm hhm mm!"

Of course, because her mouth was being muffled by a hand, the words came out sounding less like words and more like, well, someone who had a hand clamped over their mouth. Despite this, Homura could still understand the woman easily enough.

"No, I will not let you go," Homura spoke in a calm voice, not at all bothered by the heated glare Tsukiumi was directing at her. "Look at them." She gestured towards Naruto and Musubi with her head. "They need this, _he _needs." Tsukiumi looked over at Naruto and Musubi. Meanwhile, Homura continued speaking. "I don't know exactly what happened back there, but all of us felt Naruto's emotions, and I know it has something to do with Musubi. Whatever is going on between them, this is something that only those two can solve."

Tsukiumi looked conflicted. Her eyes flickered towards Naruto and Musubi. She watched, enviously, as Musubi ran her fingers along Naruto's scalp, whispering reassurances to him. That should be her doing those things. Not Musubi. But, at the same time, Tsukiumi understood what was going on better than anyone else. She had been there when Naruto rampaged, she had seen the destruction he unleashed, had felt the despair at Musubi's deactivation. Yes, if there was anyone who needed to be with her husband right now, it was Musubi.

That didn't mean she had to like it.

"Fine," she said, the word coming out to sound more like "Mmnn" than fine.

"Good, I'm glad you understand," Homura took her hand off Tsukiumi's mouth. The beautiful blond woman glared at the fire user, but didn't say anything else. Homura turned her head, silver hair swaying as she looked at Miya. "What do you think we should?"

Miya bit her lower lip. Her amethyst eyes were fully open as she stared at Naruto. There was a conflict clear in her eyes for anyone who looked at them to see. After a moment, however, she closed them again and a smile that was soft yet somehow slightly bitter tugged at her lips.

"I think we should leave them alone for now," she suggested, before turning and beginning to walk down the hall. "It is as Homura said. They need this right now. Come on, all of you. Why don't we let these two be and prepare dinner; I could use a few extra hands."

All of the other Sekirei looked at each other for a moment, before they, too, began walking back down the hall.

"I want sake," came the voice of Kazehana, fading into the distance.

"You always want sake," was Uzume's amused response.

"That's cuz Kaze-tan likes getting shit-faced drunk," Matsu's childish voice spoke up, a second before the sound of metal bouncing off skull sounded out.

"Language, Matsu-san."

"Urk!"

The voices soon faded, leaving the room in mostly silence. Naruto's sniffling accompanied by Musubi's gentle voice were the only sounds left. They reverberated around the room, bouncing and echoing throughout the chamber several decibels higher than they should have been. At some point, Naruto's sniffling abated, and the ancient man with the broken soul grew silent except for the occasional hiccup.

"M'sorry," he muttered softly, his voice muffled by Musubi's bosom.

"Sorry?" Musubi looked gave him a confused smile, clearly not understanding where his words were coming from. "Sorry for what?"

"I haven't been a very good Ashikabi," Naruto said, his hold on Musubi tightening just a bit. "I tried, and I kept telling myself I would be better, that I would start acting like a proper Ashikabi, but I never truly gave it my best effort."

Musubi looked like she wanted to protest, but remained silent. Maybe she knew that Naruto needed to say this, to let out all of his thoughts and feelings and emotions in order to move past them, in order to heal.

"I think it's because I just never wanted to feel this way again," he admitted after several seconds of silence. "Every time I've ever felt like this, all that ever came from it was pain. When you begin to feel for others, those people become an intricate part of you, their life tied to yours, bound in a way that is said to transcend time and reason. Most people don't realize that, but it's actually true, in a way. Humans just don't live long enough to understand."

Silence descended upon the room again. Naruto thought about his life up until this point, of the bonds he made throughout his many lifetimes, of the lives that had become such a fundamental part of him. It could almost be said that the people he met, the bonds he created, and the many times those bonds had been shattered by means beyond his ability to control, were the focal points, the defining moments, that had created Uzumaki Naruto; a man who had been broken long ago yet continued to exist in a state that was outside of time.

"Did you know I've been married exactly 63 times?" asked Naruto. The question was rhetorical, and Musubi seemed to understand this. She didn't say anything, even though he could feel her confusion through the bond. "I could tell you the name of every woman I've ever married, what they liked, what they didn't like, their hobbies, their dreams, their most fervent desires and their greatest weakness and fears. Even now, even after all this time has passed, I could talk about every moment I ever shared with them, or tell you about the children I had with them."

Naruto grit his teeth, trying to keep himself from breaking down again. He'd never been good with emotions. Everyone he ever knew said he was too damn emotional for his own good. That had been the reason he'd gotten rid of them. But here, now, in this moment, Naruto could feel them attempting to shatter his carefully crafted walls, and it was difficult to maintain even his most basic facade. This conversation was bringing all these emotions to the forefront, making it impossible not to feel something.

"And it hurts. It really, really hurts. Falling in love, getting married, starting a family. This happiness, this joy that so many people hold so close to their hearts, all its ever done is bring me pain. Growing close to someone else, sharing in their tragedies and triumphs, becoming a part of their life and connecting with them on a level so deep that mortal men simply can't comprehend it, and then having those bonds cut away, destroyed, whether by the ravages of time or the hand of men, it always leaves a gaping wound in the heart that never heals."

Naruto thought about all those he'd lost; wives, sons, daughters. It always hurt to think about them, so he often didn't think about them, burying his memories of the families he'd made deep within his mind. They were always there, a constant ache, a never ending reminder of why he couldn't allow himself to fall in love. It would just be one more wound for him to deal with.

"I'm sorry, Musubi. I'm sorry for being such a terrible Ashikabi. I'm sorry for not doing the best I could to help you and the others grow. I'm sorry for not giving you the love that you all deserve. And I'm sorry for trying to push all of you away. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Musubi said, smiling gently as she continued her ministrations on his hair. Her fingers idly curled around one of his spiky locks, twisting it around her fingers. "I understand what you're going through. I know you were in pain."

"You do?"

"Of course," Musubi smiled brightly as Naruto looked up at her. "I'm your Sekirei. I could feel your pain through our bond. All of us could. That's why we're always trying to help you. We don't want you to feel this way, but we weren't really sure what to do to help, so we just sort of stayed near you, hoping it would make you feel better. I guess we didn't do a very good job."

"No, you did a fantastic job," Naruto told her. "I'm the one with the problem. I kept rejecting you and everyone else, even after I told you all that I wouldn't."

Guilt began to settle in the pit of Naruto's stomach as he thought about how awful he had been to everyone. He'd constantly pushed them away and stringed them along, giving them just enough to make them think he would open up but never actually giving himself to them. Was this really the kind of person he'd become? Someone who would step the emotions and bonds he created with others? When did he become such a bitter and cynical man?

Oh. Right. The death of his loved ones.

"Ne, Naruto-Sama?"

Naruto looked up at Musubi again. Her face was scrunched up slightly, showing clear signs of confusion. She looked adorable, but he tried not to focus on that.

"What is it?"

"You said you've been married 63 times, right?"

"Yes?" Naruto wondered where she was going with this.

"Tsukiumi talks about marriage a lot, but I have a question." With a look that was more serious than any he had ever seen on her, Musubi stared at him. "What is marriage?"

Naruto felt a drop of sweat trickle down his temple. Somehow, he should have expected that to be her question.

"Marriage is..." Naruto frowned, his brows furrowing as he realized something: he didn't know how to properly define marriage to someone like Musubi. How could he explain this in a way she would understand? "Marriage is the union between two people who love each other deeply." Or are supposed to, at least. Most people didn't seem to ascribe to that belief anymore, getting married without ever truly feeling love. It's why divorce existed these days. "When two people love each other, they have a ceremony and get married. This ceremony means they are officially recognized as a married couple by the nation they live in."

"It used to mean a lot more than it does now," he admitted, "Many years ago, marriage was something special. It was meant to symbolize the bond that was created between two people who loved each other. These days, marriage is mostly done for convenience, not because people actually love each other."

"I see." It was quite clear to Naruto that Musubi did, in fact, not see, but was merely saying that. The buxom woman pressed a single index finger to her lower lip, looking thoughtful. "So, marriage is sort of like the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei, then?"

Naruto blinked in surprise. Okay. He was wrong. Maybe Musubi did understand what marriage was to an extent, even if it wasn't one hundred percent accurate.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that." He paused. "Although, it's still a little different. It's more of a symbol of the bond, and not actually the bond itself."

"Huh?"

Naruto shook his head at Musubi's clueless expression. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay!" Musubi agreed readily enough. She did gain a peculiar expression moments later, as if she were thinking really hard about something. "Say, you said that marriage is supposed to symbolize the bond between two people who love each other, right?"

"Yes."

"Then does that mean you and I will eventually get married?"

Opening his mouth to say something, Naruto paused, considering. He closed his mouth and thought about it, really thought about the idea of marrying Musubi and the other Sekirei bound to him. It had been a long time since he'd last married. Over a thousand years, in fact, back during the time of King Arthur and Camelot, and Merlin, may his soul rot in hell for all eternity.

After losing his last wife back then, he had decided to never marry again, to never let himself get close to someone again. Instead of falling in love and starting a family, he simply seduced women and fucked them. It had worked well enough, as he had been doing that for the past thousand years now. Sure, most of the women he screwed had gotten pregnant, but that was really there fault for allowing themselves to be seduced in the first place.

Could he go back to doing that? Sleeping with women and forgetting about them? Well, obviously not. He was bonded now, not just symbolically, but literally, physically bonded to several women. You can't really break a bond like that with anything short of death, and Naruto didn't want to do that. He'd felt when Musubi's bond with him had severed, and the pain had been unbearable. No. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of the bonds he'd made now.

He supposed he could marry them, Musubi and the others. It wouldn't really mean much, at least to him, but it would probably mean a lot to them, especially Tsukiumi, who was always going on about being his wife. Musubi would appreciate it too, even if she didn't understand it completely.

But did he want that? Did he want to get married? Every marriage he'd ever been in had caused him pain. Was he willing to hurt himself for the sake of his Sekirei?

Naruto looked up at Musubi. Her large, doe-like brown eyes were staring into his with an earnest expression that no one would ever be able to replicate. The purity in her heart was truly something endearing, as was the love she had for him. Would it be so bad if he married her?

Thinking back, Naruto brought up all the memories he had of Musubi. From their first meeting to the first time he'd ever seen her eat. From the times Musubi had told him that she loved him to the times she would say something that brought up long buried memories.

It had taken him a while, but Naruto had finally realized who she reminded him of. Musubi reminded him of himself, of how he used to be when the Elemental Nations still stood. Before that final, climactic battle between him and Madara had reshaped the entire world into what it was today. He wondered, absently, what everyone would think if they realized the many continental landmasses looked the way they did because of the last battle he and Madara had. They'd probably die of a heart attack.

The similarities between him and Musubi had been the biggest reason why the bond they shared had affected him so much. Her thinking patterns, her beliefs, the way she thought and the actions she took, all of them were a mirror image of how he used to be way back when. This incredibly similarity between the two of them had allowed her emotions to affect him in a way no one else's would have, because he would have recognized them as foreign. Not so with Musubi.

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi looked concerned when several minutes past without him talking. He looked at her, staring into her eyes that were clear and open and so honest and naïve you'd think she was a child in a woman's body. And in some ways, she was. "Naruto-Sama, are you okay?"

"I..."

Naruto felt his throat constrict. He knew he what he wanted to say, but it was so hard. These words, they were so simple, and yet saying them would change everything. Could he afford that? Would his heart be able to withstand more heartbreak? What should he do?

"_There you go again, trying to follow your head and not your heart. You know, considering how empty that skull of yours is, you probably shouldn't be using it so much. Whenever you try and use that thing you call a brain, you make mistakes. A lot of mistakes. You're always at your best when you rely on your heart, so stop thinking so damn much and just let your emotions take you where they will."_

The words floated to him on a warm breeze that blew through his mind. As he closed his eyes, a soft smile reached his lips. He remembered those words. Morgan had never been one for subtlety. Blunt as a hammer and able to hit twice as hard. Even after having a daughter, that straightforward attitude remained the same. It was one of the things he had loved about her.

He looked back up at Musubi, his mind on Morgan's words. Was that why he'd failed so much? Because he'd been trying to think with his head? He'd gotten pretty smart since the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, hadn't he? He wasn't an idiot. He knew things. But then, maybe there was a difference between holding knowledge and gaining intelligence. Did that mean he should stop thinking so much? That he should just let go and do what came naturally?

"Musubi," he said, pausing. He took a deep breath. He could do this, couldn't he? It wasn't that hard. Three words. Just three words.

"Yes?"

Naruto tried to get them out, those three words. For some reason they kept sticking in his throat. Why was this so damn hard? Why couldn't he say them?

"_You're thinking too much again. Stop it. Just do what comes naturally. That's who you are. You've never been one for words, Naruto. You're a man of action. It's why I fell in love with you. So stop being such a pussy, man up, and shove your goddamn foot up Merlin's ass for trying to manipulate you!"_

The words that came to him from a past long gone had not been meant in the context of his new situation, but Naruto wondered if they would work here just as well. He'd never really been one for words. He made grand speeches to be sure, but it had always been his actions that truly brought the point home.

Focusing back on Musubi again, Naruto thought, and thought, and thought, and after several minutes of thinking and coming up with nothing but a blank, realized that he couldn't think of what to do because he had never been one for thinking in the first place. Back in the past, everything he did was done without a single thought. Even his desire to acquire more knowledge about the world, about science, about technology, was something he did on a whim, not because of any deep or complex thought process.

And so Naruto decided top just stop thinking. It wasn't helping him one bit, hadn't helped him since he became a part of the Sekirei Plan. If anything, the act of trying to think and plan had hindered him. Stopped him from doing what came naturally. It kept him from being himself.

"Just go with the flow..." he muttered softly. Musubi's ears perked up.

"Go with the what?"

"Nothing," Naruto shook his head, grinning for a heartbeat. "I was just thinking about what an idiot I've been."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"I mean I've been trying to think about what I should do and say, when I really should have just done this from the very beginning."

Before Musubi had a chance to question him further, Naruto shifted. He moved backwards until his butt hit the fuuton. His left arm came behind him to act as support. His right arm was still around Musubi's waist, pulling her forward until their positions had been reversed and it was her on top of him. He tugged her closer, to the point where she was not only straddling his thighs, but her crotch was bumping against him. He leaned in, catching the way her eyes widened for just a second, before his lips pressed against hers.

Wings of light erupted from Musubi's back like a bright flare going off in the middle of the night. Eight separate segments of brilliant blue opened wide, looking like flower petals opening to take in the morning sun. They moved across the room, curving around the material surfaces as they were somehow made of physical matter instead of energy emissions. Naruto, his eyes having closed after he'd locked lips with Musubi, didn't see them and therefore didn't know that the wings now sprouting from the buxom woman's Sekirei Crest were far brighter than they ever had been.

If Musubi was still shocked, she didn't let him know. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, making a mess of his spiky blond locks. She kissed him back, pouring all of the emotions she felt for him, the unwavering loyalty, the compassion, and the undying amounts of love, into the kiss. It was enough to make his arms turn to jelly.

They fell backwards, Naruto's back hitting the fuuton while Musubi's large chest smashed into his muscled one. Her breasts were squished together, pressing down on him and making him hyper aware of her larger than average bust. His hands went from their place on Musubi's back and the fuuton respectively, and planted themselves firmly on the Sekirei's firm derriere. A loud moan released from Musubi's hampered mouth spurned Naruto to continue his actions. He grabbed and groped and squeezed the firm yet pliant flesh of Musubi's muscular butt.

And while his hands were busying themselves, their mouths were just as occupied. Naruto captured her lower lip between both of his, suckled on it, and then switched to her upper lip. He continued along this vein, before pushing himself a step further. His tongue passed her lips, licking at her teeth. Musubi moaned from a particularly hard squeeze from his calloused hands, her mouth opening, and he slipped his tongue inside.

Short, stifled noises escaped Musubi's lips as their tongues swirled around, their saliva mixing and coating the inside of their mouths. Their tongues would push and pull, hook and curve, dancing and playing to create sensations that were as pleasurable as they were addicting. Loud slurping and smacking emitted from their activities, echoing around the room in a way that should not be possible due to the acoustics.

"Naruto," Musubi mewled as their kiss broke, the need for oxygen becoming too great. The young woman sucked in great, heaping lungfuls of air, before she was able to begin speaking again. "Are we going to have sex now?"

And just like that Musubi dumped a bucket of ice cold water on the situation.

"Do you even know what sex is?" asked Naruto, skeptical. How could he not be? This was the woman who asked if sex tasted good.

"Musubi knows what sex is," she declared, proudly.

"Really?"

"Musubi knows what sex is," she repeated, then placed a finger against her lower lip. "When Naruto-Sama forgot to tell Musubi what sex is, Musubi went to ask Matsu-san if she knew what sex is."

"Oh fuck."

Naruto felt like face palming.

"But when Musubi asked Matsu-san, she kept talking about things like plugs and slots and birds and bees. Musubi didn't understand it."

"I'll bet."

"And then she started talking about things like 69 and S&M and Musubi got really confused."

"Uh huh..."

"What's S&M Naruto-Sama? Does it taste good?"

"Ugh."

"Ah, but then, Landlady-sama came into the room."

"Oh dear god."

"She seemed angry."

"Can't imagine why."

"Then Landlady-Sama did that really scary thing with the mask."

"I'll bet she did."

"And after that, Musubi asked Landlady-Sama if she knew what sex was."

"Please tell me you didn't."

"So Landlady-Sama told Musubi was sex was," Musubi finished, nodding her head and looking very proud of herself.

Naruto blinked. "She did?"

"Yes! Landlady-Sama told Musubi that sex is something only people who loved each other did." Ah, so Miya didn't actually tell Musubi what sex was, just that it was done between two people. "And then she told Musubi that it was when a man stuck his penis in a woman's vagina."

"Urk!"

It looked like he spoke to soon.

"Anyway, Musubi really loves Naruto-sama," Musubi continued to speak, her voice growing soft, tender, and filled with emotion. "So Musubi really wants to have sex with Naruto-Sama and show him how much Musubi loves him."

Well crap. How was he supposed to say no to that? He couldn't even use the excuse that she didn't know what sex was, because she did, if a very simplistic and dumbed down version of it.

Naruto looked into Musubi's eyes, warm pools of brown. Her eyes were large and innocent and so pure that the idea of having sex with her was both off putting and turned him on like nothing else. He knew that if he wanted to, he could ask her to do anything and she would do it, no matter how depraved or disgusting it was. Musubi's trust in him was just that absolute.

Just what had he done to deserve someone like this?

"Naruto-Sama?"

Naruto shook his head, smiling at her. He didn't say anything, instead pulling her back down into a kiss. Musubi didn't resist him, and as their tongues began to play again, Naruto decided that if he was going to go through with this, it was time to take things up a notch.

His hand slipped underneath her shirt. Musubi did not believe in wearing bras, so it was easy for him to grope her breasts. He started with the left, kneading it like a baker kneads dough, then switching to the right at random intervals. In between the rubbing and messaging, Naruto would occasionally tweak her nipples, running a finger along the aerola, making them become stiff and hard. Musubi's moans increased in not only volume and frequency, but added to the moaning were soft mewling sounds and heavy panting that caused his pants to tight.

Using his several lifetimes of experience, it was easy for Naruto to bring Musubi to orgasm simply by playing with her breasts. He could feel it when her entire body seemed to go stiff as a board, right before she released a long, low moan that mixed in with the slurping and smacking. Her body shuddered, the fabric between her crotch gaining a rush of wetness that leaked out from between her thighs and spilled on Naruto's pants.

He pushed her off after that, laying her down on his back as his mouth left hers and began planting small kisses along her face. He kissed her chin, her her jaw all the way up to her ear, which he took between his teeth and proceeded to nibble on. Then he trailed back down her jaw using his tongue, before peppering her neck in small kisses and licks and love bites.

Musubi writhed and moaned underneath him, her hands on the back of his head, pulling him to her. He used the moments when the lovely music she produced was loudest and when her arms would tighten almost painfully around his head as ques to know what she liked and didn't like. He found out she enjoyed being licked more than bitten, but that kisses were her favorite. He discovered each sweet spot she possessed, paying special attention to each one.

His hands went to her obi, undoing it and tossing the wrapping away. He then pushed her shirt apart, allowing her expansive bust free.

It shouldn't need to be said, but among those in his harem, Musubi had the largest bust size of the bunch. They were large, almost Tsunade-sized. It was almost surprising that managed to maintain both their shape and firmness. Very impressive.

Naruto leaned down, taking a moment to admire her lightly tanned skin. Her pink nipples stood out against it, light and lovely, like snowcapped peaks. He leaned down, taking her nipple into his mouth. He let his circle swirl around it, then flicked, before lightly suckling on it. Musubi gasped, the moaned as sensations she had never felt before filled her. It wasn't long after he had switched over to the other breast that Musubi's moans and gasps turned into loud wails mewling.

With his mouth occupied, his hand was free to travel down the expanse of her stomach. Naruto really enjoyed how muscular Musubi was. She didn't just have an amazing hour glass figure, large breasts, thin waste, wide hips, and a beautiful ass. She had both curves and muscles. As he trailed over her taut, firm belly, he could feel each small bump of her six-pack abs. It was amazing, quite frankly. Even among the kunoichi he'd known, and those he'd met much later in life, no female he had ever met had such firm abdominal muscles.

Musubi squirmed underneath him, still mewling and moaning. Naruto slid a hand into the waste band of both her skirt and panties. His hand soon found her lips, already slightly puffy soaking wet from her previous orgasm. He let a single trail along her labia, feeling her lips quivering under his touch, before pushing a single digit inside of her and beginning to pump it in and out.

"Ah! Ah―ahn!"

Musubi cried out, her hips bucking wildly as his finger worked her over. He curved the digit inwards, finding that sweet spot, which increased her cries to keening wails and caused a deluge of love juice to pour out of her open passage. Her walls tightened around him and hips clenched. The grip she had on his head increased until the pressure she put on him caused his ears to ring. Naruto waited until Musubi was nearing her climax, when her wails of ecstasy had reached their peak and her body was a mass of quivering, thrashing flesh, and then let his thumb find her clitoris and give it a good rub.

"Oh god! Naruto-Sama!"

After reaching a crescendo, Musubi's body went slack. Her arms became limp, like wet noodles, and her legs fell and hips fell back on the bed, going still except for the occasional twitch.

Naruto smiled as he let go of her breasts and began kissing his way back up her body. He thought about going down, but decided that would be overkill. Musubi wasn't ready for what he could do with his tongue, and her body, from what he'd seen so far, was extremely sensitive. In all the years he had been alive, and with all the woman he'd sexed up, none of them had responded as enthusiastically to his ministrations as Musubi did, which was impressive because he'd caused women to pass out from an overload of pleasure before.

He licked and kissed his way up her sweat covered body, enjoying the salty sweet flavor of her skin. When he reached her face, Naruto saw that Musubi's eyes had glazed over, their luster slightly gone. He also noticed that drool was leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Deep, heavy breaths emerged from her mouth, sucking air in, then blowing it out. The act caused her chest to heave, which sent her breasts bouncing and jiggling in ways that made him want to begin playing with them again. He didn't, and instead leaned down and let his tongue lap up the drool leaking from her mouth, dragging it across the surface of her skin. Naruto then dipped his tongue into her mouth, stirring the saliva that had built up inside of Musubi's mouth around.

The woman stirred, then began to respond, letting her own tongue dance against his. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, though, as Naruto soon pulled back, smiling when she gave a mewling complaint.

He divested himself of his shirt, throwing it away, and then took off his pants and boxers, which he also tossed to the side. He then came back down and began to kiss Musubi again. And while the girl began to respond to his affections with great enthusiasm, Naruto reached down between her legs and gently spread her thighs apart. He then situated himself in between her legs and lined himself up with Musubi's entrance. When his tip was pressing against her lips, he slowly pushed himself inside.

Musubi moaned, loudly, and as he buried himself inside of her all the way to the hilt, Naruto found himself glad that Sekirei did not have hymens. He didn't know why this was, didn't know if that was simply a part of their physiology or if they had been made that way by Manaka's design. Regardless of that, he was glad she didn't have one, because he didn't want to hurt this angel underneath him anymore than his previous actions and inaction had already done.

"Naruto-Sama," Musubi moaned his name out in a way that was so innocent yet so incredibly sexy. Were he not already stiff, that noise would have made him harder than diamonds. "I can feel you. You're inside me." Musubi began smiling, smiling and crying. "It feels so good, like we're connected."

Naruto smiled.

"I'm glad you think that way, because I'm about to make you feel even better."

And then he began to move. Naruto slid himself out of her until only the tip remained inside, and then pushed himself back in. The action caused Musubi to release a slow, throaty moan, the kind that could light a fire underneath any man. Naruto repeated the action, and then began to slowly pick up the pace.

A light flush began to spread across Musubi's angelic and innocent face. Her mouth, open in a small o of rapture, released a series of pants and moans and sensual mewling in between calling his name and telling him how much she loved him. Her body, already covered in a light sheen of sweat, began to pick up a healthy glow. Large breasts swayed and bounced with each of his timed thrusts, glistened with a slick shimmer as the natural light filtering in through the window rained down on the two.

After he had established a working rhythm, Naruto leaned down to kiss Musubi on the lips. She responded with an eager glee, claiming his lips, consuming them with her own. Her tongue came out, plunging into his mouth and beginning an exploration to map him out. Strong thigh muscles flexed as her legs came up and wrapped around his hips, keeping him from moving to far and helping him keep a steady pace.

As the sound of flesh slapping against flesh sounded out, Naruto's mind began to feel strangely clear. It was almost like the act of having sex with Musubi was causing all of the clutter that had once filled his mind, inundating him with indecisiveness and overly complicated ideas, to be swept away.

And then something else took its place, a presence that was brought to the forefront of his mind, filling him with pleasure. But it was more than just that, for he also felt acceptance, he felt hopes and dreams for the future, and above all of that, were feelings of love.

Musubi's movements became more frantic, her moans louder but also picking up an off-beat staccato rhythm. The walls that had wrapped around him began to tighten as Musubi reached the end. With one last keening wail, her body was sent spilling over the edge. Naruto, with his impossible bodily control, waited a moment longer, then let himself go, filling Musubi with his seed.

The room quieted down, save for their heavy breathing. Naruto held himself aloft, looking down at Musubi as she breathed in and out. He could see how tired this act had made the woman. Her eyes were beginning to droop, her breathing beginning to even. But, he could let her go to sleep quite yet. There was still one more thing he needed to do.

"Musubi." She looked at him. Naruto pressed himself against her, feeling their sweat covered bodies mingle. He pressed his forehead against hers, busing noses. And then he smiled. "I love you."

Musubi stared at him for a while, blinking, almost as if she had not heard him correctly. A second passed. Then two. When three seconds had come and gone, Musubi finally reacted.

She smiled. It was a smile that was so blindingly bright that rays of pure sunlight couldn't compete against it. This was the kind of smile that only came when someone had accomplished their greatest life goal, when their purpose had been fulfilled, and all that was left to do was bask in their accomplishment and enjoy the rewards that followed.

"I love you too, Naruto-Sama. I love you so much."

"I know," he said, then noticed that her eyes were drooping again. "Go to sleep, Musubi. I'll be here when you wake up."

"M'kay. Good night... Naruto... Sama..."

And just like that, Musubi fell asleep and began to snore, loudly.

He shook his head. Same old Musubi.

Taking one last glance at the angel sleeping underneath him, Naruto leaned down and placed a kiss on her mouth. He then rolled over, taking Musubi with him, so they were both on their sides and he was still connected to her. A masculine arm went over her rest, a hand came to rest on her back and pulled her toward him until their bodies had practically melded together. The immortal man, who had once believed that love was a weakness he could not afford to have, fell asleep, content in the knowledge that he was loved.

XoX

The room was tense. There was something ominous hanging in the air. Everyone knew what it was, this feeling of terror and dread that welled up within their hearts, this sense of oppression, like gravity had increased by a factor of two-hundred, pushing them down with the weight of ten-thousand worlds. They knew where this intense wellspring of abominable energy and darkness was coming from, but no one wanted to look over at it, to see this creature of hatred with their own eyes.

Too bad eyes have a habit of wandering when people didn't want them to.

Asama Miya was sitting at the head of the table. It was her usual place, a place of honor. She was the landlady of this Izumo Inn and therefore, the head of the table was where she should rightly sitting. She was also sitting seiza, as was proper of a traditional Japanese beauty like herself, especially one that was widowed.

Dark, vile, corruptible purple energy leaked from her every orifice, stifling those who were near her, suffocating them as the unbearable forces of malevolence pushed down on them. Arrayed around her, floating about, casting eery and ominous shadows were a series of masks. Hanya masks, to be precise. These masks, despite all being devilish and horrifying in appearance, were also very different from each other. There was a lot of variety to choose from. Some were bleeding out the eyes, others gushed carnelian liquid from every hole in their face. A few had snakes coming out of their mouths, and some their empty eye sockets as well. Others made strange noises, clacking and clicking and hissing, like nails being dragged on a chalkboard or the undying screams of a million vengeful souls that had been damned for all eternity. Yes, there were a lot of terrible, paralyzing masks.

Everyone around her was petrified with fear. Their bodies screamed at them to run away, to run and huddle together and pray for god, or any other divine deity they could think of, to come and rescue them. But they couldn't move. The mere sight of one mask was enough to cause terror, but several hundred? Paralyzing. No one wanted to catch their attention. Even the slightest of movements from their given position may draw unwanted attention to themselves, bringing with it the ire of a certain landlady and her hanya masks.

"That man," Miya said, smiling pleasant, her eyes cast in dark shadows as her hair fell over her face like a veil of darkness. "And I are going to be having a few words come tomorrow morning," she declared, her voice just as terrifyingly pleasant as her eyes. Those around her would have felt pity for Naruto, but considering Miya was hannyaing all of them because of him, that pity was pretty much nonexistent.

"Well, I suppose we should eat."

And with those words, the aura of doom and the many masks vanished, as if they had never existed.

Everyone felt a small drop of sweat trickle down their foreheads as they watched Miya pick up her chopsticks and begin eating.

No one spoke for a long while. A few of them didn't even breath, until they were forced to by necessity. They all stared at Miya, watching her like one might watch a dangerous animal, a ravenous beast who knew only destruction. They were wary, and how could they not be? This woman scared the shit out of them.

At some point Miya realized no one was eating. She looked at the group, watching as their faces turned when she caught their eye. She frowned, and the darkness began to return. "Is there something wrong with the food?"

"Eek! I-I mean, o-of course not, Miya, eh, sama?" Uzume was the one to speak up. This did not surprise those who knew her. She was the most lively of the group, and she had the most guts. There was a reason she and Naruto got along so well. "We were just, eh, um, curious, to, uh, know if you were, ahem, alright?"

Miya tilted her head. The action was very cute, and made her look several years younger. "I don't know what you mean, Uzume-san," the woman eventually replied with a smile. "I am perfectly alright." Her countenance darkened, though the smile remained. "I mean, it's not like I was just forced to endure listening to a ravenous, perverted, lecherous, no good beast ravage one of my Sekirei."

"Urk!"

Way to go Uzume. Now you've made her angry again.

"Uzume-chan," Chiho muttered softly. Uzume winced at the disappointment in the younger girls tone.

Her shoulders slumped.

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, then mumbled, "Shoulda kept my questions to myself."

"Yes, you should have."

"Gurk!"

XoX

Naruto hummed a small tune to himself as he moved about the kitchen with the ease of someone whose had well over a couple thousand years of practice with cooking. He got out the pots and pans and cookware and everything else that was needed to prepare the divine dish that he wanted to make. He then gathered the ingredients that he needed to make said dish.

And the dish he was making was, of course, ramen.

There were two very main components to ramen: the noodles and the soup. For noodles, Naruto enjoyed making wheat noodles from scratch. They just tasted better when hand made instead of store bought and, in his most humble opinion, no one made noodles better than he could. The entire world was several thousand years too early to contest his noodle making skills.

The key to good noodles, Naruto had discovered through several thousand years of experimentation, was in the texture. The ntexture of the noodles was very important because if they were not made right, then when set in hot soup they'll end up absorbing too much soup and became too soft. Wheat noodles needed to be chewy and firm.

Soup, the second main component of ramen, was equally important. There are three basic types of ramen soups: Shyoyu, Miso, and Shio, or soy sauce, Miso, and salt. In most cases pork, chicken, or seafood broth would be used for the base of the soup, which is then seasoned with soy sauce, miso, or salt. Naruto, being the amazing connoisseur of ramen that he was, had discovered that blending those three ingredients together at just the right amount created what he had taken to called the Only Food the Gods Would Ever Eat Ultimate Uzumaki Ramen. It was, in a nutshell, the most awesome ramen anyone would find on the planet, ever. And of course, he was the only one who could make it, not only because he was awesome, but also because the three ingredients not only needed an exact amount of be added, but they had to be added with a specific timing. Add an ingredient too soon and you ran the risk of the ingredients not blending, too late and they just coagulated into this crappy, horrid tasting garbage that was an insult to ramen everywhere.

Naruto takes his ramen very, very seriously.

The soup was coming along nicely and the noodles were now boiling in a pot that looked large enough to fit a child inside. With so many people now living at Maison Izumo, Naruto had to make sure he made enough for everyone. It would cause make the noodles and soup cook slower, but that was the price one paid for having so many mouths to feed.

It was during this time that Miya entered the kitchen to see an unusually cheerful and vibrant Naruto humming to himself as he cooked.

"You seem awfully happy," Miya commented as she walked up to the immortal shinobi, her steps slow and meticulous. Her nose twitched as the aroma of Miso soup wafted through the air, pervading her senses. "That smells really good."

"Thank you," Naruto smiled at the woman before turning back to focus on his cooking. He didn't want to ruin the meal by not paying attention to what he was doing. You just don't screw around when making ramen. "And I do feel a lot happier. I think I've gotten a lot of the problems I was facing off my chest last night. Well," he added at the end, looking only somewhat perturbed, "most of them at least."

"I'm glad. I was getting rather put off by having to deal with someone who spent most of his days scheming or brooding."

"I did not brood," Naruto scowled at the woman. Miya just smiled. "What are looking at me like that for? I didn't brood! I didn't!" An uncertain look then crossed over his face. He looked at Miya, his eyes flickering. "Did I?"

"You did," she confirmed with a nod. "You were a terrible brooder. Always pushing others away so you could live in your own dark little world. I have to admit, I was beginning to wonder whether or not I should drag you out of your brooding by force."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you didn't," Naruto said, still focusing on his food. "That probably would have been painful."

At his words, Miya merely maintained her beatific smile as grabbed the spoon in the pot of Miso. She was about to begin stirring, but Naruto was quick to grab her hand, stopping her before she could ruin anything.

"Hold up," he said, "while I would love your help here, this soup requires a very specific and exact method of stirring. Even the slightest mistake could turn it into a disaster and―are you alright, Miya? You're face is red."

"I-I'm fine," Miya said quickly, jerking her hand out of Naruto's grip. She turned away from the blond male, pressing her now free hand against her chest. Why was her heart beating so fast? And why now of all times? Couldn't it have waited for a couple more minutes? Not wanting to let Naruto know about her current problem, she said, "so what kind of precise method of stirring needs to be used here?"

"It's a method I devised myself," Naruto said, his voice quite proud. "Here. Let me show you how it's done."

Miya felt her entire body light up like a house when it's struck by a bolt of lightning as Naruto moved behind her. His back pressed against his chest, arms enfolding around her body. His right hand grabbed her own, which held the spoon. He then began to slowly stir the body, counting down, pausing, and then switching to a counterclockwise stirring motion.

"The key to making awesome Miso soup is to make sure all of the ingredients are perfectly blended together. To do that, you need to stir it clockwise for exactly thirty seconds and ten full circles around the pot, then pause for five seconds, and then switch to counterclockwise for fifteen seconds and five circles. The process is repeated periodically, but the time you stir and the number of rotations is increased each time you begin again."

Miya didn't say anything. Even if she wanted, no words would have been able to come about. Conversation eluded her at that moment. All she could think of was how Naruto's muscular chest and abs felt against her back, of his arms around her shoulders, of how much larger his calloused hand was as it engulfed her much smaller and daintier digits, and of the incredible warmth currently surrounding her on all sides.

Yes, Miya was having a few too many problems to think about how many clockwise and counterclockwise stirs were needed to create Naruto's Miso soup.

"Think you got it?" asked Naruto, startling Miya out of her embarrassed reverie.

"I-I'm sorry. What?"

Naruto looked down at her, confusion spread across his features. "Are you feeling alright?"

"O-Of course," Miya didn't sound very convinced of her own condition. She even stuttered, which was so unlike Miya it wasn't even funny.

"You sure? Your face is all red."

"That... it's just because I'm standing over a pot of soup. It's the steam." Miya's excuse sounded weak, even to her own ears. Naruto stared at her for a minute longer, before deciding not to question the woman. If she wanted to believe she was perfectly alright, then who was he to argue?

Women could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Alright," he said easily enough. "So, think you've got my instructions down?"

No.

"Yes," Miya lied. She hadn't even been paying attention to his words. Her sole focus had been on the feel of his hand over hers, of the strength in his arms, and the muscles of his chest. It was on the fluttering of her heart, the fast, humming bird beating that throbbed like nothing she had ever experienced before.

But couldn't very well tell him that, could she?

"Okay then," Naruto stepped away, and Miya found herself both relieved and disappointed. "I'll let you finish stirring the Miso, then. I really should be paying attention to those noodles anyway. Don't want them getting all soggy and gross."

"Of course," Miya gave a smile she didn't quite feel, "You do that, I'll handle this."

"Right!"

All was quiet for a while, with only the bubbling and boiling and squeaking of the food while it was being cooked breaking the silence. Naruto eventually started humming to himself again, causing Miya to look over his way. When she saw the smile on his face, the unusual (for Naruto) glimmer in his eyes, the purple-haired landlady found herself looking away with red-stained cheeks.

It was this scene that Akitsu walked into. She took several steps into the room, her heels clacking against the wooden tile, alerting Naruto and Miya to her presence, and then paused when she saw the two of them cooking.

"Ah..."

A pause.

"...Ashikabi-sama is awake."

"Good morning to you, too, Akitsu," Naruto gestured for the snow maiden to come over. "Would you like to help us cook?"

"...Yes."

Akitsu walked over to them, but before she could begin helping Naruto and Miya cook breakfast, the only male of the trio pulled the silvery-haired young woman into his arms and gave her a sound kiss.

Wings of light erupted from Akitsu's back, silvery and flourescent. They expanded outwards, pushing against the borders of the wall and creating several small spots of hoarfrost where ever they touched a hard surface. After they disappeared, Naruto spent several more long seconds making sure that Akitsu's mouth had been thoroughly kissed before releasing her.

"A-Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu mumbled in shock, the skin of her cheeks flushed a light pink and her eyes showing more emotion than anyone had ever seen in them: shock.

"Na-ru-to-san..." Unlike Akitsu, who looked both pleased and surprised, Miya looked, well, kind of angry. Her right eye was twitching, there was a vein throbbing on her forehead, and her face was red with righteous fury. Despite her apparent annoyance, she still smiled. "I do hope for your sake, that you are not turning into a ravenous beast. I would hate to be forced to kick you out."

"Don't worry, Miya." Naruto gave the purple-haired female his own brilliant smile, complete with sparkling dentures. He also stuck out his left hand and gave her a thumbs up gesture. "I was just giving Akitsu a good morning kiss. It was perfectly innocent."

"Hmph! Perhaps you should keep such things in private from now on," Miya huffed, trying ti hide her annoyance. "It's not like I actually care about who you kiss or anything. I was simply saying that if you are going to display such affection, then it should be done somewhere a little more private."

"Uh huh," Naruto muttered, smiling. "Sounds like someone's becoming a little tsundere."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

With Akitsu now helping them, breakfast was soon finished. And with the three working together, the table was set in q relatively quick and efficient manner, and the food was placed on the table.

The first person to walk in was Homura, who Naruto had to admit was looking ravenous in the shirt she'd apparently slept in. her shirt, a white, collared, button down shirt, stretched tightly across her bust and looked almost like her breasts were about to pop out of them. The first three buttons had been undone, obviously in an attempt to keep the shirt from tearing, allowing for a good portion of her creamy cleavage to be seen. On her pants were a pair of black slacks.

Even though he knew the woman had been a man at one point, he couldn't help but whistle at the sight.

"Damn. I knew you were kinda androgynous, but who knew you'd be so hot as a chick."

He also had no trouble commenting on it, apparently.

Homura blushed, both in anger and embarrassment. "D-don't stare at me, you pervert!" She hissed, her arms coming up to cover her chest.

"Yes, you good for nothing beast, don't stare at Homura," Miya chimed in with the elegance and poise one would expect from a landlady like her. Homura looked at Miya with gratitude, until Miya spoke up again. "Homura-san is obviously still getting used to her breasts. You should respect that."

"Not you too, Miya," Homura bemoaned. The fire user slumped to the floor and sat with her legs crossed. She placed her elbows on the table and buried her face into her hands.

"Ah..."

A pause. Every turned to stare at Akitsu. The woman, whose expression remained cold and unchanging, spread the folds of her kimono a little wider, causing the chains to clink together as more cleavage revealed.

"...Do I look hot, Ashikabi-sama?"

The reactions were varied. Homura face palmed. Miya's right eye twitched. And Naruto was fighting back a smile.

"You always look sexy, Akitsu."

Akitsu stared at him for a long, long moment before, finally, a small smile worked its way onto her face.

"Ah..."

Another pause.

"...I'm glad."

"I bet you are," Homura muttered, switching his glare between Akitsu and Naruto.

More and more people eventually began coming in. Kazehana flitted into the room through the sliding door that led to the yard, the smell of booze proceeding her. She had clearly been drinking, as there was a bottle of sake in her hand. She was also surprisingly quiet, walking in on silent feet and not saying a thing. The raven-haired beauty sat down near the head of the table, close to Miya, and began eying the young looking blond man before her with a speculative gleam.

"Can I help you?" asked Naruto, his head tilting.

Kazehana smiled. "Oh, don't worry about me," she said, her voice light, airy even. "I am simply trying to solve the riddle that is you. Just pretend I'm not here."

"I see," Naruto said, then shrugged. "You do that, then, though the riddle's not going to be much of one for very long."

"Did you say something?"

"Not a thing. It must have been the wind."

"Right."

"Good morning, bro! Everyone!" Uzume bounded into the room with enthusiasm and absolutely no poise. Despite what had happened last night, the young woman was grinning from ear to ear. Behind her, acting much more quiet and subdued than her Sekirei counterpart, was Chiho. "How are you all doing this fine morning?"

"What the hell are you so happy about?" Homura muttered, sounding almost spiteful.

Uzume looked over at Homura as she and Chiho sat down, frowning. "What crawled up your butt and died this morning?"

Homura scowled, blushed, and then looked away. "N-nothing."

"Homura's on her period," Naruto supplied helpfully.

…

Silence.

For all of ten seconds.

"Naruto!" Homura's face exploded and her head actually began to steam.

"N-Naruto-san!" Chiho's face was quite red as well.

"He heh!" Uzume just chuckled, a wide grin stretching across her face. "So Homura-chan's experiencing her first period. Good to know."

"Shut up, Uzume!"

As Naruto and Uzume shared a chuckle, a dark, oppressive aura descended upon the room. The blond and the brunette stopped laughing. Everyone turned their heads to see Miya, her hair whipping about her, as if caught in a stiff breeze. Several bangs fell in front of her face, casting it in shadow. All except her eyes, which could be seen as two, glowing, demonic orbs of red. Purple miasma began leaking from her body, thick, disgusting tendrils of repulsive power. And one mustn't forget the hanya masks that surrounded her.

__Dies irae! Dies illa!__

__Solvet saeclum, in favilla!__

__Teste David cum Sybilla!__

"Na-ru-to-san."

__Quantus tremor est futurus,__

__Quando judex est venturus,__

__Cuncta stricte discussurus!__

"Woah! What an ominous sounding voice. Do you take voice acting lessons, Miya?"

__Dies irae! Dies illa!__

__Solvet saeclum, in favilla!__

__Teste David cum Sybilla!__

Miya did not answer, but the oppressive forces that were trying to push down on everyone, forces that Naruto was currently counterattacking with his own powers, increased in strength.

__Quantus tremor est futurus!__

__Quando judex est venturus!__

__Cuncta stricte discussurus!__

"Hey, bro? Do you know what's up with this latin chanting?"

"I'm not sure. I think it might have something to do with Miya going crazy yandere on us, though."

"Oh, okay."

__Quantus tremor est futurus! (Dies irae! Dies illa!)__

"Na-ru-to-san," Miya smiled a devils smile. "I do hope you are not ignoring me."

__Quantus tremor est futurus! (Dies irae! Dies illa!)__

Naruto returned her smile with one that was bright, sunny, and seemed completely oblivious to the feelings of DOOM that were leaking from Miya like a cracked sieve. "Of course I wasn't, Miya. You know I would never ignore you. I love you too much."

"E-eh?" The oppressive, which had begun causing everyone but Naruto to sweat, vanished just as quickly as it came, leaving Miya standing before them, blinking as her mind worked its way around his words. When she finally seemed to comprehend the meaning behind what he said, her face took on a slightly pinkened hue. "Love? Y-you mean..."

"Of course!" Naruto smiled brightly. "I love Miya very much. She's such an amazing person. She's kind and compassionate. She's an excellent cook and an amazing proprietor. She's always looking out for her tenants and willing to them an ear when they're in trouble. And she's really pretty, just what you'd expect of my favorite landlady in the world."

"Oh... oh my." Miya held her hands to her cheeks, her face growing all warm and fuzzy. The woman seemed to completely forget about her earlier anger. In fact, she appeared to forget about everything else around her, too, as she began ignoring those who were just now coming in (Musubi, Tsukiumi and Kusano), and sat down at the head of the table, swooning. Which was impressive because Asama Miya does not swoon.

"Damn. Way to go bro."

Uzume's words. Naruto simply held his hands up in a V.

All the while, Kazehana was watching the blond male, rubbing her thighs together as she contemplated the enigmatic blond.

"Hm."

XoX

Breakfast was a rowdy affair. It was normally a pretty festive time, but this time it was even more rambunctious than usual.

The reason for this was Naruto, naturally. The young (looking) blond man seemed a lot happier now than he had ever been. His smiles were more real, he cracked more jokes with Uzume, teased Tsukiumi and Homura, traded banter with Miya and talks with Chiho, he laughed a lot more too. None of those present were quite sure what had caused this sudden change (Uzume planned on making a betting pool about whether or not the cause was doing the nasty with Musubi), but all of them were just relieved to see their fellow tenant doing better.

"Here it comes, Ku-chan! Say 'ah!'"

"Ah!"

Everyone watched, small smiles touching their lips, as Naruto fed Kusano ramen. The little girl was sitting on Naruto's lap, perpendicular to the man himself. As he brought the fork containing twirled up ramen noodles closer to her mouth, the Green Girl would open wide, allowing the fork into her mouth, clamp down, and then begin to chew after the steel utensil left to twirl up some more ramen.

"Ne, ne, Tsukiumi," Uzume grinned slyly at the blond woman, who was looking at Naruto and Kusano with a tiny blush and glazed over eyes. "I bet you're thinking about what a great dad Naruto's going to make to your future kids, right?"

"Yes," she said without thinking, nodding her head. Exactly two seconds later, the nodding stopped and Tsukiumi's head snapped towards Uzume so quickly that a loud crack emanated from it. "Wh-wha―I mean no! O-of course not! I wasn't think, I mean it wasn't like, well, he is, you know, he's my husband so... so..." As the woman's words trailed off into unintelligible gibberish, Uzume grinned, even as her Ashikabi palmed her face.

"Oh Uzume-chan..."

"What? A girl's gotta have her fun somehow."

"I think you're definition of fun is vastly different from everyone elses," Homura muttered, still scowling. She was obviously still upset from the way Uzume and Naruto had teased her.

"Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud, Homura-chan!" Uzume slapped the fire user's back. "Lighten up. Live a little."

"I think you live enough for the both of us," the silver-haired woman said sardonically. "And don't call me Homura-chan!"

"Fu, what an interesting batch of tenants you have here, Miya-san," Kazehana, still drinking her sake like it was going out of style, said, her eyes glued to Naruto, who was speaking with Musubi and Matsu about something while continuing to feed Kusano.

"They're all very lively," Miya admitted. Kazehana looked over at her former commander, saw where she was looking, and then smirked.

"Especially that Naruto. He's quite the specimen, if I do say so myself. Wouldn't you agree?"

Miya started to, then quickly realized what she was doing and scowled. "Of course not," she turned her head away. "Naruto-san is nothing more than a lecherous beast who preys upon woman so that he can satisfy his own lustful urges."

"You sure you're not just jealous that Musubi got to him first?"

"What was that?" Miya asked, smiling pleasantly, a hanya mask peeking out from behind her shoulder.

"...Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

Breakfast soon came to an end after everyone had their fill. Uzume leaned back and gave a content sigh, rubbing her belly.

"Man, that was good. I was skeptical about having ramen for breakfast, but that was some damn good ramen."

"Thank you," Naruto nodded his head graciously. "It's an old recipe, one I perfected many, many years ago."

"You know when you talk like that, it makes you sound like an old man," Uzume told him.

"So I've been told," Naruto replied in a wry voice. He then cleared his throat, loudly, getting the attention of those around him. Everyone looked his way, causing him to straighten his back. "I have a lot of things I want to tell you guys. I've been... keeping secrets from everyone, and I believe it's time to finally come clean."

"Keeping secrets?" Miya opened her eyes, fully revealing her amethyst irises to the world as she stared at Naruto with a hard look. "Does this secret of yours have anything to do with that horrible feeling I got yesterday when we were helping those two escape?"

"Give the woman a cookie," Naruto joked, though it came out sounding weak. He sighed, his hands coming up to rub Kusano's hair. The girl seemed to enjoy the attention, as she began rubbing her head against his hand. "Yes, it does have to do with what you, and likely every other Ashikabi and Sekirei, and maybe even a few non ashikabi humans, felt. But it's a lot more than that. I would like to ask that each of you remain quiet while I tell you my story. Afterward, if you have any questions, you may ask them, but not until I finish."

"So you're finally going to tell us your secrets, Naruto-san?" asked Matsu, her glasses now off and her mature face and analytical eyes gazing at him. She then puffed up her cheeks, just a little. "The secrets that not even I was able to find?"

"Yes."

"In that case, I'm all ears."

"Right." Naruto sighed, closing his eyes and thinking about how he wanted to tell his story. He had decided on this course of action last night, just before falling asleep, but actually committing to it was hard. He sighed. It would probably be best if he just winged it. That's how he used to do everything, and it had worked out, usually.

Opening his eyes, the young man began his tale.

"To understand my story, you need to know the history of my people. Hundreds of years before I was born, there was a man who was hailed as the creator of all Ninjutsu and the Savior of the World..."

* * *

><p><strong>I didn't get as far as I had hoped, but this chapter was beginning to get long, and I want to get Naruto's entire backstory out of the way in one chapter. I'll warn you all right now that Naruto's backstory is completely AU from how recent canon goes. There is no Kaguya Otsusuki. Madara was still the ultimate bad guy in this story. I think Kishimoto really fucked up when he created this new ultimate villain. He's honestly just trying to milk a dying cow by crapping more shit out of his ass in order to make more chapters. I pretty much stopped reading the manga after Kaguya was introduced.<strong>

**Anyway, Naruto's backstory will diverge from canon sometime around chapter 627 or thereabouts.**


	35. A Long Time Past

**A/N: This chapter completely deviates from Naruto Canon after Madara's revival. That means everything is AU, so I don't want to hear about how this and that aren't what really happened in Naruto. I know that. I just don't care. As far as I'm concerned, Naruto started to suck after Sasuke told everyone he wanted to be Hokage.**

**Chapter 35: A Time Long Past**

* * *

><p><em>My story actually begins long before I was born. I think it was several hundred years or so, but it could have been a thousand. A lot of history has been lost, and it was never really clear on just when the events I am about to speak of take place.<em>

_It had been a time of great strife. A period of continuous warfare. I was told that this time, which was called the warring states era, was the bloodiest period in our history, beating out even the wars that happened between us shinobi._

_During this time of bloodshed, a man appeared. I do not know his name. I never learned it. All I know is that he called himself the Rikudou Sennin, or the Sage of Six Paths. Wielding power that was beyond most mortals, the Rikudou Sennin ended the warring states era and bringing with it a long lasting peace._

_While the Rikudou Sennin is known for bringing an end to an era of bloodshed, he is also known for something else. I don't know when it happened, whether before, during, or after the wars ended, but sometime in his life, the Sage battled a being of extraordinary power, a primal god that had taken on the form of a beast with ten tails. He battled this monster, and eventually won, by sealing it inside of himself, becoming the first human sacrifice._

"He sealed it inside himself? Is that even possible?"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking, Uzume!"

"Heh he. Sorry."

_The Sage journeyed after that, spreading his teachings among the land, instructing his fellow man in the art he had created called Ninjutsu. Sometime during his journey he sired two sons. Each son inherited some of the power from their father. The older son inherited the Sage's powerful eyes, while the younger inherited his strong body and powerful chakra._

"What's chakra?"

"Uzume..."

"Actually, I am curious, too, Naruto-san."

"Alright, alright. I'm sure at least some of you have heard the term chakra before, yes? I thought so. Much of what you know about chakra is probably wrong, or even an outright lie. Chakra is a combination of the bodies physical and spiritual energy mixed together within a series of pathways called the Chakra Circulatory System. Think of this system in the same way you would the veins that pump blood through your body, only instead of blood, they pump chakra."

"So this chakra is some kind of energy, then?"

"Yes. It's an energy that most humans are no longer capable of using, though it looks like anyone who is an Ashikabi has the potential to use it."

"What can people do with chakra?"

"A lot of things, actually. By directing the flow of chakra via a series of hand seals based on the twelve animals of the zodiac, chakra can be made to power and shape ninjutsu, ninja arts. The effects can be varied. Anything from controlling the elements to sealing powerful entities inside of humans to even making corporeal copies of yourself become possible."

"Like you and your clones!"

"Yes, Musubi, like me and my clones."

"Wait. You can clone yourself? Does that mean you can do a rendition of the Clone Wars, bro?"

"You couldn't pay me to do a Star Wars skit."

"Aw, man!"

"Can I see you make a clone?"

"Maybe if I can finish telling my story."

"Sorry. Please continue."

"Right. Now where was I? Oh yes!"

_So the eldest inherited the eyes, and the youngest the chakra. The Rikudou Sennin taught his sons everything he knew, showing them his art, and teaching them about peace. Yet he was troubled. He knew that his life would eventually end, and he would need to choose a successor._

_His eldest son was said to be a true prodigy, a genius in every sense of the word. Everything the Sage taught him, the son learned, soaking it up like a sponge. On the other hand, his youngest had absolutely not talent, proving to be the eldest son's exact opposite in every way._

_Despite his lack of talent, the younger son pushed on, forging his own path. Because of the struggles he faced, he grew stronger and more mature with each passing year and ended up making many friends along the way. In the end, the Sage decided that his younger son, who believed the path to peace was through love and understanding, who would inherit his ideals and lead the world to true peace._

_Inspired by his younger son, the Sage separated the Ten-Tails' chakra within his body and used his Creation of All Things ability to divide it into nine separated bodies, creating the tailed beasts and giving each a name. As a result of extracting them all at once, the Sage was left weakened and incapacitated for several months, though the powerful life force of the Ten-Tails' husk kept him alive. Some time after their creation, the young tailed beasts were told that they were all still linked to one another despite being separate entities. The Rikudou Sennnin also told them that they would eventually become one again, yet not as they originally were, and that one shall appear at that time to show them what true power is. The Sage eventually used Chibaku Tensei to seal the husk of the Ten-Tails in what would become the moon. On his deathbed, he chose his youngest to be his successor._

_It was this critical decision that caused the world to once again spiral into war and strive once again. The Sage's eldest son, angry and bitter about his father choosing the younger son as his successor, tried to kill his brother. This sparked what would later become known as the war-torn era._

_The two sons would eventually go on to form their own clans. The Senju clan, given birth by the youngest son, and the Uchiha clan, created by the eldest son. And much like the two sons of the Sage, these clans would be bitter rivals. Whenever someone hired a Senju to do a job for them, you can bet that those opposing them would hire an Uchiha._

_Two figures rose to eventual prominence within these clans. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. These two would go on to fight each other many times, until, eventually, one of them got sick of all the fighting and struck a truce._

_Senju Hashirama was a man who dreamed of peace. In his desire to create that peace, he managed to strike an accord with Madara to stop the senseless fighting. He gathered more shinobi clans to his cause, and eventually went on to form the first hidden village, Konohagakure no Saito. The village hidden in the leaves, and my home._

"Village Hidden in the Leaves? Who names a village that?"

"So no one was very good at coming up with any original names. So sue them."

"You know, I think I will."

"Be quiet, Uzume. Let Naruto talk."

"Look at you, getting so defensive, Homura. Are you falling for bro?"

"F-f-falling for―don't be stupid! I'm simply interested in the story! Nothing more! This and that are two different things!"

"Sure, sure. I believe you... not."

"Grr!"

"Oi! Do you two want me to continue my story or not? If so, then shut up!"

"..."

"..."

"Good. Now then, the village hidden in the leaves was where I was born. It was decades after the Senju Hashirama, who became the villages first leader, its Hokage, passed away..."

XoX

"_Get back here, you damn brat!"_

"_We're going to get you!"_

"_You've gone too far this time!"_

_With paint spilling out of the buckets I had in my hands, sloshing all over the ground, I looked behind me to see several ninja with blue pants, blue long-sleeve shirts, blue sandals, and a green flack jacket, chasing after me. I felt a brief moment of pity for these fools. So much blue... they were obviously upset because they didn't have any orange to wear. Standard ninja attire was pretty much all blue._

_What a boring color._

_Note to self: the first law you make as Hokage must be that all shinobi under your command must wear orange._

_I laughed at the people chasing me, especially when one of them stepped in the present I left them and ended up falling face first to the ground and tearing his shoe apart. "Hahahaha! You losers are just jealous because you didn't think of this first!"_

"_NARUTOOOO~!"_

_The chase I gave them was a merry one. I like to think I was helping them become better shinobi. I get to play my pranks and they get some exercise. It was a win-win as far as I could see. Though, I think they might have gotten a slightly better deal out of this. I mean, after all, I am pretty damn awesome._

_I eventually got tired of being chased, however, and ended up camouflaging myself to blend in with a part of the passing fence using one of my super awesome ninja techniques that let me hide from people. They moved right on passed, never even noticing that I had become one with the wall, or the fence, but you get the idea._

_After the last one had left, I pulled down the tarp, painted like the fence, laughing as I thought about how those Chunin were probably still chasing me, or at least they thought they were._

"_Hehehehe, losers."_

"_Who's a loser, Naruto?"_

_A voice behind me startled me, causing me to leap several feet in the air Paint splashed as I hit the ground. I tried landing on my feet, but must have tripped over something, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on my backside, rubbing my tailbone from the hard fall I'd just taken. There was a shadow looming over me._

_Umino Iruka was one of those people that looked plain. Like the others, he didn't have any orange on him anywhere, just the standard blue uniform and green jacket. His skin was the color of light brown, showing he'd spent much time out in the sun. Both his eyes and hair were a darker shade of brown, and his hair was tied up and made his head look like a pineapple. A single scar ran down the bridge of his nose._

_Iruka was an instructor at the academy I went to, the place where I trained to become a badass ninja. He was also really stern. The man didn't seem to have a single funny bone in his body, always getting in the way of his pranks and ruining his fun. The jerk._

"_Hehehe..." I scratched the back of my head, trying not to show just how nervous I was at being caught. Who knew what kind of punishments this man would give me. I could already see the crap he would put me through. "Hey there, Iruka-sensei. How's it hanging?"_

"_Don't you hows it hanging me, Uzumaki Naruto. You're supposed to be in class."_

"_Was I?" I would have whistled innocently, but I didn't know how to whistle, so decided not to. "I guess I forgot. Heh, whoopsies."_

"_Whoopsies? I find you not in class, come out here and search for you, only to find that you've completely defiled the Hokage monument, and all you can say is 'whoopsies?'"_

"_Um!" I beamed at him. "Pretty much. I'm glad you understand, sense―Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Gah! Let go of my ear! That hurts!"_

"_Good. Maybe the pain will teach you a lesson. Now come on. We have to get too class. I think I'm going to be giving you guys a pop quiz today, to make sure you're actually learning, you know, since you decided not to show up."_

"_W-what!? A pop quiz? Come on, Iruka-sensei, have mercy here!"_

"_Sorry. All out of mercy."_

"_No! No! NOOOOO~!"_

XoX

"Oh my, it sounds like Naruto was a real trouble-maker back in his youth," Miya said, her hands raised to her cheeks. "If that is what you were like as a child, it's no wonder you've become such a lecherous beast."

"Oh gee. Thanks, Miya. You always know just what to say to make this humble Uzumaki Naruto feel good about himself."

Miya's smile was beatific. "I do try."

"Heh he," Uzume gave her customary chuckle as she grinned at the blond-haired man. "I would have loved to meet you as a kid, bro. You sound awesome."

"I know, right? Think of all the pranks the two of us could have pulled."

"Ugh, just stop right there," Homura said, grimacing. "That's something I don't even want to think about. The ruckus you two cause on your own is bad enough. I don't even want to think about the kinds of chaos that would be unleashed if you decided to work together."

"In that case, you'd better be careful, Homura-chan." Uzume gave the fire user a teasing grin. "Bro and I might just decide to give you and Maison Izumo a make over."

"I do hope you will not touch my house, Uzume-san." Miya's smile, though pleasant, carried with it an underlying hint of terror, one that had Uzume gulping. "I would hate to have to force poor Chiho-san out on the streets because you couldn't contain yourself."

"Uh, ah, d-did I say redecorate Maison Izumo? I simply meant redecorating my room. Ah ha. Ahahahahaha ha..."

Chiho shook her head. "Very smooth, Uzume-chan."

"Ugh."

"Would you all be quiet," Tsukiumi said, glaring at the people around her, except for Miya, who scared the crap out of her. You don't glare at a person who can produce freaky ass hanya masks at the drop of a hat, unless you were insane or your name happened to be Uzumaki Naruto. "Please continue with your story, husband."

Naruto smiled at Tsukiumi, partly for her words, but mostly because, even after what he did to her, she still called him husband.

XoX

_I had failed. I couldn't believe it. After years of practicing, after years of training, I failed to pass my ninja exams... for the third time in three years._

_If only Iruka-sensei hadn't made the jutsu needed to pass that stupid clone jutsu. I could do the substitution fine, and my henge was impeccable―anyone who saw Oroike-chan would know that. The only jutsu I was incapable of doing was that Kami be damned clone._

_A rush of anger surged through me, but it left just as quickly as it had come. I felt empty. Empty and alone and unwanted. I was a failure. How could I be Hokage when I can't even pass a stupid test?_

_Depressed and lonely, I watched as the other students, all of whom were sporting headbands, bragged to joyful parents about how they passed their ninja exam with flying colors. They were all so happy, so excited, like they were on top of the world. I wanted to feel angry at them, but couldn't seem to bring the emotion up._

_Two women noticed me._

"_Hey, did you hear? That one failed... again."_

"_It's a good thing, too. Could you imagine what would happen if they let 'him' pass? I mean, he's the nine―"_

"_Shh! We aren't supposed to talk about that."_

_I ignored the two women as they talked. This wasn't the first time it had happened. It probably wouldn't be the last either._

_I did wonder what they were talking about, though. Call me crazy, but I always had the feeling that the people around me, the people who ignored me and looked me with the scornful, hate filled eyes, knew something that I didn't. Something about me. Something I should know but didn't know. I remember asking old man Hokage once, if he knew, but he just said it was misguided hatred and they would get over it eventually._

_That was six years ago._

_They hadn't gotten over it._

"_There you are."_

_I blinked, coming back to myself. Looking up, I saw Mizuki-sensei standing in front of me. He dressed a lot like Iruka, all blue clothing and green jacket. I swear, it's like every ninja has the fashion sense of a brain-dead earthworm. Sitting atop his head, covered by a bandana with the metal headplate of a leaf on it, was bright, silvery hair. Unlike Iruka, who had brown eyes and tanned skin. Mizuki had blue eyes and pale skin. He actually looked kind of pasty._

"_I've been looking everywhere for you," Mizuki continued. He then made a gesture with his hand. "Come with me. I wanted to talk to you."_

_I hesitated for a moment. Nothing personal sensei, but I didn't really feel like talking right now. That's what I wanted to say, but I didn't. Instead, I stood up and silently followed him, which was how I eventually found myself sitting on the roof of a small building, one of several that made up the shinobi academy._

"_I know Iruka may be harsh," Mizuki started, "But he only wants what's best for you. He's afraid that if he sends you out into the field, untrained and unprepared, you won't survive. That's why he's always so hard on you."_

"_I know that..." I grumbled. "I know that, but I just... I really wanted to graduate this time." I think a little emotion bleed into my voice, maybe. I couldn't be sure, because calling up any feelings other than how depressed I was seemed to be a choir._

"_Then I guess I'm going to have to tell you," Mizuki said, and I looked over at him to see him smirking at me._

"_Tell me what?"_

"_Tell you about the secret make up test, of course."_

_Secret make up test. It almost sounded too good to be true, but it wasn't. Mizuki told all about it, how all I had to do was steal a scroll locked inside of the Hokage mansion and learn a single jutsu from it. This was right up my alley, I thought to myself. Sneaking in places was something I was awesome at. I would have that scroll in no time._

_It probably helped that the Hokage monument was only lightly guarded. A few Chunin patrolling the grounds. They were easy to sneak past. I evaded Chunin on a daily basis. If the Hokage or anyone else thought those idiots were keeping me from graduating, then he had another thing coming._

_The make up test went off without a hitch. I stole the scroll, a big one that I had to strap across my back using some ninja wire, and made my way into the forest, the meeting place for the final portion of the test. It was just a small clearing with a storage shed. I set the scroll down, spread it open, and then looked at the first jutsu._

"_Shadow clones?" I blinked, then felt my face twist into a rictus of horror. "Not another clone jutsu! Dammit! I suck at making clones!"_

_Despite my inability to make clones, I actually found out that the shadow clone, or rather, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, were actually very easy to create. It only required a single hand seal, and after about an hours worth of practice, I had managed to form three clones, which appeared before me in a puff of smoke._

_After celebrating my success, complete with giving my three selves a proper high-five, I bent back down to see if I could learn another jutsu. I mean, sure, I could pass the test with just one jutsu, but if I learned two, then I would ace it. No one would question the awesome might of Uzumaki Naruto ever again. The old man might even decide to just give me the hat._

_Too bad Iruka chose that moment to ruin my chances of learning more._

"_Naruto!"_

_I was surprised, but I didn't let it show. Never let 'em see you sweat._

"_Ha!" I jumped to my feet, pointing at Iruka. "I found you, sensei!"_

"_No, idiot! I found you!"_

"_Hehehe, you're fast, Iruka-sensei. I only managed to learn one jutsu from the scroll."_

_Iruka blinked. Stared at me. Then blinked again. He then looked around the clearing, his eyebrows furrowed. I wonder what he was thinking._

_Whatever. Time for me to show off with my new kickass jutsu!_

"_Ne, ne, sensei." I got his attention again. "Now that I've got a super cool jutsu down, don't you think its about time I graduated?"_

"_What? Graduated?"_

"_Yeah, yeah. That's how this works, right? I sneak in and take the scroll, learn a jutsu from it, and then I get to graduate."_

_Iruka narrowed his eyes. "Who told you that?"_

"_Mizuki-sensei did. He told me about how to get the scroll and this... place..." I trailed off as I noticed the look on Iruka-sensei's face. He looked angry. I felt panic for a second. Was he angry at me? But I did everything right! I snuck into the Hokage mansion and didn't get caught by anyone. I managed to get out with the scroll and looked a kick ass jutsu. Why he was angry?_

_That's when I heard the whistling sound_

"_Get down!"_

_It all happened too fast for me to follow. Iruka shoved back, sending me to the ground. I groaned, sat up, and was about to complain to Iruka when I saw something that caused my throat to close up in horror._

_Iruka-sensei was standing several feet away, his arms crossed over his face. Several kunai were sticking out of his arms and flack jacket. I could see blood, glistening red in the moonlight as it trailed down his arm and stained his shirt._

"_So glad of you to join us, Iruka." The familiar sound of Mizuki-sensei's voice had me focusing on a tree branch several meters away. Mizuki-sensei was crouched down, dressed in his normal ninja attire. The only difference was that Mizuki-sensei had a large fuuma shuriken on his back._

_I looked at him in confusion. What was going on?_

"_Mizuki," Iruka-sensei scowled. "I see... so that's how it is. You were just using Naruto to steel the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing!"_

_Mizuki-sensei laughed. "That's right! I did!"_

"_Wh-what's going on?" I asked._

"_Naruto!" Mizuki-sensei held out his hand. "Give me the scroll!"_

"_Don't do it, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei shouted. "You can't let Mizuki have the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu that could put the village in great danger! Mizuki used you to gain the scroll for himself, for his own power!"_

"_Naruto." Mizuki's voice flowed like silk. "Iruka's just trying to scare you because he doesn't want you to have the scroll."_

"_What...?"_

_Numbness spread throughout my body. What was going on? Forbbiden scroll? Using me? Who was using me? Mizuki-sensei? Or Iruka-sensei? Was Mizuki-sensei right? Was Iruka-sensei lying to him because he didn't want him to have the scroll? Who was right?_

"_Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei shouted. "He's just trying to trick you! He's lying!"_

_Mizuki-sensei chuckled, dark and sinister. I felt a shiver run down my spine. "Oh, I'll tell you who's lying."_

_Iruka-sensei's eyes widened. "No Mizuki!"_

"_They've been lying to you your whole life," Mizuki-sensei said, heedless of Iruka-sensei shouting at him. "Since the degree of twelve years ago."_

_I felt something in Mizuki-sensei's voice, something that made my spine shiver. I didn't know what he was talking about, but my heart couldn't help from beating a little bit faster._

"_W-What degree?"_

"_Everyone knows except you. Iruka's trying to hide it even now. He'd do anything to shut me up."_

"_What is this degree? What are you talking about?" I couldn't help but ask. Was this degree the reason everyone hated me? Why every time I walked down the streets people glared at me? Why I was hated, alone, unwanted? I had to know._

"_Mizuki don't! It's forbidden!"_

"_The degree is that no one can tell you that the Kyuubi no Yoko, the demon that destroyed our village is sealed inside of you!" My eyes widened. "The fox that nearly eradicated our home and killed Iruka's parents is inside your body. You are the Kyuubi no Yoko!"_

XoX

"Wait! You're telling me that The Kyuubi no Yoko is sealed inside of you!?" Homura, surprisingly, was the one to break the silence first this time. The female fire user looked like someone had just told her that Elvis had come back from the dead as a Sekirei.

"Was," Naruto corrected. "The Kyuubi was sealed inside of me. Oh, and please don't call him the Kyuubi. He was only given that name by humans because they didn't know his real name."

"And what is his real name, Naruto-san?" asked Miya, sounding equal parts curious and disbelieving.

"Kurama." Naruto smiled, nostalgia rushing through him like a flowing river as a series of memories paced across his face. "He and I never got along when we first met. I used to think of him as a burden, someone who caused me large amounts of grief, and I took that out on him by demanding chakra and ignoring him like he didn't exist, treating him just like the villagers treated me."

Naruto's hand went to his stomach, where the seal that held his friend had once been. It was gone now, along with Kurama. Back when he had first woken up, it had actually been Kurama's loss that hit him the hardest. The fox had always been with him, ever since he was a baby, and while Naruto had seen that as a burden at first, the ornery kitsune had become his most cherished companion and friend.

"Over time Kurama and I became friends. When the Fourth Great Shinobi War came upon us, he and I teamed up for the first time and formed a bond of friendship."

"What is the Fourth Great Shinobi War?" asked Matsu. A glance at the bespectacled woman revealed that she was typing on a small tablet, her fingers flying over it at incredible speeds. Naruto could only assume she was taking notes of everything he said.

"It was..." Naruto paused, considering. How did one explain the war that started it all? The war that had given him his curse? "It was a war that had been started by a madman. A war filled with betrayal and pain and death. It was the first and last war where I truly lost everything. I'll tell you about it soon, but let me get back to my story."

XoX

_After beating Mizuki, I was allowed to graduate. At the time, I used to think it was because I showed off my mad skills with shadow clones, but the more I think on it, the more I begin to think Iruka had seen something inside of me. Perhaps it was the will of fire that my people cherished and spoke of so much. I don't know._

_Becoming a genin also meant I would be placed into a genin team. In Konoha, genin teams consist of four ninja, a Jonin sensei, the highest rank among ninja and just below the Hokage, and three genin. It was the first Hokage who formed this idea of four man squads. It was his belief that teamwork was one of the most important aspects a Konoha shinobi could have. By having four members to a squad, it meant that you had enough people that you could all protect each other, but not so many that you would be bogged down and unable to move swiftly and efficiently. I suppose you could say he made the whole concept of four man squads a national standard._

_Anyway, I became part of a four man squad consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi, and our designated call number was Team Seven._

_It was tough at first, being on this team, I mean. We didn't really get a long very well, or at all, actually. Our dynamic was absolutely terrible. I remember, back then, I had a crush on Sakura, but she had a crush on Sasuke, and Sasuke, well, I think he ever loved anyone._

_Despite our lack of team dynamic and inability to work together, we managed to do alright. We passed our genin test set by Kakashi and ended up going on a number of missions._

_I will tell you right now that D-rank missions are the bane of every genin teams existence. We did everything from walking talks to painting fences to pulling weeds. None of that was much fun, and I don't think there was ever a time back then when I wouldn't complain to Kakashi about how I was too awesome for such lame ass missions._

_Back then, I hadn't know the real reason for D-rank missions. They weren't given as a means of boring genin to death, but to help foster teamwork. Had my team and I tried working together, we might have eventually realized that. We didn't, though, because none of us had been that smart at the time. And while Sasuke might have been considered a genius and Sakura was a bookworm, both were blinded by their own misguided perception of the world. I wasn't any better. In fact, I might have been worse._

_Still, we continued to work and continued to grow. Our first mission out of the village had been a real eye opener. My team and I had almost gotten ourselves killed when a seemingly innocuous mission to escort a bridge builder ended up with us fighting for our lives against a ninja on the same caliber of Kakashi. Our team just barely managed to make it out of that situation alive, but I think we came out stronger for it._

_Team Seven faced many trials and tribulations after that. In our first and only Chunin Exam, the examinations that determine which among the newest batch of genin has what it takes to become a Chunin, we ended up fighting against giant snakes, a powerful S-class ninja who turned traitor to our village, and an unstable Jinchurikki who'd had the one-tailed tanuki, Shukaku, sealed inside of him when he was still in his mothers womb. Through all of that I trained and grew stronger, if not smarter, and finally managed to start making a difference in the way Konoha saw me._

_Perhaps it was because of my own naivete at the time, but those good times did not last._

_Sasuke, who I had begun forming a bond of friendship and brotherhood with, became increasingly angry at my own incredible leaps in strength. Within a month, I had gone to the dead last of my graduating class, to someone who could fight people that were possessed by powerful chakra entities. It must have seemed as if I was surpassing him by leaps and bounds. And so, about a day or two after our last mission to help someone with a race, Sasuke abandoned the village, leaving us to link up with the traitor Orochimaru._

_We didn't let him go without a fight, naturally. He was our comrade, and so we gathered together a team and went after him._

_At first, I think we all believed that Sasuke had been kidnapped. It was a well-known fact that Orochimaru, the S-class traitor I was speaking of, coveted jutsu. It was his desire to learn all the jutsu in the world, which would explain why he wanted Sasuke._

_I think I mentioned this before, but Sasuke was a member I the Uchiha clan, the same clan that descended from the Sage's eldest son. Like all members of the clan, Sasuke had the Sharingan, a powerful ocular ability that allowed him to copy any technique he saw by analyzing the flow of someone's chakra. It was a powerful ability, and the main reason why Orochimaru wanted Sasuke. It was his plan to bring Sasuke into the fold, and then steal his body using a kind of possession jutsu._

_All of my friends fought hard, and thanks to them I was able to reach Sasuke, but I soon came to realize that it was no use. My friend wasn't being manipulated. He was willingly going to Orochimaru. I tried to stop, by force when I realized words were having no effect. The ensuing battle damaged much of the surrounding landscape where our fight took place. I fought as hard as I could. I gave it my all. But my best hadn't been good enough, and Sasuke managed to beat me and leave._

_I wouldn't see him again for over two years._

_After my battle with Sasuke, I left Konoha to go on a training trip with my godfather, Jiraiya, a powerful ninja on par with the one that Sasuke had joined. I learned a lot, and returned to Konoha a little over two and a half years, stronger, and maybe even a little more mature._

_Maybe it was due to my new strength, or perhaps it was because there were other forces at work, but the dangers I faced after returning to Konoha became more difficult than ever._

_The first of those dangers, and the one that posed the greatest threat to myself, was a group calling themselves Akatsuki. They were a group of nine S-ranked ninja, each one powerful enough to take on a kage and each one possessing a unique ability that made them even more dangerous. Their goal was to gather all of the Bijuu unto themselves, though at the time, none of us knew what their reasons were. All we knew was that we couldn't just hand over power like that, not to them, or anyone else._

_There were other threats that came our way as well: demons, people who wanted to wipe Konoha from the face of the map by raising an army of ninja zombies, and all manner of threats. These threats soon came to a head when a man calling himself Pain attacked my village._

_Pain was the first person I ever fought who truly made me doubt my strength. His power was unbelievable. He attacked Konoha on his own, a one man army, and destroyed the entire village. All of its ninja were defeated, and by the time I arrived from my own training on Mt. Myoboku, Konoha had become nothing more than a large crater._

_My battle with Pain had been the most difficult one up to that point. Even after my training on Mt. Myoboku, where I had learned to gather and channel the nature energy of the world into myself in order to increase my physical abilities and range when fighting hand to hand, I still wasn't strong enough to win. Pain eventually had me, defeated and lying on the ground,unable to move. I would have been captured right then and there, but the timely intervention of one of my friends. Even then, my friend almost died and I became so angry that Kurama, who I still wasn't getting along with at the time, managed to take control of my body and rampage across the ruins of Konoha. Only the timely intervention of my old man, who had sealed a portion of his chakra inside of me just in case things ever got to the point they had. He saved me, and thanks to him, I was able to wrest control back from the Kurama and beat Pain._

_I confronted the true person behind the persona of Pain, a man named Nagato, who had been an apprentice to Jiraiya just like me. Though both of us shared a desire for peace, our ideologies and beliefs on how to achieve that peace were vastly different from each other. Through discussion and understanding, we were able to come to an agreement. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for killing my sensei, but at the same time, he gave his life to bring those who had died during his invasion back to life. If nothing else, I'll always respect him for what he did._

_Life continued on after that. We set out to rebuild Konoha. With the fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade, comatose from the battle against Pain, a man named Danzo stepped up to the plate and assumed the position. I never liked Danzo much, but I guess it didn't matter, because during a summit meeting of the five kages, he was killed by Sasuke, who had joined Akatsuki for the purpose of destroying Konoha._

_A lot happened after that. Tsunade woke up and resumed her position as Hokage. She convened a war council in order to prepare for the coming war, which I guess happened sometime during the meeting of the five kages. I don't know much about what happened. I wasn't there, but I did hear that the summit meeting place was pretty much trashed by Sasuke during his assassination of Danzo. It didn't really matter anyway._

_What did matter was what happened afterward. I was given a mission to go and master Kurama's powers. I set off with another Jinchurikki, an odd fellow named Killer B, who was really bad at rapping. We went to a remote island somewhere in the Land of Lightning._

_Killer B was an amazing Jinchurikki. Unlike me, who had not even bothered getting to know my Biju, he had accepted the Hachibi sealed inside of him as his friend and partner. I wanted that for myself, and though it took some convincing, I was eventually able to convince Killer B to become my teacher._

_A lot happened while I was learning how to master Kurama's chakra. I was forced to confront my own darkness. I had to fight Kurama in battle in order to gain control of his chakra. I met my mother, who had a portion of her chakra sealed away inside of me. She helped me defeat Kurama and gain control over his chakra. After that, we were confronted by a member of Akatsuki named Kisame, who was defeated by Maito Gai, a ninja of Konoha who had the bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life._

_After that battle I learned the truth behind my mission there. It wasn't actually a mission, but a means of keeping me and Killer B from helping the shinobi alliance in their war. I was able to convince Killer B to come with me and help the alliance, and though many people tried stop us, we eventually arrived at the battle field to find an unusual sight._

_An army of White Zetsu clones attacking the allied forces. Zetsu was one of the members of Akatsuki. I don't know much about the guy, other than that he looked like a man who was being eaten by a plant and got stuck halfway down. I don't know how the guy was cloned, but I hadn't really cared at the time. All that mattered to me was getting rid of the clones and helping me friends._

_Of course, there were other problems, bigger ones than just an army of white Zetsus. Someone had used the Summoning: Impure World Ressurection technique to summon several powerful warriors back from the dead, including some of the most powerful kages in the history of the Elemental Nations._

_Through the combined strength of the Allied Shinobi Nations, we managed to defeat the majority of those who had been summoned, along with much of the Zetsu army. But our luck ran out when 'he' showed up on the scene. Uchiha Madara, one of the most powerful shinobi to have ever graced the shinobi nations._

_Madara devastated the battlefield, killing all those who stood in his way. I myself did everything I could to fend him off, but even the combined might of both me and Killer B amounted to little when faced with such impossible destruction._

_With the five kages, including Tsunade, having been killed battling him previously, we were left with no other option but to retreat._

XoX

_**'You seem tired.'**_

_'That's because I am tired.'_

_I tried blinking the sleep out of my eyes. When that didn't work, I pinched myself hard enough to draw blood. My thoughts, turning about my head in slight disarray, turned to what I must look like right now. I didn't have a mirror on me, but I imagine I couldn't look good._

_A year had passed since Uchiha Madara's revival, and things had only gotten worse. While we had managed to stay alive up to this point, the death toll on our side was far too high. A number of our most powerful ninja were already gone. Most were killed by Uchiha Madara himself, but a number were done in by either Kabuto or Sasuke._

_Uchiha Sasuke. I was truly beginning to hate that name. Sasuke, the first person who ever acknowledged my existence. Sasuke, my first friend, someone I had considered a brother in all but blood. Sasuke, the person who betrayed everything I stood for, who had gone to join a traitor, who had appeared again as a traitor, and who had joined up with Uchiha Madara and killed a number of my friends and those who served me._

_I pressed my hands to my face, feeling the sweat that had gathered there despite the cold air blasting down on me from above._

_Very few good things had happened this year. In fact, the only thing I could consider good about this entire year was that I had finally managed to track down and eradicate Yakushi Kabuto. And had done so in such a way that I know for a fact he would not be able to come back._

_I really did have to thank Darui for traveling all the way to Uzu no Kuni. Without those techniques on sealing and kekkei ninjutsu, I would not have been able to erase every trace of Kabuto's presence from the world. Still, the cost for his death had been far too high._

_**'You really should stop thinking about this.'**_

_'I can't help it. If I had been a more competent leader, none of them would have died.'_

_I thought about Rock Lee and Tenten, Choji and Ino, and how all four of them had been killed by several shinobi that Kabuto had resurrected when we launched our surprise attack on him. That battle had only gone as smoothly as it had because those four had willingly given their lives to ensure that he would be able to finish Kabuto uninterrupted._

_**'They chose you to be their leader. You know as well as I do that there is no one else who can. Darui may be a tactician, but he doesn't have your charisma. None of them do. Not Temari, not Shikamaru, and don't even get me started on Killer B. That man is...'**_

_'Alright, alright. I get it. There really wasn't anyone else for the job.' I sighed. Exhaustion seeped into my bones. While I had plenty of energy, this was more of a mental exhaustion, the kind that came not from the body but from the spirit, the mind._

_There are several different kinds of exhaustion one can suffer. Exhaustion of the body is the most common. People eventually grow tired the longer they stay up, the more energy they expend. Their bodies eventually shut down with the need to rest. There was also exhaustion of the mind. It came mostly from working that organ in your skull for too long, for thinking too much and too deeply. It was a kind of exhaustion I was becoming intimately familiar with now that I was the leader of the remnants of the Allied Shinobi Nation._

_Then there was exhaustion of the spirit. When you lose people who are close to you, the spirit suffers. It's a deep seated fatigue, the kind of exhaustion that only comes after you soul has taken a beating, just like mine has. This was the exhaustion I was suffering. Too many people had died because of my mistakes. Each death was like a fire jutsu scorching my already extra crispy heart._

_I felt old. Despite only having just turned seventeen a few months ago, I felt more like old man Oonoki, brittle, weak, feeble. With each day that passed this feeling of ancientness became greater. Each time I sent someone out, knowing that I would likely never see them again, caused something in my chest to get ripped out, violently and without warning. It was painful._

_**'You might not realize this, Naruto, but everyone here looks up to you. They respect and admire you. No one else has garnered the kind of veneration that you have.'**_

_'So what are you saying?'_

_**'I am saying that if you were to ask something of them, everyone here would gladly sacrifice themselves for you.'**_

_'I would rather die before sacrificing them. You know that, Kurama.'_

_**'Indeed I do. That is why we need to end this way as soon as possible.'**_

_'The way you say that makes it sound like you have a plan.'_

_**'I'm in the process of thinking something up.'**_

_Before I could respond, the door to my office slammed open and Darui rushed in. The man looked frantic, his white hair messier than usual, his eyes wide. I had never seen the man looking so frantic, ever. Darui was always my calmest and most composed commander. That he looked like he was on the verge of a freak out now honestly freaked me out._

"_Darui, what's wrong."_

"_H... Hokage-sama," Darui gasped, out of breath. Sweat had formed on his brow, making me realized that he'd run here from the next subterranean base that I had him setting up for our eventual move. The base that was over two days travel by foot. He must have run here without pause. "I... I'm sorry..."_

"_Easy there. Calm down, Darui. Take a slow breath." Darui did as told, but it didn't seem to help much. "Now, tell me what's wrong."_

"_I'm sorry, Hokage-sama." Darui closed his eyes, grimacing. I don't know why, but seeing the disposition expression on his face caused my stomach to drop. "It's Sakura-san. She and her team were ambushed by who we think was Uchiha Sasuke."_

XoX

_I stood amidst a desolate landscape. This place had once been a beautiful forest, filled with trees and all types of flora and fauna, a veritable wellspring of life. Not so much anymore. The ground, cracked and burnt, full of holes and pockmarks. It looked like the very gods themselves had made this land their battleground, devastating it with hellfire and earthquakes and all other kinds of natural disasters. In a way, I suppose my words about gods were right._

_In some ways, the battle that was taking place here was a battle between gods._

_I extended my arm, a claw-like appendage shooting from it, glowing white with an intensity that would burn the retina of most. Held within the grasp of the claw was a small, swirling orb of white chakra with several blades running a ring around the middle. A miniature rasenshuriken._

_The attack headed towards Uchiha Madara, who had his arms crossed, a smirk plastered on his face, and looked as cocky as ever. His entire body was wreathed in a white haori composed entirely of energy with nine magatama situated near the collar. His hair, once a dark black, had now become a dark red and his skin was gray. Black pants, shirt, gloves, and boots covered the rest of him, and ten black orbs surrounded him on all sides. Truth-seeking balls._

_As the clawed appendage came near, the man uncrossed his arms and dashed forward at speed. He no longer had his Gunbai. I had already destroyed that weapon at the start of this battle with a physical attack that used nature chakra, so he was forced to slip around my rasenshuriken claw._

_He bypassed the claw easily, which I had expected. My eyes narrowed as his form seemed to blur. Madara was fast, no doubts there. But thanks to my new, if incomplete, Six Paths Sage Mode, I was just as fast._

_We clashed, somewhere in the center of our respective positions. A thunderous roar shook the lands. Cracks formed underneath us, and an updraft of powerful wind tore at our hair. Like Madara, I was using two of my Truth-seeking balls to attack in a melee battle. Where as the greatest member of the Uchiha clan had transformed his into a single staff with a three-fourths circle on the top, I had transformed mine into a pair of smaller staffs that I could dual wield._

_The staff in my left hand flashed out at great speed, the air around it literally screeching as I lit it on fire. Madara spun his staff around with both hands, then blocked the one in my left, before shifting his grip, spinning the staff and causing my arm to go wide. He then brought his staff back in and blocked the one in my right hand, which I had thrust out in a jab, by moving to the left and allowing my malleable energy weapons to grind against each other._

_We pushed back, if only for a moment to gain some space, and then were right back into the thick of our battle. Each time one struck and the other blocked, the world around them exploded with shock waves that caused dust and debris to go flying away like scattered particles. The earth underneath us shook, several cracks appearing along the ground, growing larger as the force of our blows against each other became stronger._

_Over and over and over and over, we fought with our melee weapons. Neither of us wanted to use ninjutsu, as the Truth-seeking balls had the ability to negate almost all ninjutsu. The only attack that could actually repel the weapons was my Rasenshuriken, because I always pumped a lot of nature chakra into those attacks and thus they could withstand the truth-seeking balls negating power._

_Up so close and concentrating only on the fight, I was unable to focus enough to use any of my rasenshuriken variants. It was too bad, because I was sure that Madara would not be able to survive a face full of magma release: Rasenshuriken._

_I brought the staff in my left hand overhead and swung it down hard. The attack was blocked, naturally, by the long staff in Madara's. The kinetic energy from the staff was soon transferred into the ground, which exploded with indescribable violence. As rocks and rubble and dust were kicked up into the air, surrounding the two of us, I wove backwards, avoiding having the bottom end of Madara's staff ripping into my stomach and chest. I then moved back in, and proceeded to attack my nemesis with a series of powerful slashing attacks._

_As the battle continued I began to realize something. The two of us, Madara and I, were about equal. I think he had a bit more power to him, but I was faster. He also had more experience, but I had better reflexes. In a battle like this, the victor would normally be determined by who had the better skill set, or was stronger, but all of our powers and abilities and skills were negated by the others qualities._

_A battle such as this would not come down to who the better fighter was, but by who made the first mistake._

_Our last clash ended in a powerful shockwave that caused us both to be sent flying away. I was sent skidding along the ground, dust and gravel being kicked up in my wake. Rather than let myself be deterred by this, I extended one of my chakra claws with a miniature rasenshuriken, hoping to plant the attack in Madara's gut before he could notice. It didn't work, of course. Madara had the Rinnegan and could see the attack well before it got within range. He moved backwards two steps, then to the left just as the arm came within reach. As the arm flew past him, the staff in his hand came up, slicing the clawed hand off and causing the chakra it was composed of to disperse._

"_You've gotten pretty strong for someone who only recently acquired that power," Madara commented, that arrogant smirk still on his face. "I'm surprised you have such a good handle on it considering you stole it from me just a few weeks ago."_

_Madara was referring to the first attempt I had made at killing him. The original plan had been that Killer B and I would engage Madara in battle, distracting him. While we kept his attention occupied on us, Shikamaru and Darui would steal the Bijuu that had currently been sealed into the Gedo Mezo using a seal that myself and Kurama had created together._

_The plan might have worked, too, had Madara not proven to be stronger than both myself and Killer B combined. After toying with us like a cat toys with a mouse, he had summoned the giant statue containing the other seven Bijuu and attempted to steal Kurama and Gyūki from us. He might have even succeeded, but Killer B had chosen to make the ultimate sacrifice, giving up his life in order to seal Gyūki inside of me before the eight-tails could be taken. With the combined power of Gyūki and Kurama fueling me and increasing my chakra levels, I was able to activate the seal myself._

_I only succeeded in taking two of the Biju, Shukaku and Chomei, before Madara realized what I was up to and cut off the power. After that, I had been forced to retreat because the combined chakra of four Bijuu had taken my body to the breaking point._

_Shikamaru and Darui had sacrificed themselves to give me the time I needed to escape._

"_You shouldn't be. Unlike you, I've been a Jinchurikki all my life. I'm used to having a lot of power sealed within me. Also unlike you, I made friends with my Bijuu. Kurama, Shukaku, Chomei and Gyūki, all of them are important and precious friends."_

"_Hmph! Friends. What a joke!" Madara crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me with a bored expression. "There is no need to make friends with those beasts. All they are good for is serving those better than them. You don't need to make friends with tools."_

"_They aren't tools!" I could feel my blood boiling at that comment. The Bijuu have already suffered so much. For centuries humans have tried to abuse the powers of the Bijuu, using them as tools for their wars. This man, Madara, was just like every other two-bit fool who thought they had the right to trample on the hopes and dreams of another just because that other being happened to not be human. "They might not be human like us, but they're still people! They have names! And they have hopes and dreams of their own! What right do you have to take that away from them!"_

"_I have every right!" Madara howled, laughing. "Might makes right! My strength if beyond anyone else's! I have powers other people couldn't begin to comprehend!" Madara stopped laughing, but the grin on his face as he stared at me didn't go away. "The only person in my way right now is you. If you weren't always interfering with my plans, little Hokage, I would have been a God by now, and the Infinite Tsukoyomi would have already been cast. The world would have finally known peace."_

"_Your peace is a lie!" I couldn't help but feel my anger at this man overtake me. Peace? What did he know of peace? All Madara knew was war. He fought and killed and slaughtered, and he enjoyed it. Someone like him could never understand true peace. "It wouldn't be peace! You'd just be turning everyone into your slave! I won't allow that! As long as I live, I will never allow someone to bring about a false peace like that!"_

"_Hahahaha!" Madara laughed. "Then why don't you show me your resolve, little Hokage. Let's see who's ideals are stronger. Yours or mine."_

_Both of us prepared to unleash our next attack. All ten of our respective Truth-seeking balls were combined to form the weapons that would be used in our final clash. While Madara's had become a giant Gunbai similar to his old one, mine had turned into a sword with two blades that had taken on the shape of a double helix._

_This was it. Our last battle. Everything would be decided today._

_And I had no intention of losing._

XoX

Naruto sighed, drinking the last trace of a cup of tea that had been set in front of him. Setting the now empty cup down, he slowly proceeded to finish his story. "I am... unsure of what happened after that final clash. I remember Madara and I meeting in another exchange, one in which we both used our full powers, and then I remember something happening to Madara. He was screaming, and then I was screaming, and the next thing I knew everything went white."

"Time after that seemed meaningless. I was alive, yet not living. I could feel, but was number. It was like I was stuck inside of a bubble where time had no purpose."

"I do not know how long I was left that in state, of the years that passed. But when I woke up, everything I knew was no more. The Elemental Nations were gone, the continent that had comprised of my home was no more, and I woke up in a coffin far beneath the earth's crust in a city called Akkad."

"Akkad!?" Homura was the one to voice her shock the loudest. "There is no way that's possible! Akkad hasn't existed for thousands of years! It's nothing more than a pile of rubble, and has been for the last several hundred years."

"Indeed it has," Naruto nodded towards Homura. "The city of Akkad was destroyed long before the the supposed birth of Jesus Christ and the making of the new calender." The blond squinted his eyes as he recalled his memories of the once large city. "I think I remember Akkad being destroyed around 1400 BC, or thereabouts. It's hard for me to truly say, since I left the city not long after I had woken up." An amused smile crossed his face. "The denizens had not been pleased that I didn't want to stay with them."

Everyone was silent as Naruto's words began to truly sink in. Matsu was the first who seemed to get it, as her eyes widened a second later and she began typing furiously on her tablet some more. Naruto would have wondered what she was doing, but Miya had chosen to speak up.

"Naruto-san," she started, her voice sounding strained and tentative. "Are you trying to tell us that you are over 5,000 years old?" At the sound of her question, everyone except for Kusano stopped what they were doing. Even Musubi ceased her actions in order to look at Naruto, her expression curious.

"Technically speaking, I think I'm somewhere over 10,000 years old," Naruto admitted, shrugging. "I may be even older than that. When I was alive, there were only two continents, one to the far west of where I lived, and the Elemental Nations. The landmasses were all shaped different as well. It takes a long time for the tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface to shift large bodies of land like that. For all I know, I could be over 50,000 or even 100,000 years old and just not know it. However, I woke up around the year 3,000 BC, or thereabouts."

"That would mean that you are at the very least, 5,020 years old." Homura's glare was growing more baleful by the second. "That's impossible! It's completely impossible! No one could be that old! You're trying to tell us that you're some kind of immortal who has been around for thousands of years! Who in their right mind would believe that crap!"

Naruto frowned at Homura, who was breathing heavily and looking pissed. He opened his mouth, about to make a suggestion that would prove his age, when Matsu interrupted. "Actually, Homura-san. There is a very real possibility that Naruto is, in fact, an immortal who has been around for thousands of years."

"Oh?" Kazehana, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started, leaning over the table, her large breasts resting against the wooden surface. "Do tell, Matsu? Explain to us how someone can be several thousand years old."

"Here." Matsu set her tablet on the table, in the center, making everyone except Naruto and Kusano stand up and lean over to get a better look. And while they stared at the image presented on the screen, Matsu continued speaking. "That picture you all see before you was taken in the year 1942. The person in that picture apparently went by the name Namikaze Minato. This isn't the first or last time someone has gone by that name, however. While I have been unable to find anymore images, there have been people who went by the name Namikaze Minato throughout the years. I've even managed to find text of a Namikaze Minato during the edo period."

"That doesn't prove anything, though!" Homura was the one to argue once more. "Just because they have the same name doesn't mean anything. And that's not even Naruto's name."

"But you can't deny this picture looks a lot like bro," Uzume said. "I mean, I can't see their hair color or anything, cuz it's all black and white, and this person doesn't have any whisker marks. But it does look a lot like him."

"You still can't prove that's Naruto!"

"Do you believe me, Uzume?" asked Naruto, ignoring the fuming Homura.

"That's a tough question to answer." Uzume looked thoughtful. "I mean, I know you're really different from everyone else. I've seen you do some freaky stuff, and you saved my Chiho when no one else could. You've got these strange powers, and you're not afraid of Miya. You've also done a lot for me, so I think the least I can do is believe you."

"Thank you."

"I believe in Naruto-sama as well," Musubi voiced her own thoughts with a cheerful mien.

"As do I," Tsukiumi added, glaring at Musubi for beating her to the punch, before turning her attention back to Naruto. "It is only right that I believe you. I am your wife, after all."

"And I'm―"

"You are not! Stop saying you're his wife! I am the only wife in this Shogun Harem!"

"Muu~ it's rude to interrupt people, you know."

"If you want, Homura, I can give you indisputable proof that I am immortal." Naruto ignored Musubi and Tsukiumi as they began butting heads over who was the "proper wife" again. Those two would never learn.

"And how can you possibly hope to do that?" asked Homura. The silver-haired fire user looked skeptical. Naruto merely smiled, even as his hand came up and gently tapped a spot on Kusano's neck. The young girl slumped backwards against his chest, and he scooped her up and handed her over to Akitsu, who took the girl from his arms without question.

"Naruto?" Miya questioned the not-so-young man.

"Sorry, but I don't want Kusano awake for this." Naruto smiled, then stood up. He soon began unbuttoning his shirt, which caused a bit of ruckus.

"Whoo! Take it off, bro! Take it off!"

"What do you think you are doing, Naruto-san?"

"Oh my, he's got a nice chest."

"H-husband! Why are you stripping?"

"Put your shirt back on, Naruto!"

"Sorry," Naruto apologized again, even as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and took it off, throwing it to the floor. "But I don't want it to get all bloody."

"Bloody?" Miya frowned, her brow furrowed. "Naruto..." her voice sounded out in trepidation. "What did you mean by that? What are you planning to do?"

Naruto smiled.

And then shoved his hand directly into his chest.

Blood shot from the wound like a geyser as his skin was pierced, then his muscles soon after. It poured out of the cracks around his hand, dark crimson flowing down his chest like a river. Naruto dug his hand further in, a loud squelching sound coming forth, followed by the crack of bones as he snapped his own ribcage. Seconds later, there was another loud squelch, and then Naruto pulled his hand out of his chest.

In his hand was a still beating heart.

For a second no one spoke, not until Naruto threw the heart, still beating, onto the table, where it hit the wood with a wet thud.

"W-w-what the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

"Holy shit! Bro just tore his heart out!"

"Husband!"

"Oh God!"

A threnody of voices all cried out. Shock and horror and confusion filled the air. The loud exclamations of terror that reverberated around the room caused the flimsy paper walls to rattle.

The only people who were not screaming were Akitsu, Kusano, Musubi, and Miya. Akitsu was silent as usual. Unlike the others, she was just staring at Naruto, her eyes wide. Kusano was, well, she was still asleep in Akitsu's arms. Musubi was staring at the heart. She looked confused, like she wasn't quite sure what she was staring at.

Miya, on the other hand, was staring at Naruto in horror. Her eyes, wider than they had ever been, peered at the gaping hole in Naruto's chest, watching as the muscle fibers knit themselves together. Noises, strangled and choking, emerged from her throat, but refused to come out as anything more than a squeak. Her mouth was agape in undisguised alarm. She was trembling, her entire body shaking and quivering and rocking, as if she were staring at some kind of eldritch horror, an abomination from that had transcended the planes of oblivion to come here and show her what true terror really was.

Throughout all the chaos, Naruto stood there, silent, his body unmoving and statuesque. His eyes betrayed none of what he was feeling. Even as his clothes became rapidly stained in crimson ichor, he remained standing there, his face set in stone, expressionless in a way that everyone there would have found disturbing had they not been freaking out.

Naruto remained silent for several more seconds, before deciding that everyone had freaked out enough.

Every single person within the room found themselves lying flat on the ground, their faces literally planted into the floor as the feeling of gravity within the room increased by a factor of ten. Even Miya found herself struggling to do more than squirm about.

"W-what is this? Why can't I move?"

"I-I―why―what is this horrid feeling?"

"Have all of you calmed down?" asked Naruto. No one answered him, for obvious reasons. Sighing, the blond sat himself back down, choosing to sit seiza instead of crossing his legs. He then began to let up on his power, slowly easing the chakra off the bodies of the other Izumo residence, allowing them to slowly sit up, albeit, they were shaking horribly. "I hope that this has convinced all of you that I am, in fact, immortal."

"Convinced?" Homura was, again, the first person to respond. "Convinced us!? You ripped your own fucking heart out!"

"I did indeed. Your point?"

"My point?" Homura stopped short, her eyes going unfocused. "Well I, uh, I guess I don't really have a point." She then looked at the heart and her face turned slightly green.

"I can't believe you just ripped your own heart out to prove a point," Uzume was holding onto a fainted Chiho, who had passed out when Naruto shoved his fist through his chest. "You've got some serious problems. You know that, bro?"

"Probably," Naruto agreed, "but it doesn't matter. Besides, my heart has already grown back." To prove his point, he wiped off all of the blood on his chest with the shirt he'd just discarded, allowing them to see that the gaping hole in his chest had completely healed over. It looked like he hadn't even ripped his own chest open.

The no longer beating heart on the table was the only evidence that Naruto had indeed torn a hole in his chest and ripped out his own heart.

"Wha... bu-but how!?"

Naruto looked at Homura like she was an idiot. They stared at each other for several seconds before, her face red with humiliation, Homura looked down.

"I trust that you all believe me now when I tell you that I'm immortal?" asked Naruto.

"It's kind of hard to not believe you after you rip your own heart out, bro."

"I would have believed you regardless, husband." Tsukiumi's face looked more than just a green. She also was looking at everything except the heart laying on the table. "You did not have to... to do that just to convince me."

"I've suspected you were much older than you look for a long time now," Matsu admitted, putting her glasses back on her face. "The only question I had was how old you are."

Naruto nodded, slowly. He knew that Matsu had been trying to pry into his past without success. He had been very thorough to make sure there was little to no evidence of his life throughout the ages. There were a few stories about him in certain periods that were filled with strife or significantly important. But, for the most part, it was almost impossible to find anything about him. That had to be frustrating for Matsu, yet somehow she managed to piece at least a few things together from their conversations.

"In that case, does anyone have any questions?"

"I have many questions," Homura said. The young woman still looked quite shocked, and a little green around the gills, but mostly shocked. At least she was able to speak now. "I have so many questions that I don't even know where to start or what to ask."

"I have a question," Matsu said. Everyone turned their heads to look at her. "What was that strange pressure just now? It was caused by you, right?"

"Oh that? That was merely me imposing my will on you," Naruto explained. "It's a chakra based ability. Basically, each persons chakra, when released, has a very unique feel to it. Certain people can use this feel to create certain effects. A good example would be Miya's hanya masks. They are her power, physically manifested to convey her negative emotions. What I did was similar, only rather than manifest my emotions through my power, I simply imposed my will on you."

When everyone just stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language, he sighed.

"Okay, think of it like this. Animals are creatures of habit and instinct. In general circumstances, when they find themselves in the presence of an predator, they run, because their instincts are telling them that the creature before them is something they don't want to mess with. With humans, it is a little different. Because we are capable of rational thought and logic, we're generally capable of taking actions that fly in the face of logic. However, what happens when you are faced with something so powerful and terrible that it's impossible to comprehend?"

"So, what? You're saying that our minds locked up or something? What about that strange pressure?"

"There was no pressure," Naruto said, "that was all in your mind. My power is simply overwhelming on a scale beyond mortal comprehension that your mind can't begin to fathom it. It automatically interprets this power as belonging to something that you stand no hope of defeating and shuts down in order to present yourself as less interesting target. That pressure you felt, was basically just your body shutting down. You struggled to move, but couldn't, yet nothing was restraining you, making you automatically assume that what you feel is a several times increase in the earth's gravity."

"I see." Matsu typed into her tablet again. She looked intently focused upon something on whatever it was she was typing.

"Does that mean everyone can learn that ability?" asked Kazehana. Naruto looked at the woman, the only Sekirei aside from Uzume and Miya who was not a part of his harem. He gave her a nod.

"Not like mine, no, but it is possible for everyone to come up with their own chakra manifestation ability. Even regular civilians have enough chakra to do that. The problem is getting your power to manifest itself on a physical plane. It requires a lot of effort and concentration to accomplish."

"I see."

"Does anyone else have any questions?"

A few of the Sekirei there looked like they had questions, including Miya, but most seemed either unable or unwilling to voice them.

"In that case, I think we should leave things here for now. It'll give you guys some time to think about what I said. Plus it's almost lunch time."

XoX

Naruto wondered when sitting on the porch of Maison Izumo had become a habit. Ever since arriving at this inn, the porch leading to the backyard had become his go to spot when he wanted to think. Perhaps this was another sign of how old he was.

"If you're going to keep staring at me, the least you could do is stare from up here." Naruto patted the spot next to him. "Come on, pop a squat and tell me what's on your mind."

There was a second or two of silence, before the dull thud of slow moving footsteps reverberated in his ear. Naruto soon found Homura sitting next to him, the fire user looking not at him, but at the backyard. She was clenching her hands, he noticed.

"Is it true? Are you really immortal?"

"Are you really asking me that?" Naruto sighed, then scratched the back of his head. "I suppose I can't really blame you. It does sound pretty far-fetched."

Homura snorted. "That's putting it very mildly."

"Yes, I suppose it is." Naruto turned his head and looked at the backyard as well. It wasn't quite evening yet, but a splash of color was starting to fill the sky. "I'm not sure what I can do to convince that I'm telling the truth, short of cutting my head off." The blond Uzumaki looked at the young woman. "Would you like me to do that? It takes a little while to regrow my head but..."

"No!" Homura shouted, her face turning green. She brought a hand up to her mouth, then swallowed whatever bile had risen in her throat. Coughing several times, she said, "no, that's fine. If you say that you're immortal, I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt, even if it does sound really far-fetched."

"In that case, thank you. I wasn't too keen on cutting my own head off."

Silence pervaded the porch. Naruto didn't mind the silence, but Homura apparently did. The fire user kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye, only looking away when he deigned to look back.

"You know, Homura, if you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to assume you want something from me," Naruto commented lightly, his voice airy and unconcerned. "Then again, maybe you do want something." Turning his head ever so slightly, he gave Homura a small smirk. "Perhaps now that you've finally finished your miraculous transformation, you want to know what it's like being with me?"

Homura's face turned a very expectant shade of red.

"Wha-wh-wha―"

"Not that I can really blame you. I mean, Musubi and I were pretty loud yesterday."

Steam began pouring from Homura's ears.

"Tha-t-t-t-t-that's not―"

"Don't worry, I understand it might be a bit embarrassing for you to admit, since you used to be a guy and all. But it's okay. Curiosity about sex is completely natural for a woman like you. And even though you used to have a dick, I don't think I'd mind seeing what you have hiding under that skirt, um, pants."

"That's not what I wanted to ask you about you!"

"It's not?" Naruto blinked, confused. "Then why do you keep staring at me, if not because you want to see what's hiding underneath my boxers?"

If Homura's face got any redder, it would likely begin outshining a red star.

"It certainly wasn't because I was interested in what's under your pants!" Homura spat.

Naruto tilted his head. "Oh, well then, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Visibly calming down, Homura sighed, and then went back to her distant, somewhat shy self. Naruto had to admit, it was kind of cute seeing her act like that. She was usually trying her hardest to act "cool" and when that didn't work, she was normally a spitfire of emotion. This new side was adorable.

"I wanted to... what I mean is, you've probably seen a lot of things, you know, since you've been around for a while," Homura started saying.

"Did you want to ask me about a specific time period?" asked Naruto. "I know a lot about certain periods, having played a part in most of them. I could tell you about the time I destroyed Atlantis, if you wanted?"

Homura looked startled. "You destroyed Atlantis?"

"Or I could tell you about the time I seduced Nobunaga Oichi."

"No! I don't want―wait." Homura blinked. "You seduced Nobunaga Oda's sister?"

"Of course. Why do you think Oda went insane? He caught me fucking his sister six ways to Sunday. That sort of sight leaves some serious mental scars on you, or so I am told."

Homura opened her mouth to speak, then shut it closed with a snap. Eventually, she just sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to know about that. I really don't."

"Then why don't I tell you about the time I posed as various Gods and played pranks on humans?" said Naruto. When Homura just looked at him like he was crazy, the blond grinned and began his tale. "It was sometime around 1200 BC when I found myself traveling through Greece. I hadn't been down that way in a while, and thought I'd take a look and see what was going on."

"I was pretty old by that time, as you can imagine, and I was also pretty fed up with humans as a whole. No one seemed interested in the concepts of peace and understanding that I kept trying to pass on to them. It was like humanity had become overcome with greed and lust. They always wanted more than they had any right to, and were perfectly willing to steal and kill in order to get what they wanted."

"At the time, I had arrived in Greece, there was some kind of war going on."

"The Trojan War," Homura supplied. Naruto smiled.

"That's right. You seem to know your history. I'm not really surprised, since you've got all those books in your room." While Homura flushed at the mention of her history books, Naruto continued his story. "Well, I had gotten pretty damn fed up by that point, and decided that if they weren't going to listen to me, then I was going to fuck with them. So I changed my appearance using henge and―"

"Henge?"

Naruto looked at Homura as he was interrupted, blinking, before snapping his fingers. "Right, I forgot that you don't know what henge is. It's basically a transformation technique that lets me turn into anybody I want. Here, let me show you." Naruto made a single hand seal and was engulfed in a puff of smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, it wasn't Naruto sitting next to Homura, but another Homura.

"Holy shit!" Homura, quite naturally, freaked out.

"Pretty cool, right?" said Naruto with Homura's voice.

"Freaking creepy if you ask me." Homura stared at, well, herself―or at least Naruto taking on her appearance, with a look that could only be described as "what the fuck?" "Change back. Change back right now."

"Alright, alright. Spoilsport." When Homura just glared at him, Naruto chuckled and changed back into his original form. "Now where was I? Oh yeah! Right, I was pretty pissed off, so I transformed myself into another person, and then descended onto the battlefield and created a massive lightning storm that killed several thousand people. I then told them that if they insisted on acting like a bunch of fucking brats, then I was going to treat them as such and smack their asses with my lightning bolt."

Homura just sighed. "So you're Zeus?"

"Not just Zeus," Naruto said, grinning as he remembered his greatest prank to date. "I transformed myself into a lot of different people. I remember one time when I created this huge title wave that engulfed an entire city. And then there was this other time where I raised the dead and had them slaughter a small town. Ah, and then there was this time where I―"

"So, basically, what you're telling me is that you posed as all of the Gods and Goddesses in order to, what? Prank humans?"

"I didn't pose as all of the gods." Naruto pouted. "Athena, for example. And Artemis. Or Hera. Those were all women I had slept with. Well." Naruto looked up at the sky. "Athena and Artemis were my daughters, but I slept with them, too, so I'm not sure it matters."

"You slept with your own daughters?" Homura looked disgusted. Her nose was wrinkled and her face a pale shade of green.

"Sure. I don't see why I shouldn't." Naruto shrugged. "Genetically speaking, they gained none of my traits, except for my strong chakra. None of our children had any birth defects either so..."

"Wasn't Artemis supposed to be a man hater?"

"Yeah, but that's just because no other man could match me in strength, skills, or underneath the sheets."

"I give up," Homura groaned. "And in any case, weren't the Greek Gods supposed to have existed before the Trojan Wars?"

"Yes, but I had visited Greek before. Like, two thousand years before that. Back then they called me Aether because of my strong wind affinity. It was the one I was born with, so wind was always my strongest power."

"...I see. I think I'm just going to shut up now."

"That's probably for the best. I still have to finish my story, after all. Now let's see, where was I? Oh yes! So I had disguised myself as a bunch of different people, and created as much chaos as possible. By then, everyone had come to the conclusion that all these different people were gods, and they began to worship me. Which I thought was kinda funny, because I kept sleeping with their women, but whatever. Anyway, I suppose that's my story. Since you're such a big history buff, you probably know about most of the major things that happened. Like the birth of my sons and daughters and the things they accomplished."

"And was there any point to this story?" asked Homura. She looked tired, like all of her hopes and dreams had just been crushed and she was no longer sure what to do with herself.

"Not really. It was just supposed to be an interesting story."

"Oh it was interesting alright. And I just learned that my Ashikabi is a sociopath who toys with humans for his own amusement," Homura practically growled. She did not seem pleased to know that Naruto, the person she was bound to, was a jerk.

"You say that likes it's a bad thing," Naruto said, looking out at the sky. "Let me tell you something important here, Homura. Humans are like ants. They populate this world in great numbers, thriving regardless of the circumstances or conditions and are incredibly resilient. However, unlike ants, humans are greedy, selfish, backstabbing liars who would sooner kill you than help you, especially if they thought doing so would benefit them. What does it matter if I kill a few hundred, or even a few million of their kind? Why should I care? They'll grow back soon enough."

"You..." Homura stared at Naruto for a long, long time, before finally regaining her voice. "You really are broken, aren't you?"

"You're just now noticing that, are you?" Naruto chuckled. He then cast Homura a grin that had her looking away, her body shuddering uncontrollably. "Homura, I have been broken for a long, long time. You can't live as long as I have, see the things I've seen, and do the things I've done, and remain intact or even sane. I've long accepted the fact that I'm not even remotely close to sane."

Naruto leaned back against his arms, sighing as he thought about his past. When was the exact moment he had broken? Or rather, how many times had he been broken, put back together, only to be broken again? It must have been hundreds of times by now. His time posing as Greek Gods was just one of the many times he'd grown fed up with humans and fucked with them to amuse himself.

"You shouldn't have to..."

"Hmm?" Naruto looked over at Homura.

"You shouldn't have to accept that," Homura said, her voice low.

"Homura, are you crying?"

"No." Homura wiped at her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Why would I be crying."

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me."

Homura ignored Naruto, instead choosing to look at him in fierce determination. "I'm going to fix you. Even if it takes the rest of my life, I'm going to fix you."

Naruto stared at Homura for a long time, contemplating the much younger person. After a moment, he smiled. "Then the only thing I can do is wish you luck. You're going to need it if you want to fix someone like me. But I suppose I should give you a reward if you do manage it."

Homura stared at Naruto, her eyes wide. "What? A reward?"

"I know! How about a kiss?"

"W-w-w-why do you think I'd want to kiss you!?"

"Because you love me?"

"L-lo―don't be stupid! Why would I―I mean how could I possibly lo-lo-love you?"

"I don't know. That's something only you can answer."

Homura, unable to conjure up even a basic argument in her defense, could only say one thing.

"Idiot."

It was her fallback defense mechanism.

* * *

><p><strong>So, here it is. It's pretty rough. I only had enough time to go over it once because I've been so busy. I imagine there are more mistakes in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it.<strong>

**Updates will be coming in slower. If you wish to know why, then you can read my blog. If not, please don't PM asking why I won't be updating as quickly. I won't answer you.**

**Thanks again for reading my story.**


	36. The Training Ground

**Chapter 36: The Training Ground**

* * *

><p>He detected her long before he heard her. Another presence approached him soon after Homura left. Delicate footsteps that sounded much different from those he had become used to grew inexplicably louder as she moved ever closer. He knew who she was, of course, naturally, though he didn't know what she wanted. It wasn't like they had ever interacted with each other in any known capacity before.<p>

She sat beside him, plopping herself down in an almost inelegant manner. Naruto suspected her lack of grace was due to her being shit-faced.

"That was quite the display you put on," Kazehana said. Like always, she had a jug of sake in her hand that she chugged away on. Naruto couldn't help but wonder how she managed to carry so much alcohol on her. During his story she had gone through at least ten bottles and never seemed to run out. Did she have some kind of pocket dimension where she kept her booze or something? Either way, Naruto had to give her credit, she knew how to hold her liqueur. The woman didn't even have a slur.

"You think so, huh?"

"Oh yes. There aren't many ways to prove a point better than ripping out your own heart." Kazehana giggled, taking another sip of her sake. Naruto, despite himself, was impressed. She acted so nonchalantly around him in spite of the gruesome act he committed just a few hours ago. Even some of his own Sekirei had been green around the gills with him near after that display.

"I suppose I could have proved my immortality in another way." He shrugged. "But I felt this was the most effective method. No one can question your inability to die if you can regrow your own heart." He looked at the woman beside her, taking small note of how her large chest was thrust out while she leaned back against her left arm. Ninety-eight centimeters. Not quite Tsunade's one-hundred and eight bust circumference, but definitely the largest he'd seen in a long time. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Not really." Kazehana looked at him with a smile, her sensual, succubus eyes almost seeming to hold an invitation to unfathomable pleasure. He wondered if that was her default look, or if she was doing it on purpose. "I'm just here because you interest me."

"Is that so?" Naruto turned back towards the backyard. There were a lot more plants than there used to be, which could attribute to the time he spent in the yard growing them with Ku. She might not have the Shodai's power to create trees from just chakra, but she also wasn't limited to wood either. "And what is it about me that interests you?"

"I don't know," Kazehana fully admitted, causing him to turn towards her again. She wasn't looking at him anymore, but rather, her eyes were peering at the sky overhead. "To be honest, I have no clue why I'm so interested in you. I mean, you're a sexy man, don't get me wrong, but that's never been something I cared about before." She hummed, then took another swig of sake. "I suppose it could be your strength. I saw some of your fight with Karasuba, and I saw what you did afterward to pinky."

"Pinky?" Naruto blinked, before his mind realized who she was talking about. "You mean Benitsubasa, don't you?"

"That's the one."

Naruto grimaced. "I'm afraid that wasn't one of my better moments. I'm normally much better at keeping my anger in check." Or he used to be. Not so much anymore. Actually, ever since he first winged Musubi his emotions had been all over the board. He would have liked to blame it all on the bond that formed between them, but felt like that was just a flimsy excuse. The bonds he formed with his Sekirei might weaken the barriers he placed around himself, but he should have been strong enough not to let them affect him.

"It definitely didn't show you in the best light," Kazehana said, her voice nonchalant. She had probably seen worse, Naruto suspected. "You struck an awfully gruesome image when you were beating the poor girl to death, especially since you damaged her just enough so that she wouldn't deactivate. You purposely kept her active so you could torture her."

"So you caught that, did you?" It was true. Naruto hadn't wanted to deactivate the redheaded Discipline Squad member, and thus kept the actual damage done to the point where she was just a step away from being deactivated.

He may have also cheated a bit by using his own chakra to forcibly keep her Sekirei crest from disappearing, thus keeping her in the game.

"Unlike most of the other Sekirei you know, I'm no stranger to war and violence," Kazehana said. "I've killed before, so I know what it takes to kill. And I know that what you did was not as simple as wanting to kill your opponent. You wanted them to suffer."

Naruto didn't deny it. "I didn't think anyone other than Miya would have been capable of seeing that, but then, you also fought at the battle for Kamikura island against the united military forces who wanted to take your sisters from you and experiment on them to create super soldiers."

"So you know about what happened back then? I should have known. Matsu is one of your Sekirei, after all."

Naruto didn't say anything, prompting Kazehana to stand back up.

"Anyway, the real reason I'm out here is because Miya wanted to let you know that lunch is ready," she said, holding out her hand. Naruto looked at the hand, then slowly took it, allowing the busty woman to pull him to his feet. "Sa, let's go."

They walked into the dining room, where most everybody had already congregated. Uzume and Chiho sat in their usual spot. Musubi sat where she always did, while Akitsu also sat playing with Kusano, who had woken up just a few minutes after his stunt. Homura wasn't there, but he imagined the fire user would be along soon.

He did notice a little difference in seating arrangements. Tsukiumi had chosen to sit further away from him. His gaze tried to find hers, but she studiously went out of her way to avoid eye contact.

He sighed. That was something he would have to deal with today, after revealing his next surprise.

"Naruto-sama!" Musubi was the first to greet him, though not the first to notice his presence. That honor belonged to Akitsu. She just didn't say anything. "How are you feeling? Are you better now?"

For a moment, Naruto didn't know what she meant by that. Feeling better? What was she talking about? Only after a split seconds contemplation did he realize why she asked him that.

The bond. She could feel his emotions through it.

He gave the young woman a smile as he sat down next to her, kissing her on the cheek. "I'm fine now, thank you."

Musubi's smile was like rays of sunshine. "You're welcome."

"You had us really worried for a while there, bro," Uzume added as Naruto sat down next to his naïve Sekirei. "I mean, that whole ripping out your own heart thing? Freaky."

"It was kinda scary, Naruto-san," Chiho added, though, surprisingly enough, the young woman didn't seem too afraid of him despite what he'd done. He wondered if that was because of her case of hero worship towards the person who saved her. Maybe.

"Don't expect me to apologize," Naruto said, "while I don't want to freak any of you out, or scare you or whatever, I needed all of you to know that what I told you is the truth. There are few ways to prove immortality, and with my limited options, I really couldn't think of any other way."

"Yeah well, hopefully the next time you decide to prove your immortality, you'll know of a less bloody way to do it," Uzume returned fire. Naruto was glad the girl hadn't lost her spunk and decided to keep her distance from him after that morning's events. That would have sucked. He actually kind of liked Uzume. She was fun. "Miya wasn't pleased with all the blood you had gotten on the table. He heh." The busty brunette chuckled. "Tsukiumi wasn't either, since she had to clean it up."

"Uzume! You were not supposed to tell him that!" Tsukiumi shouted.

Naruto looked at the water user. "Did you really have to clean it up?"

"W-well, it's just because my powers over water made it easier for me to get the bloodstains out," Tsukiumi tried to come up with some excuse as to why she had been selected for the undesirable task of cleaning up his mess. He wondered why, but didn't think on it long. Going into the mind of a tsundere was not something he preferred doing.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you."

Instead he just apologized.

Tsukiumi's face exploded with red.

"I-it was no trouble," she mumbled, her hand arm tugging the sleeve to her right arm. "Thi-think nothing of it."

"While Tsukiumi might not have a problem with having to clean up your blood from the living room, I do," Miya said as she walked into the room, a large tray filled with sandwiches in her hands. She set them down at the table, before pinioning Naruto with a look. "I will have to ask that you please refrain from ripping your heart out of your chest or doing anything else that might stain my tatami mats." Her aura darkened. "Do we have an understanding?"

"Yeah. Don't worry." He frowned. "I won't do something like that again. I may be immortal, but ripping my own heart out still hurts."

"Hmph. I'm sure any pain you feel from doing something so stupid is well-deserved."

"Ouch." Naruto winced, as did Uzume. "That's harsh."

Lunch started soon after. Miya sat at the head of the table, Homura coming in soon after she took her seat. For some reason or another, the fire user, upon walking over to the table, sat down next to Naruto. The blond looked at his silver-haired sekirei, who made every attempt to ignore him. Chuckling to himself, Naruto placed a hand on Homura's thigh. The "eep!" she gave out caused Miya and the others to look at her. The young woman's face flushed.

"Are you alright, Homura?" Miya asked, worried.

"Fine," Homura squeaked, the reason for which had nothing to do with Naruto's hand squeezing her thigh. Nothing at all. "Just fine, Miya. Nothing's wrong here."

Miya looked at him a big longer, still concerned. She eventually relented with a nod. "If you say so." And with that, the purple-haired landlady went back to eating her sandwich.

"What do you think you're doing?" Homura hissed out of the corner of her mouth, careful to make only enough noise that Naruto could hear her.

"Nothing." The hand moved further up her thigh. Homura bit her lip to keep from squealing. "Since you were sitting here, I thought I'd let you know how much I appreciate your presence. And you. At least I wanted you to know that I love you now that you've no longer got something dangling between your legs."

"You're an ass" Homura flushed. Naruto didn't know if the red spreading across his Sekirei's cheeks was caused by anger or embarrassment, but he had to admit that Homura looked pretty hot either way. "Now get your hands off me."

Smiling, Naruto did just that and went back to eating. Soon everyone was sitting at the table, munching on the scrumptious sandwiches Miya prepared. Only one person was missing...

"Ufufufufu..."

Laughter echoed around the room. Everyone sans Naruto, Miya, Kazehana, and Akitsu tried to find the source. Naruto just continued eating, while Akitsu was too busy keeping the Green Girl busy by feeding her cut up pieces of sandwich. Miya and Kazehana were simply used to it and didn't react as predictably as everyone else.

"Why does that laugh sound so familiar?" Musubi wondered out loud, her eyes panning about the room, searching for the source.

"Ufufufufu..."

"Matsu-san," Miya said, staring up at a particular spot on the ceiling. She looked annoyed. Not that Naruto could blame her. "Come down from there right now."

"Ufufufufu..."

Homura's eye began to twitch. So did Tsukiumi's, for that matter.

"Lech!" The blond water using Sekirei stood up, glaring at the ceiling. "Get down from there this instant or I shall force you down!" When all Matsu did was giggle like a lecherous old man some more, Tsukiumi sent a geyser of water at the ceiling where the redheaded pervert was located. With an indignant and surprised squawk, the perverted Sekirei fell to the ground as the tiles gave way underneath her. She hit the tatami flooring with a loud thud and a coughing wheeze.

"You know that I normally don't condone violence in Maison Izumo, don't you Tsukiumi?" Miya said casually, as if discussing the weather. Tsukiumi paled. "That being said." Purple hair whipping about her as she turned her head to send the still wheezing Matsu a reproachful look, the youthful landlady shook her head. "I believe that I shall forgive you, just this once."

"W-why?" Matsu coughed.

Miya deadpanned. "That is what you get for snooping around and not eating with us."

Naruto felt a pang of sympathy for the redhead, even though she did kind of deserve what happened to her. Matsu wasn't a combat type, and as such her body was not as durable as other Sekirei. While a fall from that meager height would not even scratch someone like Tsukiumi, it completely knocked the wind out of Matsu.

Sighing, Naruto closed his eyes and activated his rinnegan. Using his supreme control over the attraction and repulsion abilities offered to him by the nine tomoe ring-patterned eyes, he brought Matsu over to him, setting her on his lap. The young woman looked at him in surprise, but it soon turned to delight when he held a sandwich in front of her face. Withholding a squeal, the pretty hacker took a bite of the food, acting more like a happy child than a full-grown woman.

"H-Naruto-san, what do you think you're doing?!" Naruto noticed the change in title and almost winced. It seemed the knowledge of what he was combined with what happened during his decimation and torture of Benitsubasa had made Tsukiumi wary of him. He was _really_ gonna have to speak with her soon.

"Just bonding further with one of my Sekirei," he said, continuing to feed Matsu, much to the ire of quite a few of the woman around him. It probably didn't help that Matsu was making a big show of him feeding her, taking large, exaggeratedly slow bites and making pleased noises.

"Ku-chan wants to be fed by onii-chan too!" Kusano said as she finally realized someone had taken "her place" on his lap.

"Mu~ so does Musubi!"

And of course, Musubi also wanted in on the action, though for completely different reasons than someone like, say, Matsu, who was secretly grinding firm buttocks against his crotch.

"Ne, ne, would you mind sitting me on your lap and feeding me too, bro?"

And Uzume just wanted to have fun.

"Uzume-chan!" Chiho hid her blush well this time by scowling at her Sekirei. "You shouldn't say things like that. It's not appropriate."

"Heh he." Uzume stuck her tongue out and winked. "Just kidding."

Chiho pouted at her. "It doesn't sound like you're just kidding."

"If any of you wants me to feed you, all you need to do is ask," Naruto said, amusement coloring his voice. He looked at Homura, who was staring at Matsu with what he thought might be jealousy. When the fire user saw him looking at her, she squeaked and looked away.

"Jiiiiiii!" And while Naruto decided to tease Homura with glances and exaggerated looks, Kusano got off Akitsu's lap and walked up to him and Matsu. She didn't look too pleased. Her cheeks, puffed out in childish anger, reminded him of a chipmunk. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was glaring at Matsu, who continued delighting in the affection her Ashikabi was giving her. "Get off my onii-chan, Ma-tan!"

"Hmmm?" Matsu looked over at Kusano with half-lidded eyes, her glasses glinting with an ominous and perverse light in the afternoon sun. She wiggled her bum against Naruto some more, making him twitch. "Naru-tan is my onii-tan too, you know? And you always get to sit on his lap. Let some of his other Sekirei, namely myself, have a turn."

"Fuuuuuuu!" Kusano did not seem to like that response, and she let her displeasure known by making weird noises in the back of her throat. Naruto thought she looked adorable acting all angry and possessive.

Deciding that he didn't want to leave the girl out, Naruto created a shadow clone, which pulled the Kusano onto its lap and began feeding her, much to the young girl's elation.

It was only several seconds after creating the clone that he realized everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, seeing the many eyes gawking at him and his corporeal copy. "Is something wrong?"

"Bro, I don't know if you noticed this, but there's another you."

Naruto looked at Uzume, then at his close. A moment later, he shrugged. "So? Didn't I tell you that I had a lot of powers and abilities? Well, this is one of them." Naruto studied his clone, who was making race car noises while feeding Kusano a sandwich. "It's called shadow clone jutsu, and it's a technique that splits my chakra in half to create a physical copy of myself. They're normally used for spying and espionage, but I tend to use them for more eclectic reasons."

"Like making sure Kusano doesn't feel like her onii-chan is leaving her out?" Miya said, raising her eyebrow.

"Exactly."

Lunch ended soon after everyone had their fill. Miya had Tsukiumi and Musubi help her take the plates into the kitchen and wash them. Tsukiumi normally would have protested doing house chores, but for some reason, she didn't make a fuss this time. It was just another sign to Naruto that he would have to speak with her soon.

Before everyone could leave to do their own thing, Naruto, the real one, stood up (causing an indignant Matsu to squawk as she fell off his lap) and looked at everyone.

"I have something I want to show all of you," he said, "something important."

His response was several groans.

"You mean you have something else to show us?" Homura looked tired, and vexed, but mostly tired. "After everything else you've told us, about your past, about your immortality, I'm not sure I want to see whatever it is you're showing. It'll likely scar me even more than I already have been."

"It's not ripping your heart out again, is it?" asked Uzume, "or ripping off some other part of your body? Cuz I really don't think I can handle you tearing your own head off or something."

"No, it's nothing like that," Naruto assured Uzume, "and it's got nothing to do with the past." He grinned at Homura. "Trust me, I think you'll like this."

Homura gave him a dry look. "For some reason that doesn't inspire much confidence in me."

XoX

"Naruto." Miya's voice was deceptively calm. It was the calm before the storm. "Why is there a hole in my closet?"

Naruto didn't notice the "I'm gonna kill you if you don't give me the answer I want" tone in her voice. That, or he just chose to ignore it. You could never tell with him. The young-looking blond just smiled proudly as he stood beside the hole Miya spoke of, a hole in the center of the small broom closet underneath the stairs and which had a ladder sticking out of it. "Um, I dug this hole myself."

Miya's eye began twitching.

"I see." Twitch. "Just why." Twitch. "Would you dig a hole." Twitch. Twitch. "In my closet?"

"Because this was the only place I could think of to make the entrance for our new training ground?"

Miya stopped twitching. "Training ground?" The comment was echoed by not just Miya, but Homura, Tsukiumi, Uzume, and Kazehana too.

"Um!" Nodding, the grinning Naruto gestured for them to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you. It's pretty awesome." Saying this, he led the large group of Sekirei plus one Ashikabi aside from himself down the ladder.

They descended into darkness, the only thing visible being the small lights lining the wall. Yet even that did not grant true illumination. It was just enough that they could see the rungs they were using to climb down.

"Is it just me, or have we been climbing for an awfully long time?"

"Dear god, how far down does this ladder go?"

"It's been twenty minutes already."

"Naruto, why did you need to dig such a large hole underneath Maison Izumo?"

"All questions will be answered when we get there," Naruto said, looking up, grinning, because he unlike every one else could see just fine, and right now he had the perfect shot of Musubi's panty covered mound and butt. Just seeing that spectacular view reminded him of what they'd done the night before and made him feel like going another round.

And was it just him, or was his libido beginning to act up again?

"How much further is it, bro?"

"Not far now. I'd say about another ten minutes of climbing."

"EH!?"

That came from everyone.

Fortunately for their peace of mind, they soon found out that Naruto was joking when, after five more minutes of climbing down the ladder, they ended up at the training ground.

Whatever peace of mind they might have gained from the trip down not being as far as they initially thought shattered when they saw what Naruto called a training ground. Expanding farther than even their eyes could see, a dome-like ceiling painted in blues and whites to resemble the outside sky, the place looked nothing like a training ground. As one, the group's heads turned, taking in the impossibly spacious interior. The ground, craggy and pitted and with several large boulders that rose up from the ground like miniature monoliths made much of the grounds resemble a desert canyon. If that were all they could see, maybe they could... actually, no, they still couldn't deal with what they were looking at, but the large cops of trees to their immediate left that extended for what seemed like miles certainly did not help their minds fathom the underground space that Naruto had apparently dug out for them.

"No way!" Naruto gasped, feigning surprise, his voice bouncing across the massive dome shaped interior. "Who would have guessed there was such a huge training ground under Maison Izumo?!"

Miya began twitching. "You're the one who dug this hole under my boarding house in the first place."

Musubi just giggled. "Ah! You sounded just like Mr. Hat and Clogs!"

"Of course," Naruto puffed up his chest proudly, "where you do think I got the idea from?" Yes, Naruto got the idea to create an underground training facility from Bleach, naturally, because anime had all the best ideas when it came to ways of boosting ones power via training power ups. "My original idea was actually to built a hyperbolic time chamber so that we could get a years worth of training in a day," he admitted with a shrug. "But then I realized that I would have to create a time distortion field to do that and, well, the last time I tried messing with time I got thrown two-hundred years into the past."

"WHAT?!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, don't worry." Grinning, Naruto calmly waved their shock away, not noticing or choosing not to notice how irritated they were with his blaze attitude. "I managed to return to my original time, though I had to meet my past self and convince him that I wasn't his evil alternate reality twin from another dimension." Naruto actually did shiver as he remembered that. "Let me tell you that meeting a past version of yourself is not a pleasant experience. Had we been any slower in returning me to my own timeline, the fabrics of reality would have been ripped apart at the seems."

"You mean to tell me that you've actually got back to the past, met past version of yourself, and almost destroyed reality?" asked Homura, twitching.

"Um, yes?"

Homura smashed her palms to her face and sucked in a deep breath. "I know I said I wouldn't let anything you say bother me anymore but, dammit Naruto, what kind of idiot screws around with time?!"

"Uh, this one?" said Naruto, pointing to himself.

Homura just twitched some more.

"Naruto," Miya said, her voice strained, "perhaps you could tell us why you've built this..."

"Training ground."

"Right. Perhaps you could tell us why you've built this training ground underneath my boarding house."

"Why?" Naruto tilted his head. "What do mean why? I thought the reason would be obvious?"

Miya's expression became unbearably strained. "Humor me."

"Well, alright."

Naruto shrugged. He didn't know how she couldn't see his reasons for building this place. What possible use could a training ground have if not to train in? But whatever. If she wanted him to spell it out for her, then he would.

Coughing into his hand, the gathered all attention onto himself, which wasn't really saying much because everyone there was already staring at him. Sure, they might be looking at him like he'd grown two heads, sprouted numerous tentacles from his ass, and suddenly started doing the can-can, but that hardly mattered.

"I have decided that starting tomorrow morning, I am going to begin training each and every one of you in order to unlock your full potential." He gave them all a grin, one that had every single one of them shivering. That grin could spell nothing good. "Welcome to Uzumaki Naruto-sama's special boot camp!"

XoX

As expected after hearing an announcement like that, everyone had been a little skeptical about being trained by Naruto. Well, everyone except Musubi, who only felt excitement at being trained by her "Naruto-sama." Kusano had also been pretty pumped up, but Naruto believed the Green Girl just wanted to emulate Musubi. The others, Homura in particular, had been dubious. They all knew that the ancient Uzumaki was immortal, and they knew he had powers beyond their imagining, but that didn't mean they had confidence in his ability to teach them.

Naruto didn't worry. They would find out that he was an awesome teacher tomorrow. Besides, he had more important things to do.

Sitting on the veranda as per the usual, the immortal ninja found himself in a precarious predicament, one that he, surprisingly enough, didn't know how to get out of. Tsukiumi had been avoided him. Oh she still supported him, at least verbally, but where once she would have fought Musubi for a position to his right, now she sat on the opposite side of the table. Throughout the entire morning and afternoon she had not conversed with him once. And the only time she spoke to him was more of a general comment than anything else.

He knew why she acted this way, knew what the problem was, and that it was his fault.

He just didn't know how to fix it.

And so he sat there, staring out across the yard. Musubi and Kusano were playing in the grass, running around with a water hose. Musubi wore one of the swimsuits he'd bought for her so long ago, a pink bikini that cupped her full breasts rather well. Naruto enjoyed the sight of her superlative bosom bouncing around and shaking as she laughed and ran about the yard. Kusano also wore a swimsuit, but one that was much more modest. A blue one piece similar to those found at a Japanese school.

Watching as his brown-haired Sekirei's bust bounced and jiggled, Naruto felt himself frown. The first step that needed to be taken in order to fix things with Tsukiumi was to get them both alone. Out of the boarding house would be best. He would never be able to properly apologize at Maison Izumo without being interrupted. The problem was getting her to leave the house with him. He couldn't just ask her. Well, he could, but he didn't know if she would agree to go anywhere with him on a whim. He needed an excuse of some kind.

Sometimes, miracles come in beautiful, purple-haired packages.

"Naruto-san," Miya walked up behind him, causing him to tilted his head until he was looking up at the landlady. Her upside down face came into view, as did her upside down breasts. He tried not to focus on the enticing way they strained against her clothes, and instead looked at her face.

"Yes Miya?"

"I have decided that since you're just lazing around here all day while your Sekirei do chores, it would only be fair if I had you do something as well." She held out a sheet of paper, which Naruto took and brought before his eyes. "That's a list of all the groceries I need to make dinner. I want you to go and get them for me. You can also consider this a part of your punishment for digging a giant, several mile wide hole underneath my inn."

Naruto's amused chuckle made the young woman bristle, but he didn't let that bother him as he stood up. "I don't mind grabbing the groceries for you." He leaned over and gave Miya a peck on the cheek, before pulling back and giving the woman a bright smile. "Thanks Miya. This is just what I was looking for."

"Wha...?"

Humming a tune to himself, Naruto walked into the house. Before heading to the front door and leaving, he made a quick detour to the bathhouse. Tsukiumi was there, scrubbing the floors. This had become her chore since becoming a member of Maison Izumo since, thanks to her powers over water, cleaning the bathhouse was a cinch.

Much like Muzubi, Tsukiumi had a swimsuit on. The dark blue two-piece really did suit her, Naruto thought, feeling just a bit of awe. Unlike Musubi's swimwear, which was a basic bikini, Tsukiumi's looked more like something a fashion model would wear. Ruffles frilled the cups of the strapless bikini top, allowing for an amalgamation of elegance and cuteness that somehow worked. And while the bottoms were very basic, they fit her perfectly crafted heart-shaped butt extraordinarily well.

With her back turned, Tsukiumi couldn't see him standing there, and Naruto took that moment to just admire his Sekirei before getting her attention.

"You look beautiful in that."

"Gya!"

Naruto didn't know whether to be surprised, amused, or concerned when Tsukiumi squealed loudly enough that the entire boarding house likely heard her. The young woman, her blond hair cracking around her like a whip, dropped the scrub broom, spun about to face him, a hand clutched to her chest, eyes wide.

"Naruto-san!"

"I'm sorry." Naruto gave her a sincere and apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It-it's fine," Tsukiumi murmured, her right hand reaching across the catch the elbow of her left arm. A self-conscious gesture, he knew. His presence worried her.

"Listen, Tsukiumi, I..." Naruto hesitated, wondering if maybe he should give her a bit more time and space. His reticence only lasted another second before plowing through. He would not allow this gap to remain between them. "I was wondering, I mean Miya asked me to go grocery shopping and I wanted to if, well, I was hoping you'd like to come with me. You know, if you wanted to..." While he kept his face mostly confident, he internally flinched at how pathetic he sounded. That hadn't come out as confident at all!

Tsukiumi stared at him as if he'd grown a tail out of his ass. In his discomfort at being goggled so thoroughly, Naruto wondered what the young woman was thinking.

"I... I don't know..." she said, her reluctance to go with him coming through. Naruto felt his heart clenched. Was he already too late?

"I understand." Naruto congratulated himself on not letting his voice crack. She didn't need to know how much her reluctance to be with him hurt. After what he did to her, this was the least he deserved. "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Naruto turned around.

He took a step towards the door.

And then stopped.

A jolt traveled up his arm, across his shoulder and down his spine. Shock coursing through his body, he turned his head and looked down. Holding his hand, keeping him from leaving, was another hand, one that was much more delicate and feminine than his own masculine appendage. His gaze traveled up the hand to the equally fragile-looking yet surprisingly strong arm, past the pale flesh of a lovely shoulder and soon found himself looking at the eyes of an equally surprised Tsukiumi. She stood there, blue eyes blinking as she, too, stared at the hand, like she couldn't believe what she had just done. Her eyes then turned up to look at his face.

"Uh, um, you, ah," Tsukiumi tried, then stopped. She shook her head, and then tried again. "I-I mean, if-if you really want me to, I would not be adverse to, uh, going with you to the grocery store."

"You want to come with me?"

"W-well, you are my Ashikabi, so, and yes, so it's only right that I, what I mean is, we haven't spent much time together and, well, you know?" Tsukiumi paused, then her face turned red. "B-but don't think it means anything! I-I, I'm only going with you because it's my duty as your Sekirei!"

Naruto felt relief. She had said yes. That meant he hadn't ruined his relationship with her, not completely, which meant he could fix things too. And he would. Now that Naruto had made up his mind, fully and truly, he wasn't going to let Tsukiumi or any of his other Sekirei go. Even if, in the end, it just meant more pain.

"In that case, let's get you dressed in something a little more modest." Naruto smiled at her. "You're too beautiful for your own good, and I would hate to be forced to kill every man who dared to look at you in a way I don't like."

Tsukiumi's cheeks, already red, gained a deeper shade that seemed almost violent. It looked like she had popped a blood vessel in her face or something.

They left the bathhouse, Naruto leaving a clone to finish Tsukiumi's task of cleaning. After going to Tsukiumi's room and allowing her to change into her usual outfit, the two blond's left Maison Izumo and made their way down the street.

A bright blue sky shone over their heads. Naruto walked by Tsukiumi's side as they made their way to the open market. His eyes trailed down to look at Tsukiumi's hand. He frowned. Should he take it? They were married, sort of. They were at least bound together, which was a lot more, well, binding, then some flimsy sheet of paper. And she called him her husband, or at least she used to. That meant he could hold her hand right? Or was it still too soon after the traumatic experience she had gone through at his hands to do such a thing? And dammit! When the hell did all this get so complicated?

Deciding to just go with it, Naruto reached out and slid his hand into hers. Tsukiumi almost tripped at the sudden feel of skin contact, but he managed to keep her upright.

"N-Naruto-san?" Her round, enlarged eyes stared at him.

"You don't mind, do you?" asked Naruto, holding their conjoined hands up for inspection. He'd laced his fingers through hers, his light tan contrasting with her fair colored skin.

"Uh, uh, n-no!" Tsukiumi squeaked, her face coloring. "N-not at all!"

Naruto smiled, making her blush that much harder. "Thank you."

Tsukiumi was incapable of speaking, so she just looked away.

The Market wasn't very busy that day. Not all that unexpected all things considered. After what happened last night, Naruto was surprised the market was even open. Even though the market place in the northern district of the city hadn't been destroyed by his rampage, it didn't change the fact that no one wanted to go outside right now.

"I have never seen the market so quiet before," Tsukiumi murmured, finally speaking up. "It's very disconcerting to see such a lively place appear so dead."

"It can't be helped," Naruto sighed, "after what happened the previous night, no one wants to to risk going outside and possibly getting caught up in a warzone of some kind. I wouldn't even be surprised if most of the people living in the city have already decided to leave."

Even now, Naruto could see the devastation his rampage had caused. A quick turn of his head to the left revealed several buildings off in the distance. They were pitted and gutted, holes running through them like some massive super-heated lazer had melted the materials to their atomic components. What buildings were standing at least. Several had clearly been toppled and many more were just piles of rubble.

"Yes, I suppose it only makes sense," Tsukiumi agreed, before realizing what her words could be construed as. "N-not that you did anything wrong. I mean―"

"It's okay, Tsukiumi," Naruto said softly, "I know how badly I messed up the other night. I let my anger and hatred get the best me. Allowed my emotions to be twisted into something ugly. I won't make any excuses for my actions. What happened last night, that was all me and no amount of trying to justify what I did will ever make it right." He sighed. It was times like these where Naruto really felt his age. "All I can do now is try to make up for what I did. That's actually why I asked you to come with me. I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Y-you wanted to speak with alone?"

This was it, Naruto thought to himself. The next phase of his own change of heart and the chance to fix his mistake with Tsukiumi. He was nervous, naturally, as someone stepping out of the comfort zone of emotional isolation that he'd placed himself in for thousands of years, his desire to turn to a flee was understandable. But he wouldn't run. Not now. Not after he made a promise to himself to change. He had already started anyway, so it was too late to turn back. He'd let Musubi into his heart and he would be damned if he didn't allow Tsukiumi and the others in as well.

"Yes." Naruto stopped walking, Tsukiumi following suit. He faced her, his free hand reaching up and grabbing her other hand. In her astonishment, Tsukiumi was too shocked to blush. "Tukiumi, I'm sorry," he said, the suddenness of his apology shocking the water user further. "I'm sorry for constantly pushing you and everyone else away. I'm sorry for never allowing my feelings to reach you. I'm sorry for never recognizing your own feelings. And also, I'm sorry about the way I treated you back then, during the fight with Benitsubasa. I lashed out at you, my own Sekirei, someone I am bonded to and who's in turn bound to me. I will understand if you can never forgive me, but I―"

"Stop. Please," Tsukiumi's words halted anything else that might have escaped his mouth. Her grip on his hands tightened. "Do not say anymore, husband." Hearing her call him husband again made his body relax. That was a good sign, right? She shook her head, blond strands of hair shimmering as they moved. "I know that you did not do what you did on purpose, and I know that you were angry for what that women did to Musubi. I... I am not mad at you for that?"

"You're not?"

"No. That is not what's bothering me."

That wasn't what was bothering her? But she had been acting distant this entire time! During breakfast, during lunch, even when he'd been showing everyone around the training ground! She had gone out of her way to avoid him! She had even stopped calling him husband!

"Then why have you been so distant with me?"

"It's because..."

Tsukiumi's cheeks began to burn.

"It's just..."

She tilted her head down, her bangs falling forward to hide her vermillion colored face.

"It's..."

"Tsukiumi?"

"It's because you had sex with Musubi before me!" Tsukiumi shouted, quite suddenly, her voice echoing across the entire market. Good thing the market place was mostly empty. That shout would have caused quite the commotion.

"Eh?"

Now that Tsukiumi had admitted her problem, she could not longer be stopped. The deluge of words escaped her lips, flooding Naruto's shocked brain with more information. "I always thought I would be your first, since I am your wife and everything, but Musubi got to you before I did. I... I thought that meant you might like Musubi more than me, so I felt it would be best if I kept my distance and allowed Musubi to claim you as her husband."

Naruto stared at the blond woman speaking, her lips still moving. This was her problem? The whole reason she'd been avoiding him wasn't because she was afraid, but because he had sex with Musubi first and she thought it meant he had chosen her rival over her? Relief rushed through Naruto, sweeping all of his previous worries away like the summer heat melts snow. If that was her only problem, then fixing this would prove simple.

"Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi stopped her tirade and looked at him. "Yes, Naru-mmpph!"

Naruto's mouth smashed against Tsukiumi's, claiming her lips in a way that he'd never done before. The blond woman's shock, such as it was, didn't last for long. Her wide eyes closed shut. A moan forced its way from between her lips, muffled by his mouth over hers. Her arms went around his neck, pulling him close, forcing their bodies together. Breasts pushed up against his chest as masculine arms went around her waist and helped keep their bodies as close as physically possible while still in their clothes.

The amount of time they spent there, in the middle of the market, lost in each other's arms and the warmth of the other's mouth was indeterminate. Naruto couldn't begin to figure out how much time had passed. Nor did it really matter. All that he cared about was the woman in his arms, the feel of her lips, soft and supple and warm, and her amazing body as it pressed into his.

They only stopped kissing when oxygen became a problem. Tsukiumi pulled back, gasping, her face flush, shoulders and chest heaving as she tried to regain her breath. The blond woman's body glistened with trace amounts of sweat caused by the heat building inside of her. Naruto watched as one adventurous little droplet traveled down the notorious gap between her cleavage. He would have felt jealous, but knew that he would be experiencing something much more pleasant with Tsukiumi eventually.

"N-Naru―"

"Husband."

"E-excuse me?"

"I am your husband," Naruto said, smiling kindly at the blond Sekirei, whose eyes were becoming increasingly wide. "I may have slept with Musubi first, but that does not mean you are any less important to me. I love you, and I am not going to let something as silly as who slept with me first change that. And I hope you won't either."

"B-but Musubi―"

"Musubi hasn't even begun to comprehend what being husband and wife entails," Naruto interrupted gently. "She understands neither the term nor the implications. You and I both know that. The only reason she constantly argues with you is because of her childish nature."

"T-that is true," Tsukiumi murmured, averting her eyes for a second, before they flickered back to him. Her eyes, those big blue eyes, looked at him with an imploring gaze that all but made him melt. Damn. He really was getting soft. "Do you really mean all this? You still accept me as your wife?"

"Of course you are," Naruto raised his left hand and gently stroked her cheek. "No one can take your place, Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi's eyes seemed to melt. The already warm blues deepened a shade, as did her face, which had gained a light blush across her cheeks. "In that case, could I-I mean, could we-would it be alright if―"

Naruto didn't give Tsukiumi a chance to collect her thoughts and say what she really wanted to say. He just leaned down and began kissing her again.

XoX

"You've been acting awfully differently."

Naruto chuckled at the first words Miya said since she'd joined him on the porch. He had been sitting out there for several minutes before she graced him with her presence, sitting down next to him in her usual seiza position, her face calm, collected and composed.

"Have I?"

"Yes. You have."

"I guess I have," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "Would you prefer I act the way I used to? Cold and distant and angsting like some little emotionally stunted jerk who doesn't care about anyone other than himself?"

"It would probably cause me less head aches," Miya quipped back lightly. "It would also mean you'd stop acting like an idiot," she added. "But then, your Sekirei wouldn't be as happy as they are now. It's only been a day and they already show signs of being affected by your emotions through the bond." She gave him a soft, warm smile, one filled with gratitude and, for some odd reason, a hint of uncertainty. "I almost feel a little jealous."

"Ho?" Naruto tossed her a lazy, teasing grin. "What's this? Has our beautiful landlady started to feel left out now that I've begun showing my Sekirei more affection." He turned towards her, his left leg coming up to rest on the porch floorboards. "Perhaps she would like me to show her some affection as well?" he suggested, his voice deepening into a low growl, half-lidded blue eyes staring at the now shocked Miya.

"W-w-w-what?" Miya gaped at him, her eyes the size of ping pong balls. "I-I-that's not what I mean. I was just saying that it's, uh, it's nice to see you." Fidget. "You know." Fidget. "Being so kind to your Sekirei." More fidgeting. "And stuff."

Naruto almost lost himself at the sight of Asama Miya, a woman who always seemed to composed, actually fidget like some kind of school girl. The redness of her cheeks made her look vibrant and alive in. Her face, tilted down, eyes looking at her lap, were endearing in a way he didn't think was possible for her. And while he'd always known and recognized Miya as beautiful, it was only as he stared at her, in that moment, that he really felt like her beauty became something more than just a simple concept. She looked almost ethereal.

"Is that really it?"

Naruto lifted his other leg off the earthen ground and got down on all fours. Miya's eyes were incapable of widening any further. She scooted several feet away from him. Or tried to. Every time she would scoot across the porch, Naruto would take a "step" forward, making any progress she made meaningless.

"You know what I think? I think my lovely Asama Miya is beginning to think of me in ways a landlady shouldn't. Ways that are improper, indecent, perhaps even a little lewd."

She scooted another two feet. Naruto took several more steps.

"The beautiful and lonely widow, having decided to retain possession of her husbands inn, opens it for rent again. A young man looking for a place to call home, finds a flier offering room and board. He and the landlady meet. They get a long well in the beginning, and before either of them knows it, the young man has become a permanent resident in her boarding house."

By now, Miya was crawling backwards in something of a crab-walk. Naruto followed her dutifully, his hands and legs moving in slow, feline-like motions.

"As they begin to spend more time together, the landlady starts to realize that she and the young man have more in common than she first assumed. Much like her, he has scars in his past, terrible wounds of the heart that still bleed. And just like her, he too, is trying to find some meaning in this world, something to live for. She soon begins to fall for him without ever realizing it until it's too late."

Miya's back pressed against the wall of Maison Izumo. Her eyes wide and her face burning a deep scarlet, she continued trying to scoot backwards to no avail.

"For you see, the young man found his purpose before she could make a move. He falls in love with an young girl, one who's pure, naïve innocence manages to endear him to her. He's so taken in with this girl that he allows her to move in right away, much to the landlady's dismay."

"She tries her best to be a good landlady and host, treating her tenant and his new beloved with respect and kindness, but it's hard, oh so hard. She can't stand watching as the man she's fallen for and the young woman who stole him prance around her house, acting like a newly wed couple on their honey moon. She wants him. She wants him so badly that the landlady decides she will do anything necessary to have him, regardless of the consequences."

By this point, Miya's back was not only pressed against the wall of Maison Izumo, but Naruto was directly in front of her. His hands were placed on either side of her head, cutting off any hope of escape. Not that it mattered. He was also straddling her no longer struggling legs, which meant that even if she wanted to, she would not be capable of moving.

Miya's breath caught in her throat. Her purple eyes stared into bedazzling blue that were clearer than the sky itself. They were close. So close. His intoxicating scent pervaded her, causing her mind to work itself into a delirious haze. Their noses were touching, and she could feel his breath, hot and steamy, hitting her lips. Just a few more centimeters and they would connect.

"That would make for a good story, don't you think?" Naruto's whispered words sent of wave of something, Miya didn't know what, through her. A pleasant tingle ran up and down her spine, reaching her brain and causing heat to build up in her chest and between her thighs. "Perhaps we should enact it, just so I can get some reference material."

"I...I'm not that kind of women," Miya's whispered, uncertainty tinging her voice.

"So you say, but you haven't done anything to remove me yet." Naruto's grin was the grin of victory. "We both know that if you didn't want something to happen, it wouldn't happen." He paused. "You know what I think? I think you want this. I think you want to find someone again, to become intimate with them, to feel their love flowing through you."

"I...I don't."

"But you do, and I'll prove it to you."

Naruto closed his eyes and leaned forward even more. Miya's eyes widened as the distance between their lips began to close. Out of desperation, her fingers scrabbled on the wooden floorboards below, latching onto the first thing they could find.

The lintel post that she'd grabbed a hold of was ripped out from both floor and ceiling. Miya held the object above her head and then brought it down right on top of Naruto's.

"Dof!"

The post shattered, breaking apart as it smashed into the blond man. Miya scrambled out from underneath Naruto as the smack he received sent the blond man into the ground. His face hit the floorboards first, breaking them apart and sending his head straight through the wooden floor.

Miya stood up, dusted off her kimono, pretending as if she hadn't just sent Naruto's head through the floor.

"I apologize, Naruto-san, but you should know that illicit acts are illegal in Maison Izumo. I may have let you off the hook with Musubi due to extenuating circumstances, but it was a one time thing. Now then," she stepped over Naruto's prone form, "if you'll excuse me, I really should be getting started on dinner." She walked over to the open shogi screen door, and then stopped. She turned her head to look at the man whose butt was wiggling in the air as he tried to pull his head out of the floorboards. "By the way, you're paying for the damage done to my boarding house.

XoX

For the rest of the day Miya acted as she normally would: kind and caring, prim and proper, at least until someone did something that deserved the hanya, then all bets were off. She even made an excellent dinner of rice with miso soup, tempura and sashimi. Yes, nothing seemed at all wrong all day.

At least until the lights turned off and everyone went to bed.

Unlike the most of the rooms upstairs sans Naruto's bedroom, Miya had a bed of her own, a large queen-sized bed. It used to be one she shared with her husband, Asama Takehito. She thought about replacing it several times after his death, but each time she convinced herself to get rid of it, she refused to go through with the act. This bed had so many memories associate with it, memories of the times she and Takehito shared together. It was special, and no matter how much pain it brought seeing it, she just couldn't get rid of it.

Lying there on the bed, Miya found herself conflicted. Her face flushed a deep shade of red, sweat trickling down her glistening skin, shining with a brilliant luminescence as moonbeams came in through the open window. Her modest chest heaved up and down, bouncing with the effort as she tried to bring the temperature of her body back to manageable levels. But it was no use, her body was hot, too hot, a heat that emanated from her chest and between her thighs before spreading outwards, burning her from the inside out.

Within her minds eye, two people could be seen. One, a man with messy gray and grayish blue eyes. The other was a young-looking male with spiky blond hair and sky blue eyes. These two figures stood side by side, but slowly, ever so slowly, one of those people began to fade.

"N-no..." Miya raised a hand to the figure, his messy gray hair ruffling as he smiled sadly, even as he disappeared. "Takehito..." Her hand dropped to her side, all strength leaving it. Tears began to fall from Miya's eyes as she struggled to deal with the emerging feelings brought about by something not of her own volition. She never thought she would do this, but for the first time in her life, Miya cursed for being a Sekirei. If only she didn't have these powers, if only she were just a regular human woman. If she were, then maybe these feelings that burned her body and tore at her soul wouldn't exist.

That night, Asama Miya waged an internal battle with her own instincts and desires.

She did not get much sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. This story is almost coming to a close. I only have a few chapters left. I hope you've liked the story so far. My Q&amp;A for chapter 35 will be posted on my blog tomorrow. Check it out if you feel like knowing my thoughts and reasoning.<strong>


	37. Wind Flower

**A/N: For anyone interested, I just posted the Q&A for the last chapter of Ashikabi no Shinobi on my blog. The link is on my profile page.**

**Wind Flower**

* * *

><p>Naruto knew the moment he woke up the next morning that something was different. For one thing, he had only gone to bed with one person last night and there were now two bodies pressed against him. Another aspect about the morning that he recognized as off was the hand resting on his lower abdominal muscles, a delicate, feminine and silky soft appendage that had slipped just a little inside of him boxers.<p>

Naruto knew everything there was to know about his Sekirei, at least as far as their physical bodies and personal mannerisms went. He knew what it felt like to hold them, could describe in explicit detail every curve and crevice of their glorious bodies. He knew how they liked to sleep, what positions they preferred, as well as what they unconsciously did while sleeping.

The girl on his left was not one of his Sekirei. None of the Sekirei he knew, not even Matsu, had the guts to stick their hand down his pants so brazenly.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked to his left. Long locks of hair the color of midnight framed a beautiful face. Porcelain skin. Long eyelashes. A small nose and full lips. Kazehana.

Looking to his right, Naruto saw that Matsu was still where he last remembered her, curled up against his side and snuggling into the crook of his arm, her head resting on his shoulder. He took a moment to admire her curvacious figure, and then turned back to look at Kazehana. The woman in question was still asleep, her face peaceful, relaxed.

Naruto smelled the booze on her breath.

She had, quite obviously, wandered into his bed while drunk.

Sighing, the blond immortal began the laborious process of waking the two up. "Alright, you two! Up and at 'em! Matsu. Kazehana. Wake up."

"Nngg." Matsu groaned in complaint as Naruto's loud voice woke her from her pleasant slumber. Her left eye cracked open, and then closed. She snuggled deeper against Naruto's shoulder. "Five more minutes, Naru-tan."

…

One second passed. Then two. Finally, Matsu opened her eyes again.

"Wait. Did you just say Kazehana?"

Matsu pushed herself up and looked over on the other side of Naruto to see Kazehana stirring, moaning and groaning as she, too, sat up. "Not so loud..." the mature woman with the large breasts whined, a hand coming up to caress her head. "Please..."

Matsu looked back at Naruto, a single eyebrow raised as she asked the only question someone like her would be capable of making in a situation like this. "Care to explain why there is another Sekirei in your bed? I'm all four kinky threesomes, but I would have expected it to be with one of _your_ Sekirei. Not Kaze-tan."

"You're asking the wrong person," Naruto said, allowing his arms to finally slide out from underneath the two buxom young woman. They were a little numb, but otherwise fine. Nothing a good shake down wouldn't fix.

Following the two Sekireis' example, Naruto sat up. He put one hand behind him to act as support, while the other wrapped around Matsu's waist and pulled her to him. The redhead only had enough time to widen her eyes before his lips hampered her mouth. Despite her astonishment, Matsu happily returned the kiss, and even took it a step further when she slipped her tongue into his mouth.

The room flared with a brief but intense light. Wings of hexagonal colors coalesced into being behind Matsu. The young woman in question moaned into his mouth, the pleasant and sexual noise containing more than just a hint of lust, as Naruto's tongue dueled with hers.

Sitting on the sidelines, nursing her head ache, Kazehana watched in fascination as the young-looking immortal shinobi proceeded to give Matsu a wet, sloppy kiss.

"Oh my..." she muttered, absently squeezing her thighs together. That Naruto really knew how to kiss.

When Naruto finished turning Matsu into a quivering puddle of ecstasy, he turned his attention to Kazehana. Raising a single eyebrow, he looked at the raven-haired female who he knew for a fact had _not _been sharing his bed when he went to sleep last night. "So," he started, even as he pulled the insensate and immensely pleased Matsu onto his lap where he proceeded to stroke her inner thighs, enjoying the way it quivered when he came close to her core. "I'm guessing you got smashed last night and ended up coming into my bedroom thinking it was yours?"

"That obvious, huh?" Kazehana didn't seem all that embarrassed.

"I smell the alcohol on your breath."

"Ah."

XoX

From the moment she had returned to Maison Izumo after her drinking sojourn around the world, Kazehana found herself intrigued by Uzumaki Naruto. It had nothing to do with his appearance, though she would admit the man was handsome. Rather, her curiosity stemmed from his strange and contradictory behavior.

One of the first aspects about Naruto that Kazehana discovered was that the man seemed to be a mass of conflicting emotions and contradictions. He would say one thing while doing another. There was no better example of this than when he told everyone that he would not help Haruka and Kuku escape from Shinto Teito, and then went ahead and did it anyway. There were times when he acted very distant, even to his Sekirei, and others where he was affectionate and familiar. It was almost as if there were two different personalities locked inside of him, each one trying to pull Naruto in separate directions. Although, given what she and the other tenants of Maison Izumo learned about the ancient man, his bizarre personality sort of made sense.

Immortality. The concept was absurd, and this was coming from an alien entity that had arrived on earth in a spaceship with one-hundred and seven others for the sole purpose of finding their Ashikabi. And yet, despite the incongruity of the situation, Kazehana had living proof that immortality did indeed exist. The blond man sitting down on the other side of the table, Akitsu and Tsukiumi on either side of him while little Kusano sat in his lap, was immortal. It was hard to believe, but she couldn't deny the truth. How could she after witnessing him rip out and regrow his own heart?

As she sat there at the table, eating breakfast with everyone else, Kazehana studied Naruto and wondered, how would she have turned out if she were immortal? Unable to love without experiencing loss. Incapable of moving on when your loved ones passed on. Would she have had the same problems Naruto did? Would she have eventually grown bitter and jaded like him?

Probably. As a Sekirei, love meant everything to her. She lived for love. To love and be loved in turn. That was what it meant to be a Sekirei.

"_I have no desire to be your Ashikabi..."_

The words echoed within her mind, taunting her with the knowledge that the person she had reacted to did not want, did not love her, had chosen another woman, a human, over her. Kazehana grit her teeth.

"Kazehana? Kazehana?"

"Hmm?" Kazehana looked up to see Naruto staring at her, the inflexion in his voice inquisitive. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something?"

"I asked if you were alright." Naruto frowned. "You had a pretty scary look on your face for a moment there."

"I'm fine." Kazehana waved off his concern and tried to ignore the odd warmth in her chest. It was honestly kind of touching that he would show concern for her even though she was not one of his Sekirei. "Don't worry about it. I was just thinking about something."

"Must have been something pretty deep for you to get a face like that," Naruto said lightly, though he still seemed a touch concerned.

She smiled at him. "Yeah," she said, but did not say anything else. After watching her for several seconds, Naruto shrugged and went back to feeding Kusano, leaving Kazehana alone to her thoughts.

XoX

Even after seeing it the first time, Kazehana still found herself immensely impressed by the vast, cavernous training ground Naruto had created underneath Maison Izumo. Truly, just the knowledge that someone had been able to built such a large space underground within a few months without anyone knowing about it was impressive, never mind the fact that the place spanned for what appeared to be several miles, contained cliffs and trees and what even looked like an ocean complete with waves that crashed against a sandy shore.

Just how Naruto managed to build this place was beyond comprehension, immortal shinobi with god-like powers or not. It really made her wonder what kind of powers Naruto had. If he could make something like this, then what else could he do?

Her eyes traveled across the expansive space. Kazehana could not be sure, but the dome-like cavern must have been at least a mile or two in radius. She couldn't tell for sure. With so many terrain changes, determining the exact size of the training ground became an impossible task.

"Alright everyone! I've brought all of you down here so we can begin your training," Naruto started, and then stopped when Musubi squealed.

"Oh~ I'm so excited! We're finally going to get training!"

"Yes, yes, Musubi," Tsukiumi grumbled. "We all know you're excited. Now be quiet and let my husband finish."

"Muu~ He's my husband too, you know?"

Kazehana expected the water girl to get mad at the fist fighter and start another argument. That seemed to be their way of playfully bantering with each other or whatever, but was surprised when, instead of shouting about how she was "Naruto's one true wife" all Tsukiumi did was cross her arms, huff, and say, "you may believe whatever you want."

She studied the blond woman a little more, noting the confident way she held herself, which was a far cry from the way she looked yesterday. Something must have changed from breakfast the other day to now, something that had given her more confidence than she had before. Kazehana wondered what it was, and if it had anything to do with the man standing before them.

"What are we going to be learning?" asked Homura. Out of all the people present, Homura seemed to be the most skeptical of Naruto's Sekirei. Not that Kazehana could necessarily blame the fire user. How could a human, albeit, one who'd been alive for thousands of years and have power beyond imagining, teach them greater proficiency with their Sekirei powers?

"I'm kinda curious to know that too, bro?" Uzume, standing next to her own Ashikabi, looked at Naruto with a sort of inquisitive gaze. "I'd also like to know why I'm here. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're including me in this, but I'm not one of your Sekirei. You know that once the Sekirei plan gets underway again we're going to be enemy, right?"

Naruto gave Uzume an indulgent smile. "I don't consider you two my enemy. I only have one enemies, and that person is not either one of you. You and Chiho are here because I plan on training you both. I may not have much knowledge about your power over cloth, but I know a lot about fighting. I plan on sparring with you using multiple methods and powers to help teach you how to counteract each one."

Uzume scratched the side of her head. "Huh. I get it...I think."

"Um, Naruto-san?"

"Yes Chiho?"

Chihi wiggled in place as she found herself under Naruto's stare. Her cheeks flushing a very light shade of pink, the young woman made to continue speaking before she lost her nerve. "What exactly am I doing here? I mean, I'm not a Sekirei. I don't have any powers, so I don't really know why you asked me to come down here with you."

"You may not be a Sekirei, Chiho, but that doesn't mean you're powerless." Naruto's kind smile made the young woman become even more self-conscious than she was before. Aw. Kazehana almost squealed. It looked like someone had a bit of a crush. "Human beings have power. In fact, every Ashikabi in the world has the same ability to wield and control chakra that I do."

"They do?" Chiho's eyes were wide, and even the other Sekirei seemed shocked.

"Yes. Ashikabi are Ashikabi _because _they have the ability to use chakra." Naruto rubbed his cheek, his eyes going thoughtful, making him look almost like a scientist. "Think of it like this: chakra is the combination of spiritual and physical energy that all human beings have inside of them. However, not everyone can use chakra. The constant lack of chakra being used over many generations has led to most people possessing only enough chakra to live and nothing else. However, there are a rare few that are born with more chakra than others. These people are the ones who are capable of becoming an Ashikabi, because they have an excess of chakra that can be used to give a Sekirei their wings. It is my theory that if someone has enough chakra to wing a Sekirei, then they should also have enough chakra to use for jutsu."

"So you're going to teach me how to use those powers you have?" asked Chiho, her eyes practically sparkling.

"That's right." Naruto smiled kindly at the girl. Kazehana absently noticed that his genuine smiles were much nicer than the fake ones he used to give before the escape from Shinto Teito disaster. "I'm going to teach you some of the more basic ninjutsu and medical jutsu. Because your reserves are still small compared to the shinobi of my era, you can't learn any of the more destructive techniques, but learning the basic three and how to heal using chakra will put you leagues above any other Ashikabi, aside from myself, of course."

"Did you hear that, Uzume-chan?!" Chiho sounded more excited than anyone had ever heard her, even her own Sekirei. In fact, Uzume found herself quite surprised when the young woman gave her a big hug, though that did not stop the cloth-user from readily returning it. "I'm finally gonna be able to help you!"

"I heard." Uzume smiled at her Ashikabi, brown eyes filled with happiness and warmth. "Good on you, Chiho-baby." While the young woman in her arms continued to ramble excitedly, Uzume sent Naruto a look and mouthed "thank you" to him. In return, the blond male with spiky hair shrugged, then gave a small grin.

Naruto's hands came up and a small cross sign formed on them. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Smoke engulfed the area around him. A light breeze kicked up, blowing the smokescreen away to reveal a most interesting sight.

Several Naruto's stood arrayed in a semi-circle. There were eight of them in total, one for each of the Sekirei there plus Chiho. One of them was probably the original, but Kazehana could not tell which. Each one looked identical to the other.

"Now then," the one in the center said. With his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face, Kazehana assumed him to be the original. "Myself and one of my clones will be taking one of you aside and training you on how to use your powers, or in the case of Musubi and Uzume, teaching you out to fight people who can use a variety of fighting styles, weapons and powers." The smirk on his face slowly widened into a grin, one that caused shivers to spread across the spine of everybody there. "Welcome to Uzumaki Naruto's 'Kick your goddamn ass to make you the strongest Sekirei in the entire world' boot camp."

"Wow bro, your naming ability sucks."

"Just for that, you're getting an extra ass kicking, Uzume."

"Urk!"

XoX

Kazehana followed Naruto as he took her deep into the forest of the training ground. It was much larger than she originally assumed. The forest, that is. What at first seemed like a small copse of trees from a distance now appeared to be more like a massive jungle instead.

They walked along the forest floor, feet crunching against shrubs and leaves. High above them, a thousand branches crisscrossed and weaved in intricate patterns that could only be created by nature. Through the sparse sprinkling of gaps in the branches shot rays of illumination, painting the ground in patterns of light and dark.

"So, I just want you to know that I'm really grateful you're willing to help me learn more about my powers," Kazehana said as a way to start a conversation with the young man. "But I am curious to know why you've decided to help me. I'm not one of your Sekirei. You really have no obligation to train me."

Naruto did not look back at her. He walked resolutely forward, moving between tree trunks and ducking under several low hanging branches. "I have two reasons for helping you. The first is because you are one of the last unwinged Sekirei in the game. The start of the next phase of the Sekirei Plan hinges on all one-hundred and eight Sekirei being winged, and until all of them have been winged, the third stage will not start."

"I see." Kazehana ducked under a branch, stepped over a thick tree root, and moved around a large tree, all the while keeping her eyes on the man in front of her. "By ensuring that I'm as powerful as possible, you make it so that anyone wanting to wing me against my will has a harder time of it."

"That's right." Naruto nodded. "If you're so strong that no one can wing you, the third stage of the Sekirei plan can be postponed indefinitely until you find your Ashikabi. This will give me more time to train my own Sekirei and ensure that when the time comes, they'll be strong enough to survive the coming events."

"That makes sense, though I am surprised. You don't strike me as the type of person who cares about the Sekirei Plan."

"I don't," Naruto admitted, "however, just because I don't care about the Sekirei Plan, doesn't mean we won't be put into dangerous situations where being as strong as possible can only be a good thing. Minaka isn't going to just let us walk away from this. If I want to disrupt whatever plan he has, then I need my Sekirei to be as strong as possible so they can protect themselves from whatever Minaka throws at us."

"You sound like you're planning on starting a war with MBI or something?" Kazehana joked. When all she got was silence, she started to get worried. "You're not planning on starting a war with MBI, are you? I don't think I need to tell you how crazy that would be. Immortal or not, MBI is an incredibly powerful conglomerate. They have weapons beyond anything any present day military has, and enough people in their army that if Minaka weren't so interested in this game of his, he could probably take over the entire world."

"And I can destroy the entire world." Naruto turned his head and smiled at her. "Minaka may have weapons and people, but I have enough raw power that if I wanted to, I could reach into the earth's crust and cause the entire planet to implode on itself. Facing a couple hundred thousand soldiers with high-tech weaponry is nothing. It's my Sekirei I'm worried about, which is why I'm training them."

"I-I see." Kazehana wondered if Naruto really planned on fighting against MBI. The idea sounded ludicrous, but when he spoke about the massive company not being a threat to him, she couldn't help but believe it. "You mentioned there were two reasons for training me alongside your Sekirei," she prompted after a while.

"Right. The second reason is because Miya trusts you."

Kazehana blinked. Out of all the reasons he could have given, somehow, that had been the one she'd expected the least.

"And here we are." Naruto pushed away several branches and turned to her, holding them apart and gesturing grandly for Kazehana to proceed him. She smiled at the gesture and walked forward, past the foliage and into their destination.

And then she stopped.

"Oh. My. God."

Situated before her was what Kazehana could only describe as Eden. Heaven on Earth. Crystal clear water from a large lake lapped at a shore covered in dark green grass on one side, and a sandy beach on the other. The simulated sunlight from overhead coruscated off the water's surface, sparkling with a sort of vibrancy she didn't think possible for an artificially created environment to have. An array of color from a cornucopia of flowers littered the ground before her. Several meters from where she and Naruto stood, towering over her like a titan, was a gigantic waterfall made of glittering rocks that refracted light, causing its entire surface to glitter.

"Nice right?" Naruto stepped up next to her. "I built this place for us to train in. It's the perfect place to train a wind user."

"Really?" Kazehana looked away from the gorgeous scene that had the appearance of something from a romance novel and towards the blue-eyed man beside her. "How is a lake with a waterfall the perfect place to train a wind user? I would think this is the kind of environment that Tsukiumi would be better off training in."

"Tsukiumi's training is taking place by the ocean," Naruto said offhandedly.

Kazehana deadpanned. "You mean to tell me that you really did build an ocean?"

"Yep."

"Here?"

"Yep."

"In the training ground?"

"Uh huh."

"I...wow. That's impressive." Kazehana was sure the strange numbness of emotions she felt was her mind going into shock. "I saw that large body of water on the eastern side of the dome, but I didn't think it was actually an ocean."

"Well, it's more of a bay," Naruto admitted a tad reluctantly, as if ashamed that he had been unable to make an actual ocean. "It's only about a mile wide and a couple hundred feet deep." Yeah. Because that's not impressive at all.

"So what's this training you plan on giving me?" asked Kazehana, shaking her head. She decided to just ignore the last few seconds of their conversation. She didn't want to go insane because of something Naruto had done that should not be possible.

"You're actually probably the luckiest of everyone here," Naruto said, grinning. "Much like yourself, I also happen to be a wind user. It was the very first element I ever mastered."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm better with wind than I am every other element." Naruto had a large, proud smile on his face as he spoke. "It took me nearly one-hundred years, but I can now guarantee that you will never find someone anywhere else who can wield the wind as well as me."

"That's a pretty bold statement to make," Kazehana said, smiling, a glint entering her eyes. "Care to back that up with action?"

Naruto returned the smile before, without warning, several soft breezes brushed by her, touching her cheek with a gentle caress. She blinked, but thought nothing of it. She looked back at Naruto, a single eyebrow raised.

Naruto just kept on smiling.

"Why don't you turn around?"

Frowning, she looked behind her and saw that every tree within fifteen meters had been sliced to ribbons. It looked like a lumber jack had come through and gone psycho on the area. There wasn't a single tree left standing.

"W-what the heck?"

"Wind is not just a force that can be used to push and pull things around," Naruto said. Kazehana's head whipped towards him. "It's greatest strength lies not in the ability to act as a bludgeon, but in its cutting power. Wind can cut threw anything, even a vacuum, if you know how." Naruto's lips curved into a smirk. "So, think I'm just making idle boasts?"

"No." Kazehana shook her head slowly. "You've got me convinced." It looked like she'd underestimated this man once again. She felt like berating herself. Hadn't she been told yesterday that Naruto was immortal? It was only natural that he would have powers beyond her comprehension. "So, how exactly are you going to teach me to wield my powers better? What's the first step?"

"The first step?" Naruto grinned at her, and Kazehana suddenly had a very strong sense of foreboding. It didn't help that strange and sharp shadows were being cast along Naruto's face as he spoke. "The first step is...cutting a leaf in half."

Kazehana blinked. Naruto was holding a leaf in front of her face.

"Eh?"

XoX

Kazehana soon found out that cutting a leaf in half was a lot harder than it looked. Up until the point where Naruto told her what the first step towards mastering her power over wind was, the only thing she had ever done was create gales. She could do anything from generate a gentle breeze to powerful hurricane-like winds. With naught but a raise of her hand, she could command the forces of wind to send helicopters crashing to the ground and humans flying into the air. However, in all her years, she had never tried to actually cut something with wind.

She was finding the task to be exceedingly difficult.

Laying down on the roof of Maison Izumo, one leg propped up to form a triangle with the tiles while the other was straight, Kazehana twirled the leaf Naruto had given her between her fingers. A thoughtful frown marred her face as she looked at the leaf. It was unblemished, the small and fragile object didn't even have a scratch on it. She used her powers again, trying to cut the leaf, but all she ended up doing was blow it out of her hand.

Kazehana sighed.

Four hours. That's how long she had stayed with Naruto in that training ground trying to cut that damn leaf. He had shown her what to do, even cutting several leaves with his own chakra to show her how it was done. Despite this, Kazehana found herself no closer to being able to cut a leaf than she had been when she first started.

"Ha...and here I thought there wouldn't be anything for him to teach me." Boy had she been wrong. Who knew the wind could actually be used to slice through stuff? Well, aside from Naruto, that is. Not her, that was for sure. The idea of wind being capable of cutting through objects simply blew her mind. "I wonder...if I master my wind, will I be able to match Karasuba or Miya-san?"

The thought had some appeal, though not much. Kazehana didn't really enjoy fighting. She certainly never had the bloodlust of Karasuba, and unlike Miya who kept her blade skills sharp even now, Kazehana had stopped training after abandoning the Disciplinary Squad. Her abilities were probably weaker than they had been back when she and the other four were defending Kamikura island from military invasions.

Noise down below snapped Kazehana out of her thoughts. She sat up and looked down. Naruto stood outside, right next to the gated entrance. Akitsu and Kusano were with him. The small blond was riding on his shoulders while the ice-maiden held his left hand in her own, fingers laced in a gesture of intimacy.

"Huh. I guess it's Akitsu's turn to go shopping with Naruto today," Kazehana mused, which would also explain why Kusano was with them. The only person Naruto trusted to watch Kusano was Akitsu. Not that Kazehana could blame him. Musubi was too immature, Tsukiumi would probably pick a fight with the Green Girl, Homura despite now being one-hundred percent female didn't know the first thing about mothering, and Matsu...well, the more left unsaid about her qualifications the better. Uzume could have probably watched her, but she was also probably sleeping, or trying to sex up her Ashikabi. That really only left Miya, who Kazehana knew was always busy around the boarding house doing chores and whatnot.

Laying back down against the roof, Kazehana sighed.

She needed a drink.

XoX

Naruto went through his katas with a sort of mindlessness that came from someone who'd spent decades memorizing forms and motion. His fists cut through the air, each blow causing shifts in the atmosphere that extended the power of his blows. Several feet away, bark exploded off a number of trees that stood in the path of his hits. This caused him to smile. His physical abilities were almost back to full strength.

While his body went through the motions, mixing jabs and straights with hooks, and combining it with high-kicks, low-kicks and reverse heel-kicks, his mind turned towards the training his Sekirei and the three who were not a part of his harem were undergoing.

All of them were doing decently well. Some learned faster than others. Musubi, as he expected, had a lot of hidden potential. She wasn't very smart and she lacked common sense, but her ability to learn was second to none, provided you knew how to train her. She was a lot like him, in many ways. Perhaps that's why he had such an easy time getting her up to snuff.

On the other hand, Homura was struggling to control her powers over fire despite being the most intelligent of his Sekirei. This didn't really surprise him. Fire was passion, and if you lacked that passion, then controlling it would be difficult. Even Sasuke had been a passionate individual. Sure he brooded a lot, tried to remain cold and unfeeling, but say Itachi's name in his presence and he exploded worse than a tempest. Homura actually had that same passion, but bringing it out and using it seemed to be difficult for her.

Maybe a good romp would help with that. Hm. Something to think about anyway.

"There you are."

Naruto stopped what he was doing and turned around. Kazehana walked out from between a grove of trees, appearing before him with an unusually placid smile on her face. Or maybe it only seemed unusual because he was so used to seeing her staring at leaves in frustration. As she walked towards him, he couldn't help but notice the slight sway to her hips.

He couldn't help it. They were very nice hips.

"Were you looking for me?"

"Everyone's looking for you," Kazehana said, smirking at him. "I don't think you realize it, but it's time for dinner now. When Miya noticed you weren't in your room, or anywhere else in the house, she ordered all of us down here to search for you."

"Huh." Naruto slowly disengaged from his stance and moved over to a tree behind him. "I guess it's good to know that Miya is so worried about making sure I get my meals in," he said, grabbing the towel hanging off a branch and using it to wipe the sweat from his body. "She's been so intent on ignoring me that for a while I thought she might be upset."

"I think it's more a matter of you just confusing her," Kazehana said, a small glint in her eye. Naruto chuckled.

"I guess."

"So what were you doing here? Training?" she asked, her eyes looking over at the trees several feet away. They had been stripped completely bare of bark. All that remained was the smooth inner surface.

"Yep. I was practicing my taijutsu," he said, then added, "hand-to-hand combat," upon seeing her look.

"Ah." She eyed the branch again. "And how did you do that?"

"By extending the distance my punches can strike outside of my body." When all Kazehana did was blink, Naruto chuckled. "It's not as complicated as it sounds. When someone can throw a punch or kick with enough power they can extend their reach via violent shifts in the air currents. Regular humans can do this with enough training, though they can normally only extend it to maybe six inches at most. A power-type Sekirei like Musubi could probably extend it by a meter or two if they know how to focus."

"And what about you?"

"Without the use of chakra, I can extend my attacks to two meters. That seems to be my limit. I remember, about a six-hundred years ago I tried extending the range further, but never succeeded." He placed the towel around his shoulder and walked over to Kazehana. "I guess that's because my body reached it's peak. There is an old saying about how humans have unlimited potential, but that's only true to a certain degree. The reason a human's potential seems so unlimited is because they can never live long enough to reach that potential."

"And you have reached?"

"Physically I have. And chakra wise as well. I'm sure there is more that I could learn outside of what I already know, but I've only ever bothered acquiring knowledge out of necessity or boredom. So yes, in a manner of speaking, I've already reached my full-potential. I am no longer capable of getting any stronger, faster, or more powerful than I am now. And while there may be techniques I don't know or can't do, that is simply because I either don't need them or can't use them."

"I guess that would make sense. You are immortal."

"Right."

Naruto smiled. He and Kazehana began walking back to the entrance that would lead to Maison Izumo. Because the forest was about a mile from the ladder, it would take a couple of minutes at the slow pace they made.

"Did you know that people can also extend their punches by using wind?" asked Naruto. Kazehana perked up.

"Really?"

"Yep. Before I learned how to extend the reach of my attacks with pure physical strength, I learned to do it using wind." And before that he'd done it with sage mode, but that was neither here nor there. "Any skilled wind user can extend the range of their attacks by channeling wind around the attacking appendage and timing its release with a punch."

To emphasize his point, Naruto allowed the wind to manifest around his hand, a distortion of green energy compressed above his fist and over his knuckles. He punched out at a nearby tree almost absently. A ripple shot from his fist, warping the air, before it struck with tree branch with so much force the entire tree exploded in a shower of splinters.

As the tree fell down with a loud, resounding crash, a wide eyed Kazehana turned to look at an only slightly sheepish Naruto.

"Whoops. Put a little too much power in it."

"You think?" The shocked expression Kazehana gave him looked astoundingly fetching. Perhaps because she rarely displayed any emotion unless drunk.

Naruto smiled. "Did I mention that by adding wind, a persons attacks can become ten times more powerful than someone using pure brute strength?"

XoX

The sound of thumping reached his ears long before the person the noise belonged to did. Turning his head, the blond male was just in time to see Homura rush onto the veranda where he was partaking in a drink of sake.

"Naruto! You have to see this!"

"See what?"

"Just come with me to the living room! Minaka is making an announcement!"

Naruto didn't need any more prompting than that. He followed Homura into the living room, where everyone else was already sitting around the TV. Minaka was on the screen.

"Hello people of Shinto Teito!" The man greeted with entirely too much enthusiasm. "I bring you all greetings and salutations, and I hope you are doing well. As you all know, our city has recently suffered catastrophic damage. Two entire city blocks were destroyed and over ten-thousand citizens now lay dead."

"I see," Naruto said, narrowing his eyes. "So Minaka finally plans on addressing the damage done to the city. I didn't think he'd be able to so soon, not with all the damage done."

"I doubt he cares all that much about the damage," Homura scoffed. "Minaka's never cared about the livelihood of others. However, he at least understands the need to tell the people something, give them some reassurance, quell their fears and insecurities so they'll stay in Shinto Teito. After all, a city can't run itself. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't done it already."

"Hm. Yeah. I guess that's true. Now, let's see what the new ruler of Shinto Teito has to say."

"For those of you are worried, do not fret, MBI has already dispatched emergency squads to begin clearing out the rubble and searching for survivors. We've already rescued two-hundred people who managed to make it out of that catastrophe alive. I know that all of you who had friends and family working in that area are worried, but please try to remain calm. We're doing everything we can to help."

"Hmph. The man is most thorough, if nothing else," Tsukiumi said, arms crossed under her chest. Naruto took a moment to take his eyes away from the screen to give an appreciative stare to the blond water-user's bouncing bosom. Musubi might be the largest of his flock, but Tsukiumi had that middle ground between large and perky that he just couldn't help but love. "It is almost as if he already suspected something like this would happen."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, but didn't comment.

"Many of you are probably wondering what happened to cause so much damage. I'm sure all of you remembered the small seismic quakes that rocked the city as the north-eastern quadrant was being destroyed. However, I can tell you right now that neither the quakes nor the destruction were caused through natural means. Oh no. This violent display was merely a portent of fate heralding the arrival of the Gods!"

"A portent from the Gods?" Tsukiumi asked, scoffing to herself. "What kind of nonsense is he blathering about?"

"Hey Tsukiumi?" Musubi, sitting next to her blond sister Sekirei, tugged at the water user's sleeve. "What's a God? Is it tasty?"

Tsukiumi twitched. "You mean to tell me that you don't even know what a God is? Are you stupid?"

"Hey! That's mean!" Musubi puffed up her cheeks. "I'm not stupid!"

Tsukiumi just snorted, but thankfully, didn't say anything to contradict the naïve Musubi.

"Matsu." Naruto grabbed the redhead's attention. Matsu was sitting down with a tablet in her lap, her fingers traveling across the keyboard so quickly most of the people in the room could barely make out what she was typing. "You're recording this, right?"

"Of course."

"Good."

"Why would you want to record this?" asked Homura, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "It's just Minaka being an idiot. Nothing new there."

"You think so? Perhaps. I would still like a recording so I can study it." Naruto frowned at the man on the screen. Even now, after all this time, there was something tickling the edge of his awareness, something familiar. He didn't know why, but he felt like he should know this man. "Tch. I wish he wouldn't wear those stupid sunglasses. I can't even see his eyes."

"Minaka has worn sunglasses for as long as I can remember," Kazehana said. She looked thoughtful, as if contemplating something deep and meaningful. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen him take those sunglasses off." The wind-user glanced over at her two compatriots. "What about you two?"

Matsu shook her head, while Miya actually deigned to speak. "No, I haven't seen him take them off. I think Takehito might have, but if he did, he never said anything." She paused, then added, "Takami might have. In fact, I'm sure she has, but she's the only one I know who has probably seen him without his sunglasses."

"I see," Naruto murmured, noticing the way Kazehana stiffened at the name of MBI's current top adjustor.

"Yes! This act of destruction was merely a sign of things to come! And the destruction itself was caused by none other than the only living God on Earth!" Everyone's head snapped back towards the TV. Minaka, arms spread wide and a deranged smile on his face, looked positively gleeful. "Behold everyone! This is the man who is responsible for the destruction the other day!" The image changed to one of Naruto. It was a video image of him fighting Benitsubasa, though calling it an actual fight was highly misleading. Slaughter was more accurate. "This man, Uzumaki Naruto, is a living God, and the one who will help those who prove themselves worthy ascend to the Heavens! Rejoice everyone! For though we have lost much, it is only due to the God's culling the unworthy so that those who have the ability and tenacity may ascend to the Heaven's above and―"

No one in Maison Izumo would hear the rest of Minaka's words. The TV exploded in a violent shower of sparks. Several of the Sekirei present, especially Uzume and Kusano who were right in front of the TV, shouted in surprise.

"Ah..."

A pause.

"It exploded."

Except Akitsu who, despite being in front of the TV, reacted with the same glacial slowness she always did.

"Naruto!" Miya scolded. Naruto ignored her as he stood up and turned to Matsu.

"Are you still recording?" Wide eyed, Matsu nodded. "Good. Once you finish recording, meet me in your room. I don't know how, but it appears that Minaka managed to bypass your hacking and somehow figured out I am more than just a simple human. We need to determine how he managed to get passed your encryption and also figure out how long he's known about me."

"Um, okay."

"Good." Naruto breathed in deeply, and then let it all out in one gust. He glanced at the now destroyed TV, sighing. "Now then, I think I'm going to get a us a new TV."

"You wouldn't have to get a new TV if you hadn't destroyed this one," Miya said, glaring just a bit. Naruto's shrug was dismissive.

"Meh, we needed a new TV anyway."

XoX

Naruto watched the training session of a certain wind-user, the smile on his face displaying how entertained he was. Kazehana stood several feet away, her eyes glaring at the leaf in her hand intently. If the woman weren't a wind user, that leaf would have probably burst into flames with how intense her stare was.

Only two days had passed since the big announcement made by Minaka, the one revealing him to be the cause of the incredible destruction of the city. Since then, most people went out of their way to avoid him.

This didn't really mean all that much, seeing how he never interacted with the normal citizens of Shinto Teito anyway, but it was kind of annoying whenever he entered a store and people ran away screaming. That the people who worked at those stores _also _ran away screaming just irritated him that much more.

Other than the whole "everyone is now afraid of him and runs away like the Devil's nipping at their heels" bit, life continued on as normal. Yes. Everything was going as per the usual. Naruto's routine had not changed a bit. He still woke up in bed with one of his Sekirei, had breakfast, trained his Sekirei until lunch, and then trained himself until dinner. He still went to bed at the same time, still made sure to spend quality time with each of his Sekirei, and still made progress towards becoming more intimate with them.

On a side note, Homura did not appreciate it when Naruto hit on her. The immortal man didn't know if that's because she still saw herself as a guy, or because she was just the shy, easily embarrassed type. Maybe a little of both?

A frustrated huff brought him back to the present. Kazehana still seemed no closer to cutting the leaf than the last time he'd checked her progress. The most she'd been able to do was rip it to shreds with overpowering amounts of blunt force trauma.

He walked up to her. "Still having problems?"

"Is it that obvious?" Wow. Naruto didn't think he'd ever heard Kazehana sound so sarcastic. Then again, frustration would do that to someone.

"You remember what I told you about wind manipulation, right?"

"Of course. Wind techniques consist of mainly close to mid-range that combine brute force and keen precision to deal cutting and slashing damage. They're usually performed by generating air circulation, but they can also be enhanced using this method as well. To use wind techniques, I have to make my wind as sharp and thin as possible."

"That's right. It also helps if you use two opposing wind currents and grind them against each other in such a manner that they sharpen one another into fine pieces."

"I've been trying to do that, but it doesn't seem to be working." Kazehana sighed as the leaf in her hand shredded apart when she smashed her wind into it. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this kind of precision," she said.

"I doubt that. As a Sekirei, your control over wind should be superior to any other wind user of my era except me, and that's only because I have a couple thousand years of experience over you."

"Then how come I can't get this right?"

"Because it's only been two days since you started." Naruto shrugged. "These things take time, unfortunately. All we can do is persevere."

"I guess. Ugh, I need a drink."

"After we finish training, I'll let you drink all you want," Naruto said, chuckling. When Kazehana gave him a mildly annoyed look, he just smiled. "Here, why don't we try something else instead? I think I have an idea that might help you learn how to cut a leaf in half faster."

"Really?"

"Really."

XoX

Kazehana and Naruto sat across from each other. They didn't sit seiza, but rather, with their legs crossed. Their knees were close enough to touch. In Naruto's right hand was a rock, a lumpy rock with many bumps and pits in it. It looked more like a lump of coal than a rock.

"This is a control technique I created when I decided to truly master wind chakra," Naruto explained, tossing the rock up and down in his hand. "The key to mastering this technique is to make the rock smooth by using the wind to 'sand' away at it. Observe."

Kazehana watched as hundreds of nearly invisible wind blades slowly chipped away the bumps and rough edges, smoothing the stone out. It was fascinating to see. About a minute after he started, Naruto finished the exercise and in his hand was a perfectly smooth, rounded rock. It even shone in the light, as if someone had polished it.

"So you're going to have me do this now?"

"No." Naruto shook his head. "This technique is even more complicated than cutting a leaf." Kazehana frowned. She was about to ask why he showed this exercise to her then, when Naruto spoke some more. "That's why we're going to do this together." He grabbed another rock and held it up. She wondered where he was getting them all. There were no rocks in the grass underneath their bums that she could feel. "I believe that if we do this technique together, you'll be able to get a feel for how I use the wind and be capable of mimicing my actions. This will help you learn faster." A sheepish expression then crossed his face. "To be honest, I should have thought about doing this sooner, but it's been so long since I used this training method that it slipped my mind."

Kazehana raised her left eyebrow. "You mean you've done this before?"

"Of course," Naruto said. "I've had many children in my lifetime, and some of those children have been wind users. My son, Susanoo was a wind user." He also used lightning and water, but that didn't have much baring on this conversation. "And so were several other sons and daughters I had. I first devised this technique to help them learn to control their powers. It works quite effectively."

"I see." Kazehana had no clue who Susanoo was, but supposed it didn't matter. "So how do we do this?"

"Simple." Naruto raised his hand with the rock in it. "We enclose this rock between our hands, and then both focus on smoothing it out by circulating our chakra around the rock and slowly shaving away at the imperfections."

"That's all there is to it?"

"Yep."

Thus began the training. Kazehana placed her hand over the rock. Consequently, this meant she was also holding Naruto's hand as well. Her cheeks felt a little hot from having skin contact with the young man, but she ignored that for a moment. Or she tried to. As they started working towards combining their powers over wind to shave away the rock, the temperature of her cheeks skyrocketed. They felt like someone had stuck them in a furnace. Her hand where Naruto was touching her also felt warm, as did her arm, shoulder, and a good portion of the rest of her body. The heat wave soon encompassed all her, but became more centralized around her lower abdomen, chest, and the base of her neck.

She knew what this meant. It did not surprise her either, as she had been feeling mildly hot whenever in Naruto's presence. Despite her body telling her to kiss the man silly and gain her wings, she held herself back. Now was not the time for such flights of fancy.

Instead she focused on what they were doing. She could feel the way Naruto used his control over wind to smooth the stone. His control was precise, finely honed. She would even go so far as to say his control over wind was perfect. By comparison, hers was a mess. Even while Naruto smoothed out his side of the rock in a way that would make professional jewelers envious, her side only seemed to get bumpier.

"Stop thinking about how to smooth the rock out," Naruto said softly. "Instead of thinking, feel how I smooth out the rock and copy that feeling."

"That's easier said than done," Kazehana retorted. If it were just a simple matter of copying him, she was sure that she could do it. But on top of trying to copy his actions, she also had to deal with the heat his contact caused. That made things a hundred times more difficult.

"It's only hard because you're making it hard," Naruto insisted. "Close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

Kazehana frowned at Naruto, but did as told. "Now, focus on the feeling of the wind circulating around the rock. Do not worry about how smooth or uneven the rock feels. Simply focus on the wind." Kazehana did as told. She could feel the wind flowing around her, tickling her skin. She could also feel it flowing around the rock, smoothing it down, whittling away at the imperfections. She felt this and tried to copy it.

She didn't know how much time passed after that. Nor did she know if she succeeded. All she did was focus and try to follow Naruto's instructions.

"Alright, now stop." She did as told and stopped using the wind. "Now open your eyes."

Opening her eyes, Kazehana found herself staring at the stone. It was even more misshapen now, not because it had more imperfections, but because one side was perfect while the other remained lumpy. She frowned.

"It looks like I didn't do as well as you thought I could," she said sadly, feeling like she'd somehow let him down.

"On the contrary, you did a lot better than most do when I teach them with this exercise the first time." When all she did was give him a queer look, Naruto gently grabbed her wrist and held it so that her palm was facing up. "This rock might not be perfect, but you can see here where your own wind was slowly smoothing it out." He pointed to several areas on the rock's surface that were smoother than some of the other areas. "You can see here where your technique was flawless, while other areas still need smoothing. This just means you're localizing where you utilize the wind and, rather than smoothing it all out at the same time, are trying to smooth it bit by bit. This is why your side has imperfections on it. The key is to widen the range of your wind until you can cover the entire rock and smooth it over in a few seconds."

"Sounds tough."

"It is, but that's why I'm here to help you." Naruto smiled as he stood up. "Now then," he began, "it's pretty late. I imagine Miya has lunch ready for us." The blond male held a hand out to Kazehana. "Let's go."

Kazehana looked at the hand for several seconds, before taking it and allowing Naruto to help her up.

She tried to ignore the way her body responded to his touch.

XoX

Naruto was not surprised to find Musubi cleaning the floors. It was one of the tasks Miya had given her, and Musubi was nothing if not zealous in her effort to aid the landlady who sparred with her before Naruto had taken over her training.

He leaned against the entrance to the hallway, watching his Sekirei as she ran back and forth across the wooden floorboards with a large micro filament fabric beneath her hands. She would move from one side of the hallway to the other, back and forth, her butt sticking in the air, fabric gliding across the floor and her feet pounding along the wood. The young woman appeared completely focused on her cleaning, not paying attention to anything around her. He smiled, waiting until she was finished before speaking.

"Musubi?"

"Ah! Naruto-sama!" Musubi smiled as she stood up, wiping away some of the sweat that had accumulated on her brow from exerting herself. "Is dinner ready?"

Naruto withheld a chuckle. "Not yet. I actually just came back from bringing the groceries, so Miya has only just started."

"Mou..." Musubi moaned piteously, pouting a bit. Naruto would have wondered why, but a second later her stomach gurgled, letting him figure out the reason she was so eager for dinner on his own. "I was hoping dinner would be ready soon. I'm really hungry."

"I'm not surprised. You've been putting a lot of effort into your training. That takes a lot out of you, especially since you're fighting against me."

"Yeah. Naruto-sama is really strong," Musubi said, smiling. "I was surprised. I always knew that Naruto-sama was really strong, but I never realized how strong until you started training me." Her eyes began to sparkle as she looked at him. "You're so amazing."

This time, Naruto did chuckle. He walked over to Musubi and slowly drew her into a kiss, which she returned with a happy sigh. Lights flared from her back and wings sprouted like a flower blooming in the morning sun. Neither paid attention, and as the lights died down, Naruto pulled back.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, you know. You're getting very good at thinking on our feet and adapting to new situations. I'm really impressed."

Musubi beamed at the praise. "Thank you!"

"Listen," Naruto started, "do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course not! What do you want to ask me?"

"I was just wondering what happened after your fight with Benitsubasa," Naruto said. "I mean, I felt you disappear from the Sekirei bond we share, and I know that you lost your crest, but somehow managed to regain it. I just wanted to know if you remember anything?"

Musubi's face scrunched up. "Remember? Like what?"

"Anything."

"Well," she said, extending the word as she thought about his question. "I remember fighting the pink girl you wanted me to. She was really strong. And then, uh, everything went dark, and then everything it became bright. I remember, oh! Right! I remember Yume-sama telling me I had to go back."

"Go back?"

"Yes! She said I had to go back because you needed me. So I came back."

Naruto frowned at what she was saying, but didn't comment. It seemed his suspicion about Yume's conscience somehow being locked away inside of Musubi was correct. He had been wondering about that for a while now. Ever since learning about the rescue operation to save Musubi, in which Yume sacrificed her Sekirei core so the fist-fighter could live, he had suspected something like this had happened. He'd just never been able to acquire any proof until now.

"I see. Thank you for telling me that."

"No problem!"

Musubi's cheerful response made him smile. After giving her one last kiss, Naruto bade her farewell and made his way towards where he felt a certain wind user residing.

Like most days, Kazehana could be found lounging on the roof, a bottle of sake in one hand and a leaf in the other. When Naruto got there, he saw her absently spinning the leaf, which he noticed was cut halfway through the middle.

"You're improving," Naruto said as he walked over and sat down next to the woman.

"It does seem to be that way, doesn't it?" Kazehana said, smiling a bit. "I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"Maybe a little, but all I do is push you along. You're the one who's making the effort to learn how to wield the wind more efficiently. You've also got a natural talent for it that I've never seen in another person."

Kazehana's cheeks colored slightly, though that might have been the booze getting to her. "Thank you."

They sat there for a moment, neither talking until Naruto decided to just broach the subject he wanted to discuss with his usual lack of subtlety.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised you haven't done anything with me yet. Do you not want your wings? Or is there another reason you're trying to pretend you haven't reacted to me?" Naruto eyed Kazehana as her eyes widened. A thousand emotions were put on display: shock and incredulity being chief among them. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I have six Sekirei, and I've seen each of them react to me. It wasn't that hard to realize you were reacting as well."

Kazehana looked away, sighing. "How long have you known?"

"The moment you started reacting," Naruto admitted, "about three days after we first met."

Kazehana winced. "That long, huh?"

"Like I said, you can't hide something like this from me."

A moment of silence passed between them. Naruto didn't break it, knowing that Kazehana needed some time to gather her thoughts. He simply sat there, waiting for the purple-haired woman to say something.

"If you knew I was responding to you this whole time, why haven't you done anything?"

"Because you didn't seem too keen on getting winged by me," Naruto admitted. "I could see how hard you've been trying to ignore your own reaction, so I decided to give you the same courtesy. Plus I...well, I really wasn't sure if I could handle another Sekirei," he said softly. Kazehana looked at him. Naruto gave her a sad smile. "The truth is, ever since I first realized what winging a Sekirei truly meant, I've been afraid of allowing any others to get close. I failed, of course, in many respects. I guess my heart has never been able to truly deny anyone who wanted to be with me, even when I try pushing them away. It was easier with you because unlike the others, you were not only able to ignore your reaction for a time, but also didn't seem to want to be winged by me."

"So what changed?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Looking up back at the sky, Naruto shrugged. "Perhaps nothing has changed. Or maybe everything has changed. I don't really know. All I know is that I'm sick of fighting with myself. I'm tired of running from myself. For more than a thousand years all I've done is run; from my feelings, from my emotions, from myself. But I'm done with that now."

Kazehana studied him for a long while. And as she stared, her eyes grew soft, emitting a warm glow that somehow reminded him of his eldest Greek daughter, Hestia. "You lost someone you loved." It wasn't a question.

"I've lost everyone I loved," Naruto retorted. "Do not forget how old I am. I've loved many times, and each of those women I loved eventually died. Sometimes they died of old age, other times disease, and sometimes they were killed by humans out of fear for what they could do. Decade after decade, century after century, I continued losing the people I loved, until one day I just decided to not love." A self-depreciating smile appeared on his lips. "I guess I thought that, so long as I never fell in love again, I would never get hurt again."

"I see..."

"So what's your story?" asked Naruto, glancing at the woman. Her face had grown quite red, and he didn't think it was all from the alcohol. "Is there a particular reason you're holding yourself back, even though you claim that love is the greatest gift in the universe? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, of course, but talking about it might make you feel better."

Kazehana remained silent for a while. Naruto didn't speak during that time. He simply waited, knowing that if she wanted to tell him, she would eventually.

"I actually reacted to someone before you," Kazehana said finally, her voice softer than the very breezes she could create. "Back when I was a member of the Disciplinary squad, I reacted to Hiroto Minaka." She looked over at Naruto, her eyes gazing into his. "You don't seem too surprised."

"I already knew that you had reacted to someone before me," Naruto told her. "It wasn't hard to see from the way you acted that someone had spurned your love before. That's the only reason I can think of for why a Sekirei would deny gaining her wings from an Ashikabi she's reacting to." He paused, then added, "well, one of two anyway."

"You're referring to Miya?"

"That obvious, huh?"

Kazehana sat up with a sigh. "It's clear to me that she's been reacting to you for a while now. It's also just as obvious why she's denying herself the chance to earn her wings from you."

"Because of Takehito."

Kazehana nodded. "Even though he was not her Ashikabi, Miya truly loved that man. The bond they shared may have been even stronger than one between a Sekirei and her Ashikabi simply because that bond did not exist." She looked up at a sky, a smile mixed with sadness and envy on her lovely features. "Rather than the bond of an Ashikabi and a Sekirei, theirs was the bond between a man and a woman, which may have made it even more powerful."

"I guess so..."

Naruto sighed. The situation between him and Miya would have to be resolved soon. Either he would have to leave, or she would have to come to terms with the fact that she was reacting to him. Truth be told, Naruto did not know which of those he wanted. He didn't really want to take Takehito's place, but he also didn't want Miya to suffer. This was a precarious situation, one that would he needed to tread on lightly if he wanted it to end on a happy note.

He looked back at the buxom woman sharing his company. "You mentioned reacting to Minaka," he prompted.

"Right," Kazehana blew out a breath, her expression turning just a little downtrodden. "I reacted to Minaka and asked him to become my Ashikabi. He said no, of course. Minaka chose someone else over me. A human woman." A scowl came across her face.

"You mean Takami, right?"

"I'm not surprised you know that. Yes. Minaka chose Takami over me. She even had a pair of brats with him."

"Yukari and Minato," Naruto said, nodding. "I actually plan on talking to them soon, about possibly teaming up with me."

Kazehana paid more attention to him, studying him, observing him with those keen and critical eyes, the kind someone could only earn on the battlefield. "So it's true. You really do plan on opposing Minaka."

"Of course. If the Sekirei Plan were to continue, it would mean only one of the Sekirei could win, which means I would eventually be forced to let go of the bonds I forged with my Sekirei. I have no intention of letting that happen." Naruto leaned back on his hands and looked at the city. Over in the distance he could see the large-scale construction going on where he'd rampaged across Teito. "The only reason I haven't just gone and killed Minaka yet is because I don't know if he has a method of forcibly shutting them down or not. If I were in his place, I would have made a fail safe that could remotely shut down any Sekirei I wanted, so I am sure that he does as well." A grin appeared on his face. "Plus I know my Sekirei will want to be a part of any plans I make against Minaka."

"Which is why you're training them."

"That's right. It's also why I'm training Chiho and Uzume. Knowing them like I do, they'll also want to take part as well."

"Yes, after everything you've done for them, I suppose they would." Kazehana studied Naruto's profile, her eyes staring at him as if he were some kind of idle curiosity. "So, what do you plan on doing?" When the spiky-haired blond turned his head, she elaborated with, "about you and me, I mean. You already know I'm reacting to you." As if to emphasize her point, her face was already quite red from being in such close proximity with him, and her nipples were poking through her shirt. She was aroused. "Do you plan on winging me?"

"If you want me to," Naruto said, turning around. "But before either of us decide whether we should tie ourselves together like that, perhaps you would allow me the honor of taking you out for dinner tomorrow night first?"

"On a date?"

"Yep."

"Sure." Kazehana shrugged, then smiled. "If we're going to do this anyway, I might as well sample the goods before getting myself hitched."

XoX

Naruto stared at himself in the mirror. He wore a tuxedo that fit him to a T. The black formal waistcoat formed to his body like a glove, showing off his powerful physique. Underneath this was a dark orange formal, long-sleeved button-up collared shirt and a black tie. His dress slacks were also black. Due to the expensive fabric used in the production of this outfit, a 50k model made by Kiton, the suit shimmered ever so slightly as he moved in the light.

He felt nervous. Naruto knew he didn't have much reason to be. He'd done this a thousand times before. Wooing woman was as easy for him as breathing. And it would be even easier than usual this time. Kazehana was already reacting to him. He had little doubt that by the end of this night, he will have winged her.

That didn't change how anxious he felt. He wanted this night to go perfectly. Not because it would guarantee that Kazehana was winged by him, but because he really wanted the woman to enjoy herself. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about this, or maybe he did and was just in denial, but he couldn't deny that he wanted Kazehana to enjoy their date.

There was a part of him that continued whispering in his ear. A part that told him this would only end in pain. That eventually, Kazehana and all of his Sekirei would die and he would be alone once again.

Naruto studiously ignored this voice. He shoved it into the darkest, deepest recesses of his mind. There would come a time when he would have to confront his own darkness, but that time was not now. At the moment, all he wanted to concern himself with was Kazehana and making sure she had the best time ever.

Nodding to his reflection, Naruto made his way out of the room. A jingle chains let him know that Akitsu was there before he saw her. The woman stood off to the side, her regular attire of kimono and chains on.

He would bet his left nut sack that she wasn't wearing any panties.

"Akitsu. Something up?"

"Ah..."

A pause.

"Kusano is asleep. I thought you should know."

"Thank you."

Naruto had left Akitsu in charge of Kusano these days. The snow woman might forget something as simple as putting her panties on, but she was surprisingly responsible when it came to watching after Kusano. It was probably because Naruto had asked her to look after the Green Girl, but he liked to think it was because Akitsu had simply bonded with the youngest of his Sekirei and enjoyed looking after her.

"You're welcome." Akitsu gave him a very small, but completely genuine smile. She had been giving a lot more of those recently. He suspected it was because of the kisses. "Ashikabi-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know if-I mean would it possible if you and I..." Akitsu trailed off, biting her lower lip. Naruto knew what she wanted to ask, but was afraid to. He knew, but he didn't say anything. Doing so would cheapen the moment.

Taking a deep breath, the snow-maiden continued.

"Do you think it would be possible if you and I also went on a date?"

Naruto smiled. "I don't see why not." When Akitsu looked at him in slight surprise, he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Her wings flared to life, and as he pulled back, Naruto got a glimpse of crystalline chakra slowly fading into energy particles. "There's a fair going on next Saturday. Would you like to go with me?"

The smile Akitsu gave him as an answer was a truly beautiful thing to see. "I would like that, Ashikabi-sama."

Naruto gave her another smile and affectionately squeezed her hand, before making his way downstairs. Miya was standing by the entrance, ready to see them out, no doubt. As he walked down the stairs, their eyes met for a brief moment, before Miya turned away. He sighed a bit, but decided not to broach the issue between them quite yet. She wasn't ready, and he was heading out for a date with Kazehana. It wouldn't be right.

"So it seems you really can clean up," Miya said. Her voice was strained, but he tried to ignore that. "I'm surprised."

"So am I, to be honest." Naruto looked down at his outfit, his stupidly expensive outfit that cost more than five years worth of an average person's salary. "Back when I was younger and, well, not old, I guess, I used to hate dressing up. I remember once, after the Sandaime Hokage died, Iruka forced me into this dark black dress kimono. I fought him every step of the way."

"I'm not surprised," Miya sounded both amused and exasperated, as if she were just picturing the troubles "Iruka-sensei" went through as he tried to force Naruto into a formal kimono. "You strike me as the kind of person who would probably go to a funeral wearing something bright and loud and obnoxious."

"Probably," Naruto agreed readily enough. "Though in my defense, I doubt the Sandaime would have wanted us to mourn him. He died just as he lived, protecting the village that meant so much to him."

"He seems like a very good man."

"He was the best Hokage Konoha had," Naruto said, smiling in fond remembrance. "Every time he spoke to you, it felt like you were just spending time with your grandfather or something. It was nice, especially when you're an orphan like I was."

"Naruto..."

The beautiful woman with purple hair reached out a hand, but stopped herself from touching him, like she had just now realized what she was about to do. Her hand hesitated for a second, before withdrawing back to her sides. Naruto frowned, but kept from showing any other outward emotion that might reveal his disappointment.

Soon, he promised himself. Soon.

Several moments later, loud thudding could be heard coming closer. At the top of the stares, a grinning Uzume appeared, followed closely by an equally exuberant Musubi, a gently smiling Chiho and a somewhat annoyed Tsukiumi.

"Wow bro!" Uzume whistled as she hopped down the stares two at a time. "Check you out, looking all spiffy in your tuxedo. Almost makes me wish you were taking me on a date." Behind her, Tsukiumi ground her teeth.

"Are you saying you would rather be his Sekirei, Uzume-chan." Chiho pouted at her Sekirei, her eyes growing large and slightly teary.

Uzume gasped at seeing the tears. "No! No, of course not! You know I would never want anyone else to be my Ashikabi but you, Chiho-baby! I was just saying that, well, he looks good in his suit. I was trying to compliment him."

"So you're saying that Naruto looks better than me?"

"No-not at all! You know I think you're adorable! You're the cutest person I know!"

"But I'm not hot like Naruto-san is," Chiho sniffled, wiping at her eyes. She turned away from Uzume, tossing Naruto a very discreet wink that caused him to stifle a chuckle. "I see how it is. That's fine, Uzume-chan. I-I want you to be happy, so if Naruto-san will make you happier than I do, then I guess I have no choice but to...but to..." Chiho trailed off, feigning an incapability of finishing her sentence. She then ran back up the stairs, a frantic Uzume chasing after her, trying to convince the young woman that she was the only person Uzume would love.

"Well, that was mildly entertaining," Naruto said.

Musubi placed a finger against her lip. She looked impossibly perplexed. "I wonder what that was all about...Ah! Do you think Uzume-san wants Naruto-sama to become her Ashikabi too?" Tsukiumi's teeth grinding grew louder. "But wait," Musubi said, her eyes looking towards the ceiling. "Isn't Chiho-san Uzume-san's Ashikabi already. Why would she want Naruto-sama to be her Ashikabi when she already has an Ashikabi? Unless..." her eyes squinted for a second before widening. She looked like some kind of revelation had just come to her. "I know! She must want Naruto-sama and Chiho-san to be her Ashikabi!"

"You idiot," Tsukiumi groused, looking grumpy. "You can't have two Ashikabis. It's impossible."

Musubi puffed up her cheeks and pouted at Tsukiumi. "And how would you know that? Have you ever tried to get a second Ashikabi?"

"No, I have not tried, because I know it's impossible, you dolt. The sacred bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei is not something that can be twisted to accommodate two Ashikabis. That is not how the bond was made. If you had listened to your adjustor when she spoke of this, you would know that what I say is true."

"But why?"

"Because that's just how it is."

"Eh? Why is that how it is?"

"Because it is! Now stop pestering me with these inane questions!"

"It sounds like someone is having fun down there."

At the sound of Kazehana's voice, Naruto turned around and had to admit that the woman he was taking out that night looked stunning. She was wearing the dress he'd bought for her. A dark red evening gown. Off the shoulder straps exposed the gentle curve of slender, porcelain shoulders, before leading into a glamorously tight-fitted bodice that put her sensual hour-glass figure on display. A full-length mermaid silhouette skirt started off tight at the hips and flared out the lower it went, shimmering with a light luminescence, like a thousand stars just barely visible in the night sky.

"If you keep gazing at me like that, you might burn a hole in my dress," Kazehana said, stopping in front of Naruto. Her cheeks were graced with a bit of color, light pink, though he did not know if she was blushing or if the added hue was due to the effects of make-up. Either way she looked stunning.

"I can't have that, can I?" Naruto said. His right hand reached out, carefully brushing a stray bang out of her face and behind her ear. Kazehana's eyes widened a bit, and this time, he knew the added color was due to her blushing. "As much as I would love to see you out of that dress, I also like seeing you in it. You make that dress look good."

"I hadn't realized you were such a flatterer," Kazehana said lightly, smiling. "Then again, maybe I should have."

"Probably," Naruto agreed, taking her arm in his. He turned to look at Miya, absently noting the way she glared at his and Kazehana's joined arms, as if she wished to set them on fire. "We'll be going now. There's a possibility we won't be coming back home tonight, so don't stay up waiting if we don't arrive."

"I had no intention of staying up late waiting for you," Miya said, sniffing. She sounded like she swallowed something sour. "You're both adults. I don't need to watch for you like I would a couple of children. At least I hope not."

Oh yes, Naruto thought to himself. Miya was upset. She may deny it, but he could easily tell that she was jealous of Kazehana. At the same time, a lot of that anger must have been directed at herself as well.

Naruto and Kazehana said their goodbyes and soon left. On the way out, the blond Uzumaki noticed Tsukiumi glaring at the wind user. More jealousy. Fortunately, he could solve that easily enough, and already had a plan that would make Tsukiumi happy. It would take a while though, simply because of just how much planning and money it would require.

He would think about that some other time, like when he wasn't on a date with another woman.

The limousine Naruto hired was already waiting out front to pick them up. The chauffeur, his knees shaking underneath his penguin coat, stood in front of the luxury vehicle, holding the door open for them. Kazehana proceeded Naruto before he, too, entered and took a seat next to her.

While all limousines possess an expensive, posh interior, the one that Naruto and Kazehana found themselves in took the word ostentatious and scoffed at it in disdain. Low lighting lent a romantic atmosphere, while cool leather couches lined three sides of the interior and dark red carpet gave off the feeling that this limo was meant for royalty. At each corner were state of the art, electronic beverage chillers, each containing a different kind of expensive alcohol.

"W-where to, U-Uzumaki-sama?" asked the nervous chauffeur. Naruto sighed. This man didn't even bother hiding his fear.

"To Kozue's."

As the driver confirmed the destination and the car began to move, Kazehana took a long, slow glance around the spacious and extravagant interior she found herself in. "You definitely went all out on our date. First this dress and your tux, and now this." She fluttered her eyes at Naruto. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're trying to impress me."

Naruto smiled as he reached for a glass and one of the bottles of alcohol. "Am I that obvious?" he asked, taking a moment to glance at the bottle. A diamond encrusted platinum bottle of tequila made by Tequilla Ley .925. "The truth is I want to do something you would truly enjoy. You're much more mature than Musubi, Tsukiumi and the others. While they would be happy if I simply spent time with them, you're tastes are more refined. While you would probably be content with someone taking you out on a simple date and showing you a good time, I know that you want to experience some of the finer things in life, and that you want to do that with someone who appreciates you as both a woman and a Sekirei. Even if this date amounts to nothing more than two friends going out to an expensive restaurant, I would like to show you that I appreciate you."

"Well, you certainly know how to treat a woman, I can already tell that much. Though whether you appreciate me as both a woman _and_ a Sekirei remains to be seen."

"You're right." Naruto opened the bottle of tequila and poured the world's most expensive alcohol in the glass. "Words alone have never been enough to prove anything. Actions have always spoken louder than words ever could. So how about I put my money where my mouth is?"

He looked at Kazehana, who studied him with a critical eye, and held out the glass. Kazehana took it, bringing it to her lips and taking a tentative sip. Her eyes widened in delight after that first taste and she quickly shot down the rest. When she finished, the buxom woman let out a blissful sigh and smiled. "I said it before but I'll say it again; you _definitely_ know how to treat a woman," she said.

And then she held out the glass, obviously asking for another shot.

Naruto just laughed as he poured her another drink.

XoX

When Kazehana told Naruto that he knew how to treat a lady, she had meant it as a joke. Okay. A half-joke. Naruto actually did seem to know how to treat a woman, and he proved it with how well he treated her: he had been kind and courteous, holding the door open, actually listening as she talked about herself instead of just pretending. He even seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. Yet even with all that, she had not really expected him to know how to truly treat her. She probably should have, but she hadn't, and now she was paying for it.

The limousine ride had been an absolute delight, and only partly because of the expensive alcohol. During the drive, Naruto had asked her questions about herself. They were standard questions mostly. He asked about her hobbies, what she did after leaving the Discipline Squad, if she had any goals or dreams for the future. And when Kazehana told him about her desires and hobbies and goals, he actually listened. He didn't laugh when she admitted to having a love for erotic romance novels. He didn't call her desire and dream to find a good man like the ones in those very same novels a waste of time or a pipe-dream that would never be realized. He just smiled and told her that he hoped her dreams came true and that he was sure she would find the right person.

And then he took her out to one of the most expensive restaurants in Japan.

Located on the fortieth floor of a towering skyscraper, Kozue was one of those really high end restaurants where even the cheapest meal cost over thirty-five thousand yen. Low lighting glimmered off the rich wooden floor and walls, which presented a stark but lovely contrast to the highly polished marble surfaces and columns. She and Naruto sat at a small table tucked away in a corner, where Kazehana had the most beautiful view of Shinto Teito, one that was thankfully not spoiled by the construction going on due to Naruto's rampage.

Sitting between them was a bottle of sake. Expensive sake. Isojiman Junmai Ginjō to be precise. It was, quite possibly, the most exquisite sake she'd ever had the pleasure of drinking. Gently holding a small saucer in her hands, Kazehana could take in the sweet and gentle fragrance of white peaches, and the elegantly refined taste still caused her tongue to tingle in bliss, even though she'd not taken a sip in several minutes.

"So what made you react to Minaka?" asked Naruto after their dinner arrived. Kazehana was feeling pretty warmed up by that point―the results of way too much alcohol―and therefore had no trouble telling Naruto why she fell in love with Minaka.

"Why is the sky blue?"

Or giving really cryptic remarks that didn't answer anything.

"That's not really an answer," Naruto pouted. Kazehana, her mind muddled and just a bit hazy from all the expensive beverages she had consumed in the last two hours, thought he looked adorable. It must have been the whisker marks.

"You're cute," she said, giggling.

"And you're drunk," Naruto replied, amused. "I think I may have let you drink a wee bit too much alcohol."

"Nonsense." Smiling, Kazehana downed the sake in her saucer and poured herself some more, which she also downed. "I've drunken way more than this before."

"Perhaps. But you've forgotten that all the drinks you've imbibed in the past two hours are not only expensive, but powerful. I doubt anything you've had before now was anywhere near as strong as the various liqueurs you've been drinking. Maybe you should slow down, at least a bit."

"Alright, but only because you asked me to."

"Thank you."

Silence engulfed them for a time. Kazehana twirled the saucer in her hand and watching the sake ripple. Her eyes, only somewhat glazed over from consuming too much alcohol, flickered up towards Naruto.

"You asked why I reacted to Minaka," Kazehana said, her smile strange, like she was remembering something that brought her equal amounts of joy and pain. She sighed. "I really don't think I can tell you the reason, because I don't really know myself. Something you need to understand is that Sekirei do not know why they react to some Ashikabi but not others. It's a phenomenon that has yet to be truly explained. There have been theories, of course. I remember hearing how some of the adjustors thought it had something to do with genetic compatibility, that Sekirei react to certain Ashikabi because they contain genes that will give them the greatest chance of producing offspring, but no one really knows for sure."

"So you don't have any idea why you reacted to him?"

"No." She shook her head, long locks of raven colored hair swaying. "Not a clue. To be honest, I always thought his personality was a little...out of balance," she said diplomatically. "There were some good things about him: he's intelligent, ambitious, knows exactly what he wants and isn't afraid to grab it. But, well, there's even more about him that's off-putting." She exhaled a deep breath, blowing several bangs out of her face. "You see? This is why no one knows how Sekirei discover their Ashikabi. Were I a normal woman, I would have never fallen in love with Minaka, but because I was a Sekirei, and I responded to him, I fell in love." She smiled at him, but Kazehana could tell it wasn't her best. She could practically feel the grimace. "Sad, isn't? That I would react to a psycho who isn't even willing to give me the time of day? It's pretty pathetic for a Sekirei, especially since he chose a human woman over me."

A wave of self-disgust engulfed Kazehana. The same disgust she felt every day since Minaka rejected her. It was a deep-seated loathing, a hard knot in the pit of her stomach that seemed to radiate outward as more time passed. How could she fall in love with a man who would willingly kill others for his own goals? How could she be rejected over a human? Thoughts like these never failed to bring her down, making her feel like the lowest piece of filth on the planet.

A hand placed itself over her right hand, which had clenched into a fist on the table. She stared at the hand, then looked up to see Naruto giving her a smile she'd only seen recently. It was the same smile Naruto had been directing towards his Sekirei.

"You are an amazing woman," he said, grasping her hand firmly. "And Minaka was a fool to choose someone over you."

Kazehana stared into those eyes. Had she ever seen anything so clear, so blue? The ocean and sky were nowhere near as gorgeous as those eyes, pale imitations that could never hold a candle to the irises burning into her soul.

She looked down. For some reason those eyes made her self-conscious.

"What's so great about me?"

"You're confident―at least most of the time; you're not afraid to speak your mind, you have a very relaxed personality and are easy for most people to get along with―except maybe Tsukiumi, but that's not a hard thing for anyone to do."

As Naruto began to list off things he liked about her, Kazehana began to feel warm, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol she'd imbibed. Naruto paused in his ramblings. He looked at her, his grin a strangely boyish expression, and Kazehana felt the heat in her chest and loins burn all the more fiercely.

"Do you know what I really love about you, though?" Kazehana shook her head, incapable of speaking. "It's that you don't let others talk down to you." In that moment, Naruto's smile was so warm and gentle Kazehana thought she would melt right there. "You know of my history, at least some of it. Back when I was young, long before I even learned about Kurama being sealed inside of me, I was universally hated by just about everyone in my village. People went out of their way to ignore me, to pretend I didn't exist. And when they weren't doing that, they gave me spiteful looks, as if they were furious at the fact that I was alive."

Kazehana felt her heart go out to the immortal man. She couldn't imagine living a life like that. It was truly a miracle that he had not gone on a rampage in his village, something she attributed to his strong will and determination.

"That sounds awful."

"It was, but you wanna know something? I learned a lot during that time. I learned that I didn't have to put up with any of their shit. That if they were going to look down on me, ignore me and treat me like I had some kind of disease, then I was damn well going to give them a reason to look at me with those spiteful, hate-filled eyes. I started causing trouble, playing pranks and getting up to mischief. I would target people who I knew looked down on me, or said something horrible about me in the past. I was absolutely sick of putting up with them and their constant hatred."

He looked at her, grinning, his eyes twinkling like sapphires shimmering in the light of two suns.

"That's why I love that you don't take it when people talk down to you. Because I've learned not to take shit from others as well. I suppose you could say we're similar in that respect, which is why I respect you so much."

Respect. Kazehana had never been respected by anyone before. Minaka certainly had not respected her―she had just been a tool to him, a means to an end. And while neither Miya nor the others she knew disrespected her, none of them really respected her either. Miya thought she was an alcoholic, Mutsu called her a drunk, Karasuba believed her to be weak, and everyone else she had ever met couldn't get over the fact that she consumed enough alcohol to put elephants to sleep on a daily basis. Naruto was the first person to ever tell her that he respected her.

Kazehana stared at the man with half-lidded eyes. Her body felt hot, like she'd been baking in an easy-bake oven for too long and was now paying the price. Breathing was also becoming an issue. Maybe it was just her, but the collar of her dress felt constricting, which was really funny because she was positive that her dress did not even have a collar.

"You know, you're making it really hard to resist you."

"That just means I'm doing something right." Naruto's smile grew when Kazehana turned her hand over so she could grasp his. "Kazehana," he said, his voice warm yet somehow managing to send chills down her spine. "I will never force you into a relationship with me. I want you to know that. I'll work hard to prove myself to you, and I'll work even harder to earn your love, but I will never force you to bond with me. And if you decide to allow me to grant you wings, I promise you that I'll never betray you; that I'll remain by your side for the rest of your life."

"Do you really promise that?" asked Kazehana, her heart fluttering. The temptation to just kiss him silly had never been stronger than that point, but she held back. She didn't want to love and have that love trampled on again.

Naruto squeezed her hand. "The promise of a lifetime."

XoX

After having dinner at Kozue's, Naruto and Kazehana got back into the rental limousine. Rather than go back to Maison Izumo, which would have been the plan if Kazehana decided she did not want to be his Sekirei, they were driven to an expensive resort. A skyscraper much like the one the restaurant they left, towering over them like a monolithic statue of glass and steel. The entrance hall looked more extravagant posh than Kozue's.

Naruto rented out the master suite on the top floor, which consisted of the entire top floor. It was large and possessed an outstanding view of the city. From where Kazehana stood, looking out of the glass frames, she could see everything―even the section still undergoing repairs.

Behind her, Naruto slid out of the formal jacket, hung it up on the rack and undid the first few buttons of his shirt. He then walked over to her, sock-clad feet lightly padding against the luxurious purple carpeting. When he was behind her, his arms slowly slid around her waist, giving the woman ample time to stop him. She didn't. Instead, Kazehana leaned back, allowing his arms to completely encircle her waist.

"What do you see when you look out of this window?" she asked.

Naruto didn't answer at first. He looked out of the window, contemplating her question, before deciding to be honest. "I'm not sure." He rested his chin on her shoulder and frowned. "I suppose it depends on my mood. Sometimes, when I see a view like this, a glittering sea of lights in a lifeless husk of metal that reeks of humanity, I feel angry, hateful. Humans used to be a part of nature, you know. My own village was a perfect example. We called ourselves Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. I grew up surrounded by greenery, so seeing something like this, something where I can barely feel any nature, is disturbing."

"And other times?"

"Other times I can't help but marvel at how far humanity has come." Naruto sighed. "You wouldn't know this, but the humans of my time, despite not having villages or cities like this, actually had some decently advanced technology. Nothing as advanced as this day and age, certainly, but we had things like computers and zeppelins and railroads. I was actually surprised when I first woke up and discovered that the people who greeted me were so simple-minded. Much like the dark ages after the fall of the Roman Empire, humanity seemed to have gone down a drastic downward spiral."

Naruto often wondered about that. Wondered if maybe his battle with Madara had more far reaching consequences than he ever could have realized. If perhaps their battle had not saved mankind, but destroyed it, forcing humans to start over from scratch. He didn't know the answer to that, and the one person who could have answered his question said such things shouldn't concern him, that it didn't matter.

Naruto had agreed, so he'd never bothered digging too deeply into what happened after the war. It probably helped that when he first woke up, he'd been in a state of shock.

That tends to happen when you wake up after what must have been tens of thousand of years and realize that everything you know and love is dead.

"Naruto?" Kazehana turned in his arms. Sensually narrowed dark eyes looked up at him from behind thick lashes. "Do you love me?"

"Not yet," Naruto replied, once again choosing to remain honest. Before Kazehana could respond negatively, he cupped her cheek. "But I do feel something. I don't know if it's the bond making me feel this way or my own emotions. I like to think it's just me, and Minaka's rejection of you seems to imply that the bond may jut be something that pushes emotions already present along, rather than force them onto people. Either way, I do care for you, and I feel something. And I believe that, much like a small sapling will one day grow into a gigantic tree, what I feel for you right now will eventually flourish into something truly wonderful." His thumb tenderly caressed the silky smooth skin of her cheek as he smiled at her. "In time, I am positive that this feeling will turn into love."

Kazehana closed her eyes, a hand raising up to keep his hold on hers. "You can be very poetic when you want to be."

"I'm thousands of years old. I've had a lot of time to learn things like poetry and whatever else suits my fancy at any given time."

"Maybe I should call you Naruto-ojisan, then?"

"Careful," Naruto growled playfully. "This old man still has a lot of fight left in him, and unlike some people, he's not afraid to bite."

"So long as you don't bite too hard," Kazehana teased back. Naruto smiled, before uncertainty crept onto his face.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked. "I mean, is this really what you want? Life isn't going to be easy with me, and you already know that I plan on kicking Minaka off his high horse..."

Kazehana placed a finger over Naruto's lips. "I know this won't be easy for me," she said, "but I've decided to throw my lot in with you." Her lips curved into a delightful smile. "I have a good feeling about this, you and me, I mean, and I'm interested in seeing where this decision will take us."

Naruto grabbed the hand in front of his face, kissing Kazehana's finger before bringing her hand down. "So long as you have no regrets." He smiled, right before leaning down and kissing her.

Bright wings of evanescent green light flared to life at the base of Kazehana's neck. A moan, intense and deep and passionate, rang out, muffled only slightly by Naruto's mouth. The Sekirei crest glowed brightly before wings sprouted from her back. They were green and long, elegant and delicate, like the wings of a fairy.

Even after her wings faded from existence, Kazehana and Naruto continued to kiss. Kazehana gripped the expensive silk shirt. Her mouth opened, allowing Naruto's tongue to meet hers in the center. As saliva swirled around their tongues, Naruto pushed Kazehana against the glass. She groaned when he pressed his weight into her and felt his arousal pushing against her crotch. The fabric of her dress rubbed against her deliciously, sending ripples across her thighs. Her panties began to stain with the slight flow of love juices that came out from the feel of this long, hard shaft, and the knowledge that it would soon be inside of her.

When Naruto took his mouth off hers, Kazehana wanted to protest. She would have too, but any complaint she might have expressed died on her lips when the blond male nibbled on her ear. She gasped, then did so again when his erection ground against the thin fabrics protecting her crotch one more time. Her fingers grasped the back of his shirt, the fabric bunching together.

She didn't know when she lost her clothing, but somehow, between the time Naruto spent nibbling and sucking on her ear, her dress fell away. She only wore a lacy purple bra and thong panties, simple but sexy garments that were slightly translucent. Naruto kissed his way down her body, bypassing her breasts for the moment in favor of the area between her legs. He set her thighs on his shoulders, holding her up, and admired the wind-user from this new angle.

The thong she wore really didn't contain much fabric: just a string and a small triangle that covered her crotch before turning into a string that ran between her cheeks. Even in the low lighting, he could see the way the light fabric stretched across her lips, forming a camel toe.

He took in a deep breath through his nose, inhaling the scent of her arousal. "You smell absolutely divine. I can't wait to taste you," he told her, right before putting his lips onto her pantie covered core.

The groan that escaped Kazehana's lips was like ambrosia to his ears. Naruto wanted, _needed_ to hear more of that heavenly sound.

He pulled the thong down, allowing it to glide across her womanly hips and amazing legs. He then received his first glimpse of Kazehana's maidenhood. She didn't have any hair, which he rather appreciated as he wasn't really one to enjoy hairy muffs. Glistening in the light, a trace amount of juice trailing down her legs, Kazehana's pussy looked almost like a pair of lips. He could tell they'd never been penetrated by anything other than a set of fingers, maybe not even that. They were, in a word, unspoiled.

"A-Are you going to keep staring at it all night?" asked Kazehana. Naruto looked up. Her cheeks stained a light pink, the raven-haired woman actually looked a tad embarrassed. It was kind of cute to see the normally shameless wind-user feel embarrassed about something.

"I'm sorry," he said, smiling. "You're just so beautiful that I forgot myself for a second."

Kazehana's eyes widened. She didn't get any time to speak, though, as Naruto placed his mouth against the lips of her pussy and began to give her a slow, deep kiss with his tongue.

"Oh!"

Kazehana gasped. Her hands went to Naruto's head, grabbing a fist-full of hair as his tongue penetrated her folds, exploring the furthest reaches of her vaginal cavity. Her love channel was warm and wet and tasted incredible, like honeysuckles almost. What an unusual but pleasant flavor. Come to think of it, both Musubi and Matsu tasted really good, too. Maybe it was a Sekirei thing?

"Ah! A-ahn!"

Listening to the orchestral symphony Kazehana made as he liberally ate her out, Naruto lost himself in the feel of his tongue in her pussy, of her taste and her intoxicating scent. He wanted more. He needed more. Naruto knew the gorgeous, raven-haired woman was close. Just a little bit further and she would tip over the edge.

"N-Naru-I-I'm going to―a-ahn!"

That tiny push came in the form of Naruto rubbing his nose against her clit. Kazehana's body quaked. Her legs clamped around Naruto's head. A deluge of lubrication flowed into his mouth, and Naruto did not hesitate to drink it all up. After the fluids decreased to a trickle, he lapped up the little bit he missed that started to run down her legs.

Kazehana nearly collapsed. Her legs wobbled and shook, turning to jelly. Only her thighs resting on Naruto's shoulders prevented her from falling. He continued to slowly lick her inner thighs and the area around her labia, enjoying the sweet honey-like flavor, while allowing her a moment to regain her strength.

Naruto looked up from where his face was situated between Kazehana's thighs. The gorgeous woman looked even more stunning than before. Her body glistened in the soft lighting, covered in sweat, and her long hair, silky and wet, held a glimmer as it stuck to her body and face with a sort of eroticism that he found appealing.

Placing one last kiss on her quivering pussy, Naruto began to kiss his way up her body. As he moved up, strong arms wrapped around Kazehana's waist to support her. He kissed between her breasts, moving past them again, this time in favor of kissing her lips.

Her actual lips. Not her nether lips.

Not even caring that she could taste herself, Kazehana moaned into his mouth and kissed him hard. Her tongue, already pushing into his mouth, began to relish in the taste of the man who winged her and her own love juices.

Slender arms wove around Naruto's neck. In return, his hands went down to her ass, gripping them, squeezing them, enjoying to feel of her rear, slick with sweat and tight enough to bounce a coin off of. He proceeded to lift her up, with Kazehana wrapping her legs around his waist, her feet hooking themselves together at the small of his back just above his butt. Without her dress, she could feel his cock twitching against his pants, rubbing against her lips and the bottom of her ass crack, and her moan let him know this when he pulled her body flush against his.

He carried her to the bed, never letting go of her lips until he could lay her down on the mattress. When he did pull away, it was only so he could rid himself of his pants, boxers, and shirt.

Kazehana, having mostly recovered from her intense orgasm, whistled appreciatively. "I know I've seen you shirtless before sometimes when training, but it never seems to get old." She then looked down at the thing standing straight at attention between his legs and her eyes widened. "Oh my..."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Problem?"

"N-no," Kazehana said, shaking her head. "I just hadn't realized you were, well, I didn't think you'd be so...large. I'm not sure if that will even fit inside of me."

Naruto looked down at his cock, large and throbbing and with several veins running along it. He then looked back up at her and smiled. "Don't worry." He lay down on top of her, his shaft lubricating itself by rubbing up and down her lips with big, long strokes. As Kazehana moaned, Naruto kissed her again, before pulling back to say, "I'll be gentle. I know I'm a bit bigger than some."

"A-a bit?" Kazehana, even in her bliss, looked a tad skeptical. "I-I'm not like Matsu, but I've seen several pornos. None of them hold a candle to that thing dangling between your legs."

Naruto laughed. "Yes, well, benefits of being me, I guess." He kissed her again, while also lining himself up to penetrate Kazehana's body. When he felt the mushroom tip of his dick just barely penetrating her folds, he looked into her eyes and placed a glowing green hand on her stomach. "I promise it won't hurt nearly as much as it would with someone else."

"I'll hold you to that," Kazehana groaned when she felt his throbbing hard cock penetrate her body, pushing deeply into her love passage. He was right. It didn't hurt that much, but it was extremely uncomfortable. It felt like she was being stretched beyond what she could hold. While she surprisingly didn't feel her hymen break, it did not change how much he stretched her out. By the time Naruto stopped pushing into her, it felt like he had infiltrated her womb.

"There," Naruto whispered, breathing through his nose. "I'm in."

Kazehana looked down to see that he was indeed all the way inside of her. She could see his hips as they pressed into her pelvis, a light smattering of curly blond hair showing just above their connection.

"How do you feel?"

"Stuffed," Kazehana said, "like something is stretching me out to the point where I feel like I'm about to be torn apart."

"Then let me at least make sure you get enough pleasure to override the discomfort."

Kazehana moaned as Naruto pulled out until just his head was still inside of her. He then pushed it back in, starting slowly so as to give her body time to adjust.

"You feel so amazing, Kazehana," Naruto groaned as he pushed himself back inside of her. "You're so warm, so tight."

"Ha...ah-ahn! B-benefits of being a Sekirei," was the last legible sentence Kazehana managed to get out, before she was reduced to incoherent moaning. Naruto began to pick up the pace, pulling his dick out before allowing it to get sucked back into her tight, warm honey pot. Looking at the beauty he was thrusting into, his eyes landed on her still bra covered chest. They looked confined. Restricted. Which was not only a shame but a crime to humanity. Really. Why was he letting those luscious, beautiful tits be constricted by a bra?

He reached out and grabbed the offending article of clothing. The clasp was in the front, which was good, because that meant it wouldn't take nearly as much time to unclasp.

Two large globes sprang free. Kazehana's breasts were magnificent, bouncing and jiggling as he continued thrusting into her. He'd never seen them without a stitch of clothing on before, but now that he did, he would admit she had the best chest he'd seen in a very long time. Her skin, unblemished and porcelain would have made snow white jealous. They were capped with large pink nipples that were hard before he even undid her bra.

While his left hand grabbed one and began to kneed the flesh and tweak her nipple, his mouth latched onto the other.

"Oh gods!"

Kazehana cried out as Naruto's tongue flipped the hardened rose colored bud. He swirled around it, coating her skin in a trail of saliva, before taking it between his teeth and giving a gentle tug.

"Uh! Uh! Ah-ahn!"

Music permeating the room; cries of ecstasy along with the sounds of wet, sweaty flesh slapping against each other and the muffled groans and grunts of Naruto once he worked out a steady rhythm.

"N-Naruto!" Kazehana didn't say his name. It was a mix between a moan and a scream. Naruto thought it was the sexiest sound to have come out of her mouth yet. He felt her walls tighten around him. It soon became nearly impossible to keep moving she was gripping him so hard. It was almost painful. "I-I'm going to-oh! A-a-ahn! AHN!"

Kazehana's passage gripped him tighter. The muscles in her body began to contract: her butt cheeks clenched; her toes curled; her fingers clutched Naruto's back, scraping his skin and leaving red marks that soon healed over. Along with the contractions, a flood of lubricant gushed around Naruto's cock, wet and slippery and allowing him to start really working her over again without any pain. He prolonged her orgasm for as long as he could, pumping in and out of her, and then prolonged it further by letting go of his own orgasm, shooting his cum directly into her womb. Thank the gods Sekirei were only fertile once year and this was not her day or she would have gotten pregnant with the amount her shot into her.

The moment her orgasm stopped, Kazehana's body slumped to the bed. Her chest, covered in an amalgamation of hers and Naruto's combined sweat, bounced and jiggled as she sucked in deep breaths of air. Her pussy quivered as Naruto pulled himself out, spilling their mixed juices onto the bed and her inner thighs. The sight of a glistening, exhausted Kazehana was magnificent, one that Naruto would remember for the rest of his life.

He rolled over onto his back, pulling Kazehana with him so that her body snuggled into his side, resting within the crook of his right arm. Her head used his shoulder as a pillow, and she buried herself into the warm skin of her lover and Ashikabi. She closed her eyes, her mind already lulled by the heat Naruto emitted.

"Sleep well, Kazehana."

Kazehana did not answer him.

She was already asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you have it. A long chapter where Naruto and Kazehana get together, I've set up the next chapter, and I gave you guys a lemon. Hope you enjoyed it, you bunch of pervy people you.<strong>

**Anyway, that's all I've got now. The next one will come out in a few weeks. Hope you're looking forward to it. ^_^**

**Oh! And for those who haven't done so yet, anyone interested in looking at my original novel can get it on Amazon in either paperback (if you live in the US, UK or Europe) and kindle. It's called A Fox's Love, and is basically an anime-inspired parody filled with To Love Ru style fanservice and an inverse of Rosario+Vampire's storyline. There's a basic description of the story down below:**

Boy meets fox. Boy rescues fox. Boy discovers that fox is a supernatural creature who appears to have popped right out of the pages to his favorite Shōnen manga and that "she" wants to jump his bones. Let the Fanservice commence.

Kevin Swift likes to believe he's your everyday, run-of-the-mill teenager. Sure his mom is always out of the country for extended periods of time and he doesn't even know who his dad is, but those are semantics he's never care for. His life, for the most part, is the epitome of conventionality. He goes to school, spends time with friends, watches anime, reads manga, and cooks and cleans his apartment while wearing a frilly apron with pink hearts on it...Okay, so maybe cooking and cleaning isn't something ordinary teenagers do, and I just made up that last part about the frilly apron with pink hearts. Don't judge me.

But when Kevin accidentally saves the life of a Kitsune, his world turns topsy-turvy. Now he has to deal with a red-haired, emerald-eyed, overly amorous vixen whose sole purpose in life seems to be making zealous attempts at getting into his pants.

And this is a problem how?


	38. The Heart Wants

**Chapter 38: The Heart Wants**

* * *

><p>Naruto stood in front of the glass panel, staring out at the sea of buildings. He could see his reflection on the highly polished surface; his hair was messier than normal and his eyes were deep pools of blue, a reflection of his innermost thoughts.<p>

He was also naked, but that was neither here nor there.

Lifting his right hand, the blond immortal pressed it against the glass and looked down. Despite the early hour, there were a number of people walking along the street. This actually kind of surprised him; he'd been positive most if not everybody in Shinto Teito would be staying in doors from now on, but he supposed people still had to earn a living somehow.

A rustling of fabric behind him alerted the blond to his companion waking up. A yawn followed the rustle, followed by more rustling a noise that sounded like lips smacking together. Naruto didn't turn around. Not even when the delicate padding of feet reached his ears. Not even when a pair of arms wrapped around his torso underneath his armpits and an ample chest pushed into his back.

"What are you doing standing over here all by your lonesome?" Kazehana kissed his shoulder blade before setting her chin on his shoulder.

"I was just thinking," Naruto said, eyes still gazing into the distant cityscape.

"About?"

"My past, mostly." A pause. "I was just remembering all the times I set out to do something, to change the world, to make it a better place for the family I'd managed to gather for myself in whatever time period I was living in." A bitter, self-depreciating smile appeared on his lips. "I never managed to succeed. Not once. Despite all this power I have, creating peace always seemed to be out of my grasp. I suppose I could have just subjugated everyone," he added after a moments inflection, "but I fought against a man who wanted to enslave the world and, even at my worst, that is the one thing I will never do."

Naruto reflected on the irony of that statement. While he would never enslave the world, he was perfectly willing to enslave an individual. The thought made him snort in self-depreciative amusement.

"Hmm..." Kazehana's hum snapped his mind back to the present. "I don't really know much about your past." Which made sense, seeing how he'd still only given her and his other Sekirei the most basic information about his past. It would take years to tell them everything. "But to be honest, I'm not really sure I care. The past is the past, and it doesn't really have any bearing on the future. You should focus more on living in the present and looking towards the future. I mean, how can you expect to look towards a better tomorrow if you're constantly looking behind you?"

Naruto didn't know if he agreed with Kazehana. She hadn't lived as long as him, hadn't seen as much as him, hadn't done as much as him. In many ways, compared to him, she and all the other Sekirei were just children. Then again, the same could be said for everyone else in this world. Compared to him, everybody was a child.

Still, he wouldn't argue. In some ways, Naruto wanted to forget the past. To let go of it and simply focus on what was happening in the present.

He just didn't know if he could.

With Kazehana awake, the two decided to have breakfast. They ordered room service, which brought them a smorgasbord of food. Naruto found himself enjoying the french toast sticks while Kazehana stuck to simple eggs and toast.

While they were eating breakfast, Naruto's cellphone began to ring. It actually startled him because he rarely used it let alone received calls.

He picked it up and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Naruto? Where are you? Wait, never mind! Listen, you need to turn on the TV! Minaka is at it again!"

"Homura?" Naruto blinked. When did Homura get his number? Well, whatever. "What do you mean? Is something going on?"

"Just turn on the TV!"

"Alright, alright. Yeesh! Don't bite my head off."

"Something wrong?" Kazehana asked as Naruto hung up the phone and grabbed the remote.

"Minaka's apparently done something that Homura doesn't approve of again."

"Ah. So what else is new?"

"We're about to find out."

Naruto pressed a button and turned on the TV. He didn't even need to change channels as, the moment he pressed the on button, the television went straight to the channel needed. That meant either all televisions everywhere were reconfigured to this or Minaka knew he was in this suite.

He was betting on the latter.

Minaka was seated on his throne. No surprise there. One leg was crossed over the other, and his hands rested on his lap. His strange, cape-like jacket with the stupidly high collar and all white business suit made him seem like a businessman trying to conquer the world and become it's emperor. Knowing this man, he may very well be just that―a businessman trying to conquer the world.

"Greetings everyone." Minaka's voice rung through the speakers. "I hope you've all had a relaxing day so far, because it's about to get exciting. That's right! It's time for the third stage to begin!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I guess that means all 108 Sekirei have been winged. Well, 107," he corrected absently, "somehow, I doubt Minaka is counting Miya in all this."

"I'm sorry," Kazehana apologized, "this is my fault. I know you were trying to stall for time so you could train your Sekirei―"

Naruto cut her off with a kiss.

"Don't apologize." He smiled at her. "I don't regret giving you your wings, nor do I regret becoming your Ashikabi. So you shouldn't regret becoming my Sekirei, okay?"

"I don't regret becoming your Sekirei. I'm just concerned because I know you wanted to have some extra time to train everyone."

"It was going to happen eventually anyway." Naruto shrugged. "I doubt having extra time to train will matter much in the grand scheme of things. Unless we have to go up against the Discipline Squad, I'm not too worried."

"You're awfully confident."

"Of course." Naruto grinned at her before giving her another, much fiercer kiss. He pulled back, his tongue exiting her mouth and creating a thin strand of saliva between them. Kazehana's face was flush and red. "I've got the best Sekirei in the world. There's no way we can lose to a couple of rank amateurs."

At the look he was giving her, Kazehana preened. "You certainly do."

"The Arena of the first match is not in the city, but on an abandoned island owned by MBI."

The screen changed to show the image of what appeared to be a massive factory. Dozens of gigantic cylinders rose from the ground, stretching into the vast sky. A network of pipes ran through the entire structure; intricate patterns, a spiders web of polished steel and cast iron.

"Before we begin this most auspicious occasion, I hope you will all allow me a moment to talk about the past. Back in ancient times. When the gods first landed. They brought with them many treasures known as Jinki." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I have hidden one of them somewhere inside of this arena. The first person to find the Jinki shall be the winner of the first match."

"I see. So he's using the Jinki as prizes." Naruto's frown deepened. "What's he playing at? Why give such powerful artifacts away?"

"Naruto?"

"Let's continue watching. We'll decide what to do after that."

Naruto scooted to the foot of the bed, taking Kazehana with him. The buxom woman didn't seem to mind, and decided to just use this opportunity to snuggle while he focused on the television.

"Now then, you should know that none of the rules are set in stone. They can and will be subject to change at any time. This same concept applies to the arena you may find yourselves in. I have built many of them for this grand game, this struggle to ascend into the very heavens."

Naruto snorted. "I've gotta give this guy credit. He's a crazy mother fucker, if nothing else."

"The Sekirei involved must fight, and they must keep fighting. Meanwhile, one of the Ashikabi must find the Jinki; the treasure of the gods! For it is the key to the Heavens!" Minaka raised his hands high above his head in a grand and wild gesticulation, as if to emphasize his point.

Naruto's narrowed eyes turned into slits. His mind worked a thousand miles per second, trying to figure out the answer to a question that continued eluding him: why? Why did this man seem so familiar?

"I hope all the contestants will enjoy the competition I've set up for them."

Minaka spread his arms wide, as if hoping to encompass everyone watching the television.

"And now! Let the games begin!"

The screen soon changed again. This time showing a close up shot of the arena. It was, indeed, a maze of pips, a network of interconnecting metal tubes that created a literal maze. And within this network, a familiar figure stood next to his two Sekirei.

"That's Seo," Naruto muttered, before fishing for his cellphone again.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving my monkey for hire a buzz."

While Kazehana just tilted her head and blinked, Naruto placed the phone against his ear. He watched as the figure of Seo stiffened, and then began rifling through his pocket. Soon enough, a rude voice answered him.

"What the hell do you want, bastard?"

"Now that's not a very nice way to greet your employer, Seo."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe I wouldn't be so angry if you hadn't destroyed half of fucking Shinto Teito!"

"I didn't destroy half." Naruto defended himself. "It was more like a tenth."

A solid defense indeed.

"Whatever. Do you know how hard it is to buy alcohol these days? Half the shops have closed because everybody's leaving, and they're leaving because of you!"

"At least you have money to buy alcohol."

"Fat good that does me. Now what do you want? In case you haven't noticed, I'm kinda busy."

"I can see that. Alright then, I'll get to the point. If you get me that Jinki, I'll give you forty jugs of the best Firebrand sake."

"Firebrand? I've never heard of that."

"Nor will you. It's not sold anywhere. It's from my personal stash. Now are you in?"

"...Give me 100,000 yen to go along with that and you've got a deal."

"Fine. But only if you get the Jinki. Fail to do that and you won't get the sake or the yen."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Naruto hung up the phone and stood up.

"Naruto?"

He looked down at Kazehana, who stared up at him with a look of general curiosity.

"Come on," he said, holding his hand out. "Let's take a shower together and then we'll head back home."

"A shower?" Kazehana grinned as she allowed Naruto to pull her up. "I think I'd like that."

XoX

Miya washed the dishes from breakfast that morning, although her mind was focused on anything but cleaning. The task itself was one of those mindless activities, something she did so often that her mind just sort of zoned out while she worked. And so, while her hands repeated the process of washing, rinsing and drying, her mind wandered to Naruto, as was often the case these days.

It was getting harder and harder to get the blond immortal out of her mind. Several times she had attempted to do something that would help her not think about him, yet no matter the task whether it be training, cooking, cleaning or bathing, her mind always went back to him. These days, even her dreams were being intruded upon by her most infuriating tenant. Just this morning she had woken up after dreaming of something she would never do (not even with Takehito!) to find her panties and the bed underneath her bum wet and somewhat sticky.

She could only be glad no one else ever went into her room or she would have been more embarrassed than she already was.

"We're home!"

The call came from the hallway. Miya nearly stiffened and, for a second, she thought about pretending Naruto had not just entered her inn. However, the "humble landlady" persona she had adopted so long ago was ingrained into her by now, and like any good landlady, she dried her hands and went to greet her tenant.

"Welcome back," she said, smiling a pleasant smile she didn't truly feel. She looked between the two, already noticing the difference between now and when they first left. Kazehana was leaning into Naruto's side, and his arm was wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her close. They looked intimate. It didn't take a genus to tell that Kazehana now had her wings. It also didn't take a genus to see the slight limp Kazehana walked with.

Miya felt a stirring of...something...anger? No. Maybe irritation. Yes. She felt irritated. She knew they'd had sex, and she knew it happened outside of Maison Izumo. Technically speaking, she shouldn't have any reason to feel irritated or angry, as they had not violated any of her rules.

And yet she did. The fact that Kazehana had been winged by Naruto bothered her. It bothered her a lot.

Not that she let either of them know.

"Good morning, Miya." Naruto smiled at her and Miya felt her heart flutter a bit. She quickly calmed herself, though, taking several slow, deep breaths.

"How was your date?"

"Oh it went fine," Kazehana said, grinning. She turned her head to look at Naruto. "Isn't that right?" she asked, not even giving Naruto time to say anything before she leaned up and kissed him.

As wings sprouted from Kazehana's back, Miya felt her irritation levels skyrocket.

Which would probably explain why her hanya manifested before Naruto and Kazehana could so much as blink.

The pair turned their heads to find themselves staring at the sight of Miya, dark miasma emitting from her body with reckless abandon; a strange, heavy weight bearing down on them; and a collection of the most horrifying, vicious and downright disturbing hanya masks either of them had ever seen appearing all around the entrance, surrounding them. Most people would have died from fright just for being in the presence of such eldritch horrors.

Naruto gave her a flat look.

"You know those don't work on me right?"

Miya twitched.

XoX

The day of Naruto's return had been trying for one Asama Miya. She didn't actually do anything differently than usual, though there were a few times when she had to break up a fight between Tsukiumi and Kazehana (it seemed Kazehana enjoyed flaunting her new status and using it to irritate her fellow Sekirei), or had to break up Naruto and one of his Sekirei when they got too fresh with each other. She had to admit, the fact that Naruto was getting friskier with his Sekirei bothered her quite a bit, especially as he appeared to have made a game of making out with his Sekirei in random rooms and then breaking away when she barged in on them. It got so annoying that by the end of the day, she'd been thoroughly and complete incensed.

Which would explain why she decided to take a bath early. She needed to relax.

"Yo, Miya!"

Unfortunately, even relaxation seemed out of her reach.

"What are you doing in here?" Miya tried to keep her annoyance contained as she saw Naruto relaxing in the water. She also tried not to let her eyes wander below the waters surface.

She didn't quite succeed.

"Um, relaxing?" Naruto said, making his answer sound more like a question. "Care to join me?"

"No. I would not care to join you," Miya almost snapped, holding the towel covering her nude form just a bit tighter. "I was hoping to enjoy a nice, hot bath alone. And besides, it's inappropriate for two people who aren't married to bathe with each other."

"You sure?" Naruto asked. "If it helps, I'll wear a band or something over my eyes."

Miya hesitated. She ignored her bodies conflicting urges. A part of her wanted to leave. The other part wanted to stay. She felt like she was being pulled in two opposing directions at the same time.

In the end she gave in. Miya told herself that it had nothing to do with her desire to be close to Naruto. She just wanted to take a bath and wasn't going to give that up because Naruto decided to be a jerk and get in the bath before her. Never mind the fact that he was the one who actually warmed the bath. Yes. That was it. She just wanted to bathe and relax. No other reason...

Right.

Naruto raised his hands and placed them behind his head. Despite having a blind fold placed over his eyes, he seemed to have no trouble knowing exactly where Miya chose to sit.

"It's been a long time since it's been just the two of us," the blond mused. Miya stiffened when he sent a smile her way. "I have to be honest, I really miss those times when we would talk on the veranda."

"I..." Miya swallowed something thick. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, and her cheeks became flush from something other than the heat. She was already beginning to regret her decision to get in the bath. Why had she even done this in the first place? She should have know where it would lead. "I...miss those times, too."

"And yet, you're the one going out of her way to avoid me."

"I...I haven't been avoiding you?"

"Haven't you?"

Despite his eyes being covered by a blindfold, Miya found herself unable to look at him. He was right. She was avoiding him, but she didn't have a choice. If she wanted to keep from succumbing to her own desire, she had to avoid him.

Miya stood up abruptly. She couldn't do this anymore. She just couldn't stand to be in this man's presence.

"Miya? Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry."

And with that, she ran out of the room, leaving Naruto alone.

She soon found herself standing in her room, the door closed and locked. She leaned her back against the frame, bringing a hand to her chest as frustrated tears fell from her eyes.

XoX

Naruto found himself sitting on the roof as he thought about his newest dilemma, or at least one of them. There were many issues that he had to deal with, the least of which was that Minaka had started the third phase of the Sekirei Plan earlier than he'd anticipated. That issue he wasn't too worried about. His Sekirei were all plenty strong, and they were growing stronger by the day. Even Musubi, who was purportedly his weakest Sekirei after Kusano, was becoming a power house in her own right.

No, his real problem lay in his crumbling relationship with Miya. He knew why she was avoiding him, and a part of him wasn't sure he could blame her. At the same time, he also knew that she was suffering for that very reason. Most unfortunately, he didn't have a single clue as to how he could fix this particular problem. Naruto had plenty of experience with women, but that experience had never involved the woman he was going after being a Sekirei who'd already been married. Normal _human _widows, yes, but not Sekirei. That made all the difference.

And so he sat on the roof, staring at the afternoon sky. He wondered if Seo was done with the third round by now. Did he have the Jinki? How long would it take for him to get here and deliver it to him?

His thoughts were interrupted when he looked down and noticed Tsukiumi and Musubi leaving the premise. From the baskets in their arms, they were obviously going shopping.

Deciding that, maybe spending some time with two of his Sekirei would help him solve his current dilemma more than skulking did, Naruto hopped off the roof and landed in front of the pair.

"Ah! Naruto-Sama!" Musubi greeted, her beaming and cheerful smile directed towards him.

"Hello, Musubi. Tsukiumi." Naruto greeted both women with a smile of his own.

"Husband," Tsukiumi said, her cheeks turning pink just a bit, while her lips curved ever so slightly. "Have you come to see us off?"

Naruto shook his head. "Actually, I came to join you." When they both stared at him in surprise, he chuckled and said, "I wanted to spend some more time with you two. We've been so busy lately that we really haven't been able to just relax together. I hope you two don't mind."

"N-No, of course we don't mind. Right, Musubi?"

"Right!" The ever cheerful young woman grinned. "We don't mind at all! I actually think this will be really fun." Holding a fist up to her face, Musubi's eyes burned with an inner fire. "It'll be like we're going on our very own adventure!"

While Tsukiumi just shook her head at the overly enthusiastic young woman, Naruto smiled. No matter what was going on in his life, Musubi could always be counted on to cheer him up.

XoX

Naruto's eye was twitching as he, Musubi and Tsukiumi entered the grocery store, the seventh one they'd been too. Fortunately for them, this one was actually open. The other six had all been shut down because the owners had decided to leave Shinto Teito.

It actually made Naruto regret going on his homicidal rampage. Just a little.

The three of them wandered through the store, trying to find all the items on Miya's list.

"Let's see what she wants: eggs, milk, minced garlic, panko bread crumbs and six pounds of pork chops..." Naruto trailed off, his brow furrowing. "Sounds like she's trying to make Tonkatsu pork chops."

"Sounds tasty," Musubi said, a little drool escaping her lips. She could already taste the food!

"Is that all you ever think about? Fighting and food?"

"Of course not!" Musubi declared to Tsukiumi's question. "I also think about Naruto-Sama, too."

Tsukiumi's face became red with irritation. "That's not what I meant."

"Why don't we just start shopping," Naruto suggested, "we've already been out for quite a while just trying to find a grocery store that's open. I really don't want Miya to get angry at us for coming home too late for her to cook dinner."

Musubi and Tsukiumi both shuddered at the thought of an angry Miya. While Naruto didn't actually care if the beautiful landlady got angry, they did. That woman was scary when she was angry.

The Hulk had nothing on her.

Grabbing the grocery supplies didn't take long. Nor did it take much time to buy the groceries from the clerk. Really, the clerk actually seemed to want him gone in a hurry. The man must watch the news.

As they were walking home, Naruto decided to broach the subject that had been looping through his mind ever since this morning.

"Hey, if there's a Sekirei reacting to an Ashikabi, but the Sekirei doesn't know if she wants to be winged, what do you think the Ashikabi should do?"

Tsukiumi frowned at her husband. Meanwhile, Musubi just looked confused.

"Why would you ask something like that, husband?"

"Yeah. I mean, why ask something so strange? There's no Sekirei who wouldn't want to get winged by her Ashikabi."

Naruto decided right then and there that Musubi was not the Sekirei to go to when he wanted to ask for advice. So instead of looking at the buxom fist-fighter for an answer, he turned to Tsukiumi. Of the two, she had a more level head anyway.

"Just think of this as a hypothetical question. If there was a Sekirei who didn't want to be winged, let's say, because she had a husband who wasn't an Ashikabi and still feels loyal to him, what should the Ashikabi she's reacting to do?"

Tsukiumi furrowed her brown and, unlike Musubi who just seemed to think winging her would be appropriate, truly thought about his question.

"I suppose it would depend," Tsukiumi answered at last. "You can't force someone to do something that they do not want to do, or at least you shouldn't." Her right fist clenched and began to shake. "There are Ashikabi out there who would wing a Sekirei regardless of whether they want to be winged by them or not. It isn't right. This situation you speak of, it's different than the ones I've heard about, but even if a Sekirei is reacting, if she doesn't want to be winged, I don't think you should wing her."

"I see." Naruto closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he gave Tsukiumi a smile. "Thank you, Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi's face flushed bright red. She opened her mouth, likely to sputter out some excuse about how it was a wife's job to give advice to her husband on matters like this or some such, but Naruto's voracious tongue wouldn't let her.

"Muuu~ I wanna chu chu, too!"

XoX

Naruto was still thinking about Tsukiumi's words when he, a flustered Tsukiumi and a very happy Musubi arrived home. They entered through the front door, taking off their shoes and looking about.

"We're home!"

"Yay! Home!"

The "pitter patter" of feet became increasingly louder. Kusano appeared from around a corner seconds later, a bright smile on her face and her arms spread wide. Walking behind her at a more sedate pace was Akitsu, her face almost expressionless, save for the small, practically unnoticeable curvature to her lips.

"Onii-chan!"

Naruto scooped the little girl into his arms and gave her a proper pampering with some butterfly kisses all over her face. This seemed to satisfy the tiny tot, who was a giggling bundle of blond hair and white clothes.

"Ah..."

Pause.

"Ashikabi-Sama, there is someone here to see you."

Naruto perked up. "Really? Is it Seo?"

"Yeah. It's me, ya bastard."

Seo walked out from the living room and into the main hall. He looked similar to what Naruto imagined someone who'd walked through hell would look like. His face was covered in bruises, his clothing had rips and tears in it, and blood dripped from the left side of his face where he must have been cut slightly by a knife. His Sekirei, who stood on either side of him, didn't look much better.

"Since you're here, I'm guessing you have the Jinki on you?"

Seo suddenly looked quite nervous. So did his Sekirei, for that matter. "Yeah...about that..."

XoX

The house was too quiet. From the moment Miya stepped out the bath house, she knew that something was wrong, had been wrong ever since yesterday.

It all started after Seo left. Miya didn't know when that idiotic man had left, but she knew that he had, indeed, vacated the premise, because she could no longer feel the strange presence he cast thanks to Takehito's modifications. After that, everyone had been abnormally quiet. Even Musubi and Kusano, who were arguably the loudest of the bunch, refused to say so much as a word. This was in spite of them looking like they wanted to speak. The atmosphere had just been that tense.

And now, walking down the halls, Miya noticed that no one seemed to be around. Her inn appeared to be a ghost town.

"What in the world is going on?" she mumbled to herself. Maison Izumo should not be this silent. Nor should it be this empty. Akitsu's chains should be rattling as she followed a joyous Kusano around. Musubi's laughs and Tsukiumi's screams should be sounding out in the back yard as they played with a water hose. Yet those sounds could not be heard. The entire inn remained a tomb.

Walking up the stairs, Miya finally found someone who hadn't left.

"I've hacked into their mainframe and downloaded all the data I can. Mikogami's mansion has some pretty high-tech security, plus security cameras that are on a separate mainframe. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the cameras from here. From what I understand, they're a hardline and cannot be accessed through remote hacking."

Miya listened in on the conversation. She must but talking to Naruto. But what was she talking about and why? Those were the questions Miya wanted answered.

"So you're all in position then? Good. The operation will begin in fifteen minutes."

_Operation?_ Miya thought with a mild amount of alarm. Were they doing something like when Naruto rescued that girl from Izumi?

Deciding to stick around, Miya pressed her ear against panel that separated the hallway from Matsu's room to see if she could make out anything else from the conversation. Her frown deepened the longer she remained standing outside of Matsu's room, and the sillier and more confused she became as she listened in on a conversation that made no sense from her perspective.

Miya discovered right then and there that she did not enjoy being confused, silly or left in the dark.

She entered the room to find out about whatever happened that caused all of her tenants except Matsu to leave so abruptly.

The inside of Matsu's room looked the same as always. The small, enclosed space remained dark, with only the glaring lights of the monitor to provide light. Matsu sat in front of her many monitors, a keyboard in her lap and her fingers flying across the keys.

Walking further into the room, Miya stopped until she stood right behind the Sekirei computer hacker.

"Matsu." Miya garnered the redhead's attention. "What exactly is going on here? Where is everyone? And what operation are you talking about?"

Matsu gave Miya a surprisingly serious look. Miya noticed that she had a headset attached to her left ear, which she spoke into. "Ashikabi-Sama. I have Miya here asking me about our operation. Is it okay to tell her?"

Matsu listened to something Miya could not hear. It was disconcerting to know that two people were talking and not knowing what they were talking about because you could only hear one side of the conversation. Her eye remained on Sekirei sitting by the many screens, and finally realized something she hadn't before. Matsu wasn't wearing her glasses and looked a lot more serious.

"Alright. I understand."

Matsu looked at Miya, who became disconcerted with the unusually hard look in her former subordinates eyes; the dangerous glint of a woman who'd killed to protect Kamikura island from foreign powers.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but Naruto hired Seo to get the Jinki in the first round match ups of the third phase for him." Miya stiffened. Matsu turned back around and began typing on her keyboard again. "Unfortunately, things didn't go quite the way he planned. Seo tried, but he couldn't get the Jinki because Sanada decided to fight him and his Sekirei. I actually watched the fight. It was pretty brutal. Seo even ended up taking two of Sanada's Sekirei out of the game. That's where things went wrong. While Sanada and Seo fought, Mikogami found the Jinki."

Having been a former commander herself, Miya could figure out where this was going. "And so Naruto's decided to infiltrate this Mikogami's estate and take the Jinki from him?"

"No." Matsu shook her head, confusing Miya. "Naruto's not infiltrating anything. His plan is much simpler this time."

For some reason, those words filled Miya with a sense of dread.

She didn't know why.

XoX

Naruto's plan for getting the jinki was frighteningly simple. Most people would also consider it stupid, reckless and retarded, but those people also weren't him.

The plan was a head-on frontal assault. There would be no playing around here. No sneaking and sleuthing and acting like how most Japanese people assumed old school ninja acted like. He and his Sekirei were just going to go in, fuck the place up, get the jinki and defeat anyone who came near them.

"Are you sure this is a good plan?" standing by his side, Homura looked at her Ashikabi like he was some kind of idiot. "I mean, breaking in through the front gate to a mansion guarded by 24 Sekirei has to be about the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone do. Ever."

"I must agree with my rival on this," Tsukiumi addressed her husband. "Going with a frontal assault is rather reckless."

"In most cases, it probably would be." Naruto nodded in agreement. "However, while they may have numbers, we have a superior fighting force."

"How so?" asked Kazehana, wanting to know her new lover's thoughts on the matter.

"For one thing, everyone here aside from Musubi is a single digit, meaning you have far more power than Mikogami's Sekirei, and Musubi is no slouch either, especially with all the training she and you have been getting. I imagine that you'll find breaking into the mansion and fighting against several Sekirei at once a much easier task than before."

"And the other reasons?"

"The second reason is that you've got me." Naruto turned to fully face them. "You already know who I am, what I am. I wasn't bragging when I said I have the power to end this world. A couple of Sekirei are no match for me, and since Minaka has officially made my presence public, it won't matter if I decide to let loose."

"I see." Homura looked thoughtful. Naruto's words made sense, much as she might not like them. "And what's the third reason?"

"There is no third reason."

Cue a round of face faults.

"Now then." Naruto clapped his hands together. "Do you all remember the plan?"

"Of course we remember the plan." Homra rubbed her now sore face. "It's the simplest, most idiotic plan I've ever heard." Naruto pouted. She ignored it. "We're going to assault the mansion from the front, destroying the gate and causing as much noise as we can."

"Our job is to lure as many Sekirei out into the open as we can and defeat them," Tsukiumi picked up where Homura left off. "After that, our job will be to take the Sekirei who were winged against their will and find a safe place to keep them."

"Meanwhile, you're going after Mikogami and Mutsu," Kazehana continued.

"And then we can all go home!" Musubi cheered.

"Ah."

A pause. Everyone stared at Akitsu.

"Can we have sex after that?"

Cue another round of face faulting.

"Oh! Oh! I want sex too! I really like Sex!"

"You're not getting anymore sex until I have sex with my husband!" Tsukiumi shouted at Musubi.

Two seconds later she realized what she had just said.

"I-I-I mean...it's only right that he and I―I mean he's my husband! It's only right that we are allowed to become int-in-in-int-intimate...with each other..." By the time she finished talking, Tsukiumi had become a lovely shade of red, and her eyes had turned into odd-looking swirly patterns. They reminded Naruto of fishcakes.

"Ne, onii-chan?" Kusano looked up at her "big brother" with wide, adorable eyes. Naruto was almost blinded by the cute. "What's sex? Can I have some?"

"Urk!"

That Naruto. He just doesn't get a break.

XoX

Mikogami's mansion was almost stereotypical of rich brats like him. The entire structure spanned several acres of land, and that wasn't even mentioning the large grounds that surrounded the mansion itself. It also looked like one of those ostentatious European mansions, complete with large Corinthian columns made of marble and statues in the front courtyard.

Even the front gate was a ridiculous expression of pompous posh that only a super rich and bratty child like Mikogami would have. As Naruto stared at the iron wrought gates with its gleaming metallic surface, he felt a mild surge of irritation. All these pretentious decorations were getting to him, reminding him of a past he'd rather forget, and a certain decadent wizard who didn't know his place in the grand hierarchy of this world.

So he decided to do something about it.

"Rasengan!"

The spinning blue orb of power that appeared within his left hand smashed into the gates and tore them apart. A loud, wailing shriek sounded out over the grounds, shrill and ear-piercing as the construct of metal poles became nothing but a twisted scrap of iron, which was blown away when Naruto, rather then let his Rasengan dissipate, caused it to explode in his hand.

He stepped through the now open entrance. His shocked Sekirei followed him, gaping at his back. He ignored them, and placed a hand up to his ear.

"Matsu?"

"I'm here."

"Can you see us on the surveillance satellites?"

"Yes."

"Good. Keep watch on things from above and let us know if there are any changes. I'm sure MBI will come running once the first Sekirei is defeated.

"Of course, Ashikabi-sama."

"You...has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly reckless?" Homura came up alongside of him and asked. "What happened to all the stealth and insidious plots you used to have?"

"I've decided to discard them for the time being," Naruto said nonchalantly. They were reaching the front door, which was open and had several Sekirei spewing out. "I'm sure you've already noticed with how many times my plans have gone awry, but I've never been very good at stealth."

"I think I'm noticing it more now," Homura said dryly.

Naruto looked at the crowd of Sekirei that had gathered to greet them. There were around 20 in total, meaning Mutsu and the other three were likely with Mikogami, guarding the brat in case someone managed to slip past this group.

"Look at our welcoming committee." Naruto looked at his Sekirei. "Think you can handle them?"

"Of course." Tsukiumi tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him an imperious look. "I am the strongest Sekirei. There is no way I can lose to inferior Sekirei like them."

Kazehana winked at Naruto "We'll be fine, lover. Just go on ahead. Oh, and do be sure to greet Mutsu for me. It's been so long since I've seen him."

"Will do," Naruto said. "Akitsu!"

"Ah."

A pause.

"Yes, Ashikabi-Sama?"

"Keep Ku-chan safe, alright?"

"Mm." Akitsu nodded. "You don't need to worry. I'll protect her with my life."

"I'm counting on you."

Before anyone, friend or foe, could do anything, Naruto leapt into the air. He ascended far above their heads before landing on the roof of the building. Giving the enemy Sekirei a two-fingered salute, he vanished from view, leaving his own flock to fight this battle.

He had a date with a Jinki.

XoX

Musubi pouted as she looked at her surroundings. There wasn't much to look at. Before the battle had even begun, that strange woman with the mist ability had created this thick fog. Now she couldn't see more than five feet in all directions.

That was okay, though. Naruto had taught her how to fight without being able to see.

All around her, Musubi could hear the sound of her fellow Sekirei sisters battling. She could hear Tsukiumi's shouts about being the strongest and the raging roar of Homura's fire. She could hear the taunts of Kazehana and the giggling of Kusano along with the clink of Akitsu's chains.

Sniffing the air, Musubi used her powerful sense of smell, which was similar to a bears, to sniff out her opponent. There were many scents all around her, fragrances both familiar and not. She focused on the smells that she didn't know.

Spinning on her heel, Musubi shot to her left. A startled gasp emerged in the direction she traveled. This was followed by a whip shooting out of the mist to attack her.

Musubi dodged. Lowering her center of mass by bending her knees, the fist-fighter allowed the whip to pass right over her. Grinning like a child who just found a new toy, she grabbed the whip in her left and gave it a very firm tug.

"What the―"

Her foe, a blond girl with pig-tails, black stockings and a black and yellow western-style dress, flew out of the mist and right towards Musubi.

"My name is Sekirei number 88, Musubi!" The shrine maiden shouted...right before she plowed her fist into her opponent's face. "And I shall be your opponent!"

The girl was sent flying, but Musubi didn't give the female any reprieve. Already her hand had managed to wrap the whip around it to keep the weapon in her grasp. She tugged on it again, which sent the blond girl flying right back to her.

Unfortunately for Musubi, the Sekirei she was fighting got smart and let go of the whip. While she still flew forward quite a bit, the blond was able to get her feet planted firmly on the ground and slowed her forward momentum to a halt.

The blond girl then stood back to her feet. She tossed Musubi a glare, as if to say "how dare you take my weapon from me!" or something. Musubi, being the naïve and happy go lucky Sekirei that she was, didn't really notice the look. She did notice the bruise forming on the other Sekirei's face, however, a big black and blue welt that began to swell.

"You've gotten a lot better since the last time we fought."

"Eh?" Musubi paused before she could blast off the ground to rush her opponent. She stood up again and scratched the side of her head. "The last time we fought? Have we fought before?"

The other girl fell flat on her face. "Are you kidding me?!" She shouted once she recovered. "Do you seriously not remember when we fought? It was only a few weeks ago!"

"Mmm...mm..." Musubi made several thinking sounds. She even made a pose with her hip cocked, right hand on her left elbow and left hand under her chin to make herself look more studious. "Nope! Don't remember it!"

Cue another facefault.

"You're joking right?! Do you seriously not remember me?"

"I'm pretty sure I would remember you if we fought. Unless..." Musubi's eyes lit up. Snapping her fingers, she pointed at the blond girl. "Now I remember you! You're one of those mean girls who fought me in a fog just like this when we were searching for Tsukiumi-san!"

"Finally, you remember me."

"You're Miyabi!"

"It's Miyuki! Mi-yu-ki! Get it right!"

"Ah, right." Musubi knocked the knuckles of her left hand against her head and poked her cute little tongue out. "My bad."

"Grr! That does it! I'm done bantering with you!" Miyuki stretched out her hand. The whip in Musubi's grip flew out with a jerk. Unprepared for such an unexpected maneuver, the girl in shrine maiden garb let it fly into her opponents hand. "Now I'm going to finish you!"

The blond girl let her whip fly. The long, flexible weapon made of durable yet malleable fibers soared towards Musubi at impressive speeds.

"Hya!"

Musubi knelt down and punched her fist into the cement ground. Her hand went straight through the cement. Using the strength granted to her, Musubi yanked out a large chunk of cement from the ground and tossed it at the whip. When the two objects collided, the cement shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments. That was okay though. It had served its purpose of negating the whips forward momentum, forcing Miyuki to pull it back towards her.

Rushing forward at incredible speeds, Musubi launched herself at her opponent. Miyuki's eyes widened when a grinning Musubi appeared right inside of her guard.

Her body glowing a bright, light purple, Musubi set herself in a firm stance. With her legs spread wide, her center of gravity lowered, she pulled her right fist back, holding it for a second, before letting it loose.

Miyuki's eyes became twins saucers of "holy shit!" when, appearing behind Musubi like some kind of phantasm, a giant black bear glared down at her with enraged red eyes. The bear roared, the sound earth shattering. It caused her entire body to seize up. Even if she wanted to move, and she did, the young woman found that her body refused to do anything more than twitch.

"**Kuma Ken!"**

Then Musubi's fist smashed into her face.

And she was sent flying.

Musubi watched in surprise as Miyuki shot backwards like a rocket. She moved so fast the fog around her parted as the particles making it up were pushed away. This allowed Musubi to see Miyuki smash into the outer wall of the mansion, then go straight through the wall, which crumbled down around the girl.

Blinking, Musubi waited for her opponent to come back and fight her. When it became apparent that wasn't happening, she frowned and tilted her head. "Does this mean I won?"

XoX

After jumping on the roof, Naruto decided that the best way to enter the mansion was making his own entrance. And so, after punch a hole straight through the roof, Naruto hopped down into a hallway of some sort. It reminded him of those ritzy halls you see in five-star resorts and castles; it had red carpet, lots of hardwork, several busts of various people, the works.

He took a moment to gain his bearings, and then headed towards the largest source of energy he could sense within the vicinity. The path he followed took several winding corridors and involved a number of turns. However, after a while, the blond immortal became frustrated with his lack of progress. It almost felt like he was traveling in circles.

"**Rasengan!**"

So he smashed through the walls, using his rasengan to blow holes straight through the brick. At some point, he reached what he assumed was the place Mikogami was hiding. There were three female Sekirei in front of a large door, and the large chakra he sensed was also behind the door.

"Look! It's an intruder!"

"Don't let him get past this door!"

"Protect Mikogami-Sama!"

The trio of Sekirei rushed towards him. Naruto recognized them from the list of profiles Matsu got him. All of them had been forcibly winged by Mikogami.

Naruto raised a hand.

"**Shinra Tensei.**"

All three Sekirei went flying back as they were struck by an unknown force with the power of a freight train traveling well over 100 miles per hour. Naruto watched as they smashed through the wall, continued flying, and then smashed through another wall. He couldn't see them after that, but he imagined they would stop after hitting the third wall.

He hoped they hadn't been knocked unconscious or killed. He needed them with their wings still intact.

Creating a shadow clone to grab the Sekirei and seal them in transportation scrolls, Naruto strolled through one of the holes, whistling a marry tune.

Something sliced through the air just as he stepped into the room. Naruto rolled forward, avoiding the attack that would have sliced him in half. It wouldn't have made a difference if he did, but just because he could regenerate from such an injury didn't mean he enjoyed getting cut in two.

"It's you!"

"Yep," Naruto said in response to the surprised shout, his tone bored. "It's me."

Mutsu held his sword out in a tight two-handed grip, his stance combat ready. The experienced Sekirei was obviously wary of him, as he should be. Naruto didn't know if the sword user had seen his battle with Karasuba or how he massacred Benitsubasa, but he clearly knew that Naruto was not the kind of person you take lightly.

"Mutsu, do you know this man?"

"You could say that."

Naruto looked at Mutsu for a second, then peered behind him to see a brat in an expensive white suit staring at him with the utmost inquisitiveness. He almost sighed. The kid was definitely Mikogami. He had the stereotypical look of a brat who was so used to getting everything he wanted that he didn't care about what anyone else wanted and would go to great lengths to acquire whatever he set his eyes on. In other words, he was a spoiled brat of the highest order.

"Hmm..."

Naruto's lips twitched. For some reason, this scenario amused him. He felt like he'd seen this somewhere before, and maybe he had. It was so hard to remember everything that had happened in his life. Faces, people, places, all of it tended to blur together after a time.

The only thing he could recall with perfectly clarity were the names of faces of the women he'd fallen in love with. Those he'd met during his travels and those he'd had a hand giving birth to.

"I'll tell you what, I'm feeling kind of generous today, so if you just hand over the jinki, I'll let you both go," Naruto said, his smile still he in place. He saw Mutsu twitch and his lips peeled back into a grin. This man, this Sekirei, had definitely seen the news. He was afraid, as he should be.

Mikogami obviously had not heard the most recent news about him, or was just a belligerent brat who didn't care. Naruto was betting on the former.

"Hand over the jinki? You must be crazy!" Mikogami shouted. Mutsu's eyes widened. "I won this fair and square! It's mine! You can't have it!"

"Ho?" Naruto felt like chuckling, but since he didn't want to sound like an evil villain, he refrained. "So you're not going to give me what I came here for?"

"Of course not!"

"And what about you, Mutsu?" Naruto looked at the tall, white-haired man protecting his Ashikabi. "Are you going to do the sensible thing and hand over the jinki? You know it's the best option for you in the long run."

Mutsu's expression wavered. Naruto could tell the man was thinking about just handing the jinki over. However, after a minute or two, the look hardened into firm resolve stronger than steel.

"While I do believe it would be safer for me to hand the jinki over to you, I cannot comply." A resigned expression. "My Ashikabi doesn't want to hand it over."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So you're going to cater to the lowest common denominator here?"

"Hey!"

"Very well." Holding out his hand, Naruto summoned a longsword that resembled a large needle, with a long length of wire-mirroring thread, tied through the eye located at the base of its hilt. "Then I will just have to shove my foot off in your ass and take it from you."

Mutsu had absolutely no time to dodge. Using his chakra to enhance his speed, Naruto appeared right in front of the sword-wielding Sekirei after cratering the ground from his launch off. Mutsu could only raise his blade in defense, and while that blocked the attack from Naruto's strange-looking katana, it did not block the foot that planted itself into his gut.

Blood and spittle flew from Mutsu's mouth. The kick was so powerful his body actually lifted several feet into the air. He probably would have curled around his now devastated stomach if he had the time, but the long blade in Naruto's hand was already aiming to pierce him through the eye.

He moved his blade in time to keep from getting stabbed, but still ended up receiving a cut on his face. Mutsu then watched as Naruto spun about, the blade swinging in from the opposite side, screaming towards him with the promise of death. The powerful swing was blocked when he moved his blade again, but the attack had so much force behind it Mutsu went flying backwards.

Skidding along the ground, his orange scarf flapping as if caught in a fierce hurricane, the sword user stopped after traveling several meters back. His dangers senses blared the moment he ceased moving. He looked up as a shadow darkened his vision and was just in time to see a blade coming in to stab through his cranium!

Mutsu rolled, avoiding the blow. Naruto, who'd been using his own weight to increase the speed and power of his piercing attack, had the dissatisfaction of watching his blade sink into the tiled floor.

"Tch!"

Seeing an opportunity and not one to pass up on such a thing, Mutsu unleashed his norito by kissing a stunned Mikogami. He wouldn't be able to use his signature technique in such an enclosed space, but the extra power would hopefully allow him to fend off the blond' relentless assault.

With his full power unleashed, the Sekirei used his enhanced speed and strength to try and defeat Naruto while he lacked a weapon.

Too bad Naruto's entire body constituted as a weapon.

Mutsu's eyes widened when Naruto blocked his sword with his finger, just one finger. Naruto saw the flabbergasted expression and grinned.

"I don't need a sword to beat you," he said, "I just thought it would make the fight a little more fair, you know, because using my finger would put you at a disadvantage. Oh well."

With a shrug, Naruto's hand wrapped around the blade and squeezed. The blade within his grip shattered and Mutsu, too stunned to do anything but stand there and gape like an idiot, ended up receiving a fist to the gut for his troubles. A large glob of blood flew from his mouth. At the same time, he was sent flying backwards from the chakra enhanced punch. Naruto, knees bent, fist hyper-extended, watched in satisfaction as Mutsu plowed straight through a wall, plaster and wood and insulation flying everywhere, choking up the atmosphere.

"Mutsu!"

Mikogami also watched in shock as his strongest Sekirei was defeated. He didn't have time to watch for too long, though, as Naruto was already walking towards him.

"S-stay back!" Mikogami shrieked. He tried to walk backwards, but fell when he tripped over his own two feet. He then began crab walking, at least until his back hit the wall. And still Naruto continued closing the distance. "I said stay back! Don't come any closer."

"The jinki," Naruto said, looking down at the bawling, frightened child. He didn't know whether he should feel disgust or pity. This person was just a kid who'd gotten caught up in something his infantile mind simply couldn't understand. He thought the Sekirei Plan was a game, never realizing the true meaning behind it or how much it meant for the Sekirei themselves. It was sad and pathetic. "Where is it?"

"I-It's in the safe! It's in the safe! Just take it!"

"Thank you."

Naruto found the safe easily enough. After shoving a lightning coated hand through it and melting the metal like butter, he pulled the jinki out of the safe and sealed it inside of one of several storage seals tattooed onto his skin.

Naruto was about to walk out of the room when Mutsu walked in. He looked quite a bit worse for wear. His clothes were in tatters, he bled from several cuts, there were large purple bruises on his skin and from the blood leaking down his lowe lip, he was suffering some internal bleeding. And yet he still stared at Naruto with a steely expression.

Impressive.

"I suggest you two leave Shinto Teito," Naruto said, "this city has no place for children."

"You're letting us go?" Mutsu frowned.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Naruto could tell Mutsu had more questions, but the blond didn't feel like answering them. He disappeared within a body flicker and reappeared on the roof. A glance at the courtyard revealed that particular battle to be over. None of his Sekirei looked any worse for wear, except a few places where their clothing was torn, but you wouldn't hear him complain about that.

He jumped down and landed in front of the group. He ignored their sharp stares. "I'm glad to see you all made it. Let's gather all of the Sekirei who were forcefully winged by Mikogami and find a safe place to put them. MBI will be here soon and I want to leave before that happens."

XoX

Naruto and his Sekirei arrived at Maison Izumo several hours later. It had taken a bit more time getting to the safe house Naruto had set up before hand where they could stash the defeated Sekirei. MBI troops and helicopters had been crawling all over the place, and while Naruto could and did destroy several vehicles that tried getting too close, it still took far longer than he had anticipated.

Still, they made it back home and that's what mattered the most.

"We're home!" Musubi shouted the moment they stepped into the entrance. Tsukiumi and the others took off their shoes. Naruto was just putting up his orange jacket when the sound of a door opening came to him. He looked over and saw Miya walking down the hall, a sheathed katana at her side.

Naruto wasn't sure how to act around Miya. Should he be suave and romantic? Normal? Should he just pretend nothing was wrong? That the tension between them didn't exist? He didn't know, so in the end he decided to go with what his old self would have done.

"Yo, Miya!" He raised a hand and greeted the woman with a large, somewhat goofy grin.

Miya didn't respond. She just continued walking.

"Uh, Miya?"

And continued walking.

"Miya...san?"

And continued walking. Soon, she was standing in front of Naruto, looking up at his face. Her expression was unreadable, even to him.

"Naruto," she said in a voice that could cut through foot thick steel. "I would like to have a spar with you."

"Eh?"

XoX

Naruto and Miya stood several meters apart inside of the massive training ground. Their chosen battlefield was the rocky terrain that made up a large majority of the training ground. Naruto had the Kiba blades out, while Miya's katana was out of its sheath. This spar was apparently going to be quite real.

Standing on one of the many cliff faces were Naruto's Sekirei. Even Matsu had come down to see the battle with her own eyes. They all appeared quite interested in seeing the outcome of this sparring session.

"I hope you're prepared," Miya said in a voice that could easily cut through solid steel. "I won't be holding back."

"I kind of figured that part out already," Naruto shot back. "The fact that you're using a real sword and not the sheath is enough for me to realize you're taking this seriously."

"Indeed."

A small breeze generated by the seals created to simulate weather patterns. Dust blew between the two. Naruto steadied himself, as did Miya. Muscles tense, blades ready, they each prepared to attack.

On some unspoken signal, the two charged at each other. To the Sekirei looking on from above, it would appear as if the two had simply teleported. One instant, they were several meters apart, the next they were right next to each other, their swords locking in a clash that generated a powerful shockwave and caused everyone's hair to be buffeted by the violent winds.

Miya was the first to disengage their sword lock, but she wasn't the first to attack. Naruto came in fast and furious, leading with the blade in his left hand. Miya raised her katana and, not blocked the blade, but redirected by applying a slant to her swords position, holding it at an angle. The Kiba blade slid off in a hiss of sparks.

As the first attack failed, Naruto came back in with a powerful slash from the blade in his right hand. The swing, coming in from the left hip, moved up in an attempt to bisect her from left hip to right shoulder. While the slash was swift enough that his arm appeared as nothing more than a blur, Miya managed to avoid the attack by taking a step backwards. She also avoided the follow up thrust from the left blade by sidestepping and using her katana to push his attack wide.

Naruto didn't let that bother him. He continued moving forward by using the momentum generated from his thrust. He spun, rotating a full circle, before swinging the blade in his left hand, a loud clang ringing out as his sword met Miya's. Their blades locked, using only one hand, pushed against the blade.

A tiny frown crossed Naruto's face as he put some more strength onto his blades. Miya grunted as she tried to keep it up. While the purple-haired woman was, indeed, a powerful and strong individual, her physical strength could not match his.

Fortunately for her, she didn't have to match his strength.

Before Naruto could figure out what was happening, Miya slanted her blade at an angle. His own sword slid off Miya's katana. A brief explosion of pain marked his nose being broken by the hilt of Miya's sword. He reeled, stumbling backwards, blinking several times as he felt something wet drip down his nose.

"Ho?" Naruto cracked the nose back into place, allowing it to heal instantly. "Not bad. You're pretty good with that blade of yours."

"And you're holding back," Miya declared, eyes narrowing further. "I suggest you stop or I'll actually hurt you."

"Ah ha, realized that, have you?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Listen, Miya, you're strong, there is no denying that, but my powers are, well, let's just say a sword can't beat them."

Miya's eyes narrowed. She then slid into a smooth, neutral stance, her sword sliding back into its sheath. In less time than it took to blink, the blade was pulled back out, the movement so smooth and quick even Naruto could not see it. He did see the ripple of air the attack caused, however, and knew that if he let that attack hit him it would hurt.

A sigh. It looked like he might actually have to get a little serious if he wanted to beat her. But still, he would rather fight her without the use of his powers. Call it his pride as a man on the line. How could he consider himself superior to this woman if he had to use the godly powers he controlled to win?

Crouching low, Naruto set himself a firm stance and crossed his Kiba blades. As the shockwave of funneled wind channeled into a destructive sword that extended beyond perception came towards him, he slashed his swords down and created his own shockwave. The two attacks hit each other, the incredible power creating an explosion of kinetic energy that caused the ground to splinter and the winds to howl with the sound of a thousand anguished souls.

Even though they were about a mile from where the battle was taking place (a safety precaution in case Miya's and Naruto's spar became too destructive), the Sekirei standing on the cliff ledge were forced to cover their ears as the terrible noise rent the air.

Dust blue upwards and outwards, engulfing the battleground in a thick, choking layer of natural pollution. Naruto "tsked" and spun his swords around, blowing the dust away.

Miya was right in front of him.

She was already attacking.

Naruto's arms moved in a blur as Miya's katana sought to slip through his defenses. A thrust was blocked with his right sword. His return attack, a downward slash with the left blade was parried when Miya shifted her blade, allowing his own to glance off it before using the generated kinetic energy to increase the speed of her swing and attack with an uncountable number of slashes.

Eyes narrowed and arms working faster than they had in about a thousand or so years, Naruto blocked those strikes he could, and avoided those he couldn't. He used a minimalist style, moving just enough to dodge her attacks without any wasted motion. There were several close calls, and one of his sleeves did receive a small cut, but he managed to avoid injury.

Miya's blade screamed towards him with swift fury. Naruto responded to her challenge, blocking the attack with his right blade while his left moved towards her chest. The attack, a thrust, was dodged as Miya took a step back and to the right, allowing the sword to pass her left side. She then lashed out with an upward slash as her counterattack. It didn't take off Naruto's arm, which almost appeared to be her intent, but it did make him aware of something.

Miya was better than him. Much like Karasuba, Miya had more talent at using swords than he did. However, unlike Karasuba, who was extremely talented but limited by her lacking physical attributes, Miya had no such problem. Her body, it seemed, was more than capable of keeping up with him when he was using chakra to enhance himself.

That didn't mean Naruto was going to use any jutsu, though. Not with such an amazing opponent. For the first time in his terribly long life, Naruto found an opponent who could actually push him. It didn't matter if he was holding back. That Miya could keep up with his chakra enhanced body was incredible enough. That she could actually prove herself superior at something was amazing.

As the battle wore on, Naruto noticed a change in Miya's expression. Her face, once stern and cold in ways he'd never seen on her, were now warm and inviting. There was a smile on her face, and he knew that she was enjoying herself as much as he was.

The two continued to battle, the air around them bursting with shockwaves as steel clashed. Their swords moved at speeds that no one else in this world would have been able to follow. Each time they struck, the sound of steel exploding against steel in a ferocious display of raw destruction and power would erupt. The very landscape began to change because of their battle; the earth splintering and cratering under the pressure their attacks caused. Throughout it all, Miya smiled.

Their battle ended on a technicality. Naruto had been enjoying himself so much that he didn't see the large crack in the ground behind him. When he stepped, he fell. This normally wouldn't have been a problem, as regaining his balance was a simple matter of using his powers to push himself up, but Miya had not stopped her assault and, unfortunately, when she rushed forward, she ended up crashing into Naruto after trying to stop her own forward momentum. The end result was two people tumbling to the ground in a heap of limbs.

Miya ended up landing on top, her legs straddling Naruto's waist and her hands pressed against his chest. She looked down at him with wide-eyed surprise. Her fingers twitched, a result of feeling his warm skin searing her beneath the fabric of his shirt.

A blush sprang to her cheeks, pale and pink, lovely in ways words could never aptly describe. She began to lean down, as if gravity or some otherworldly force was exerting pressure on her back.

"Miya..."

Lost in a trance, Miya found herself staring at Naruto's lips. They were chapped, she noted absently, likely due to their battle. She imagined hers looked much the same.

"Miya."

Her body continued to move. She didn't question it. Her mind, it seemed, had fled her as adrenaline from the battle she and Naruto fought drove her on an instinctual level. She needed do to this. Wanted to do this. Just a little bit further and...

"Miya!"

It was only when Naruto shouted at her that Miya realized what she was doing. Her eyes, which had begun fluttering closed, snapped wide open. Her mouth, too, dropped in shock. Her nose was mere centimeters from Naruto's. They were so close she could see her own reflection in his eyes and feel his hot breath wash across her face.

Moving faster than she ever had before, Miya jumped off him. A hand went to her chest. It was beating so erratically it hurt. She couldn't...she needed...

"I'm sorry."

Before Naruto even had a chance to say anything else, Miya ran out of the training ground and up to her room. She slammed the door shut, threw herself on the bed, and began to scream her frustrations into her pillow. When would these torturous, traitorous feelings end?

XoX

That evening Miya did not leave her room. Naruto ended up cooking dinner for his Sekirei. Dinner was also awkward. Even though the meal prepared was excellent, Miya's lack of presence caused a strange tension to fill the dinner table. Even Kusano and Musubi were able to feel it.

Naruto had decided that enough was enough. He'd been hoping to solve this problem with a bit more delicacy, but what happened during their sparring session and after told him that if he wanted to fix this, he needed to deal with the problem immediately. No time for planning. Miya was hurting and he wasn't going to stand for that.

"Miya?" Naruto called through the door to her room, knocking several times. He didn't receive an answer so he knocked again and called louder. "Miya!"

"Go away."

Well, that was blunt, and kind of childish. Unusual coming from Miya, but not wholly unexpected. He knew this was beyond her level of expertise. Miya might have been in love, but she's never had to deal with the conflicting feelings that come from loving two people. In some ways, Miya was also just a child.

"I can't do that. Now come on, open the door and let's talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about."

Wow, she was being surprisingly stubborn. Or maybe not so surprisingly. This was Miya, after all. She might act like a humble landlady most of the time, but she was just as stubborn about certain things as everyone else, maybe even more so.

"We both know you're lying. Come on, Miya, I know you're hurting over this. Let me help you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh? So I guess I'm wrong and you're not reacting to me?"

His words met silence. Naruto would have found it awkward, but he'd long since grown past the point where silence caused discomfort. He simply waited until he heard the sounds of footsteps followed the door being unlocked.

The door opened up just a crack, revealing a Miya who looked like she'd been caught in disarray and only had a few seconds to tidy her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, her lavender hair had strands sticking out all over the place, and her kimono had a notorious gap in her cleavage, as if she'd thrown it on in a hurry.

"May I come in?"

Miya stared at him for a second, before opening the door, allowing Naruto to step inside.

"Thank you."

The door closed behind him and Naruto finally saw Miya's room. It wasn't quite what he expected; just a plain room with tatami mats and a bed. The only thing about the room that had any real personality was the shrine dedicated to Miya's husband.

Miya walked further into the room. He thought she would sit on the bed, but she didn't. She stood several feet away from him, over by the shrine, as if it would somehow give her the strength she needed for this conversation.

"You said you wanted to talk," Miya reminded him, "so talk."

Despite her insistence, Naruto didn't speak for several seconds. He honestly didn't know what to say. How could he comfort this woman? What would be the best way to make her feel better? Despite his experience with the opposite sex, he found himself at a loss.

"To be honest, I...I'm not really sure what to say," Naruto finally admitted. He walked to the shrine and knelt down. He made sure to keep a safe distance from Miya, who eyed him warily. "I know that you're reacting to me, and in most circumstances, I would have probably already winged you by now." He gave her a sad smile. "But this isn't most circumstances, is it?"

Miya stared at him for a long moment, her face picking up a very light red. "No," she agreed, turning away. "No it isn't."

"You know, I actually had this big speech planned out, about how you shouldn't give up on your chance at happiness because you don't want to betray the man you married, or how he wouldn't want you moping around like this and would want you to find someone to love you." A bitter chuckle. "And then I realized I really don't have the right to say that."

Miya turned back to look at him, but Naruto was looking at the image of Takehito.

"Do you know why I gave up on humanity? Why I stopped caring and began to avoid becoming intimately acquainted with humans?"

Miya shook her head. "No."

"It happened about...1,500 years ago, I think. Yeah, somewhere around there. Anyway, back then, the world was going through a period known as the Dark Ages, or medieval times. Chaos reigned, murder and rape and thievery was common place, bandits and raiders were in abundance due to the collapse of the old Roman Empire some decades before; it was a lawless time." The grin Naruto gave Miya was one of cynical disgust. "If I were religious, I would have been sure the gods had left this world to its fate."

"During this time I met a young woman by the name Morgan Asland. She was a passionate woman, strong-willed and unyielding, and she had a mean right hook. Never could go a single night without getting several bruises from that woman. I met her while drinking in a tavern. Some idiots were giving her trouble. I had been about to intervene, but she ended up beating the unholy hell out of them before I could do anything."

Naruto closed his eyes and got lost in the memories of his past.

"Is this one of the women you married?"

His eyes opened again. Naruto saw Miya staring at him, her expression curious.

"Yes," he admitted softly, "She is. After watching her kick the crap out of those drunkards, I ended up following her because she intrigued me, and it had been so long since I'd been interested enough in a woman to make a concerted effort at getting to know her."

"At first she refused to have anything to do with me. She told me that all men were chauvinistic pigs and that if I continued following her, she would castrate me and hang my balls on a stake in the middle of the town square." Naruto gave Miya a very wide grin. "So naturally, that meant I had to follow her around everywhere. She'd lain down a challenge I just couldn't refuse."

Naruto sighed, his lips curving in a gentle, tender expression of nostalgia. "I can still remember the first time she saw me as something other than a nuisance. Morgan was a healer, you see; one of those tough love type healers. She had the power to heal others."

"You mean like...?"

"Like chakra? Yes. I imagine that she held some distant relation to me." Naruto shrugged. "It's not unusual to run into someone who carries my blood. I've sired hundreds of children in my lifetime, and those descendants who carry my blood tend to gain unusual abilities. Anyway, one of her patients had a disease that her powers couldn't cure, so I naturally used my own chakra to heal them. I had just created the technique I used a while ago anyway, and had never been given the chance to use it. Figured then would be as good a time as any."

"You should've seen the look on Morgan's face when I healed that little girl." Naruto's grin was a mile wide, the smile of someone who'd pulled a successful prank. "After that, our roles were reversed. She was the one who kept following me around and I the one denying her. Of course, our reasons were different. I followed her because she was the first person in 500 years to intrigue me and she followed me because she wanted me to teach her how to heal like I did."

"I won't bore you with the details of how our relationship went after that. Suffice to say we eventually got married and had a child; a beautiful little girl named Elaina."

Naruto felt an acute and sharp pain in his chest. It was a familiar pain, one he felt every time he thought about the past. He pushed past it, ignoring it in order to focus on the moment.

"So, what happened?" asked an enraptured Miya. She had taken to sitting next to him, her legs folded underneath her. Did she even realize how close she was sitting, Naruto wondered. Probably not, or she would have fled.

"They both died, that's what happened." Much like the pain, Naruto felt the anger welling up inside of him; that implacable rage, the unquenchable need to spill the blood of those who wronged him. He pushed that feeling aside as well. "There was a man named Meridian who'd heard about my powers. Apparently my saving of that little girl spread across Britain like wildfire. He came to me, asking if I would come with him and work for his King."

"I refused, of course. While I hadn't stopped caring for humans at that stage in my life, I had stopped trying to bring peace. I had no intention of having anything to do with ruling a country or the people who ruled a country."

"Meridian didn't like that, however. Time after time he came back, asking me to to come with him, and time after time I denied him until, one day, my wife decided to show him out the door painfully. Humiliated and with his pride in tatters, he returned to his Kingdom. I thought that was the end of it." He looked at Miya and gifted her with the most bitter smile she'd ever seen. "I was a fool for thinking so."

"What happened?"

"Meridian came back while I was out of the village. I believe he intended to try and kidnap my Morgan and Elaina for leverage over me." Naruto grimaced. "But as I said before, Morgan was a very proud woman, very passionate and fiery. She would not have allowed herself or our daughter to be taken. I...I'm not really sure what happened during that time. I don't know who struck the killing blow or how the fight even truly started, but when I arrived home, Morgan and Elaina were dead. My wife's throat had been slit with a longsword and my Elaina...my little girl's back had been cut open, as if she had tried to run and they attacked her."

"Oh...oh Naruto..."

Naruto did not see the look on Miya's face, busy as he was dealing with the emotions bombarding him. While he'd shared much of his past with his Sekirei, there were some things he'd never told them, things he'd wished to keep hidden from the world...and from himself. So why then, was he drudging up such horrible memories now?

Warmth engulfed his hand, then traveled up his arm all the way to his heart. Naruto looked down and was shocked to see a hand covering his own. He looked up into Miya's face. She, too, was looking at their hands, as if she could not believe what she'd just done. Her eyes trailed from the hand to him, wide and frightened, yet she didn't pull away.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss," Miya swallowed heavily. "I-I never realized—I mean I knew you had suffered a lot of pain, but I didn't think―"

"That I would've had loved ones killed by people seeking my power." Naruto's voice contained more than just bitterness to it. "Humans are always seeking power; the power to destroy, the power to subjugate others, you'd be surprised how far they're willing to go for even a small slice of it. Their greed and selfish desires knows no bounds." He sighed, all of his energy leaving him. "After that, I decided that allowing myself to get close, allowing myself to love, was folly. It would only lead to more pain. And so I ran. I ran from my feelings. I ran from my desire to form bonds. I ran from myself." The smile he gave her, while still bitter, held a touch of compassion. "That's why I have no right to tell you what you should or shouldn't do about this."

Miya said nothing. Naruto understood. He'd just given her a lot of information; about himself, his dark past, his beliefs. It was a lot to take in.

"Anyway, I guess I'll leave you alone now." Naruto slid his hand out from underneath Miya's. The purple haired landlady looked up at him in surprise as he stood to his feet. "I'll let you think on your own and come to your own decision. If you decide that you can no longer stand to be in my presence, I'll leave. My only request is that you allow my Sekirei to stay here, at least until I find a place of my own."

Naruto stood up and made to leave the room.

He stopped before he could take more than a single step, a jolt shocking him, starting from his hand traveled through his body. Naruto looked down at his hand, which had another hand grabbing it fiercely. He followed the other hand to see Miya staring at their joined hands in shock.

"Miya?"

"I..." Miya's face twisted; there were so many emotions flowing through her that her body could not fixate on a single one. "I don't..." she looked up at Naruto and for the first time, he saw just how conflicted she truly was. "I don't know what to do..."

"Miya..."

"I've been reacting to you for weeks now. All this time I've been trying to play it off, to pretend it's not happening. But the longer I'm in your presence, the more I want to be with you. My heart yearns to connect with yours, and my body wants to become one with yours, but I...I don't want to betray my husband. I just...I can't..."

Naruto didn't know when it happened or what caused it. It could have been due to her tears, or it could have been protective male instincts brought about by seeing someone he cared about in pain. All Naruto knew was that, seconds after the first tear leaked from Miya's eyes, he was kneeling down, taking her face between his hands and carefully wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall.

"You don't want to betray your husband." It wasn't a question.

Miya shook her head.

"Oh, Miya." Naruto sighed. "I would never ask you to replace your husband's place with me. Fuck, I don't _want_ to be your husband's replacement. It makes it sound like the only reason I'm with you is because your husband isn't and I just happen to be the next best thing, like what we have isn't important or real and you're just with me for the sake of convenience. I don't want that. Not for you, and not for me."

Miya's eyes remained wide open, even as she leaned into his touch.

"Then what do you want?" Miya's voice, softer than a whisper, asked of him.

"I want...I want whatever you want. I want you to be happy, and if being with me makes you happy, then that is what I want."

"Why?"

"Because I..." Naruto paused. He shook his head once. He'd been doing so well with thus far. He couldn't let the raw state of his emotions stop him now. "Because I love you." Miya sucked in a breath. "You, Akitsu, Musubi, Tsuikiumi, Kazehana, Homura, Kusano, Matsu, Uzume and Chiho; you girls are my family. You...if it weren't for you, I would still be running from the past, unable to move on. I love you all so much and I―"

Naruto's eyes widened as a pair of lips crashed against his own. Light filled the room; incandescent and blinding, like a bomb had just gone off and he was standing at its epicenter. Everything went white. When the light cleared, he could see them. Large, magnificent wings, like an angels, only instead of feathers there were an uncountable number of blades glinting a bright, silvery-white. They flapped behind Miya, extending to the far corners of the room and curling inwards.

And then the wings faded. All that remained was him, and the gorgeous creature straddling his waste, kissing him passionately.

Naruto closed his eyes and returned the kiss. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. Miya body became flush with his, her soft curves molding to his hard angles. It felt hot, boiling like lava. Was this heat due to her reaction to him? How long had she been feeling this way?

"N-Naruto..." Miya mumbled against his mouth. He would have said something, but the moment his own mouth opened, a tongue found its way inside. If Naruto was surprised, he did not let this on and simply allowed Miya's small, slippery tongue to dance along his mouth. He could feel the way her tongue caressed his own, the excitement and uncertainty, along with how their saliva mixed and stirred up as a result.

It wasn't long before Miya had pushed him onto his back. It wasn't hard. Naruto didn't resist. Her hands, once on his shoulders, began to explore his body over his clothes. They roamed across his chest, his stomach, and then below before stopping.

Miya's eyes opened, and Naruto was shocked to find how smoldering they were. Bonfires had nothing on her eyes. Hell, her eyes could put raging wildfires to shame.

"Naruto..." She sounded out of breath, her voice heavy and deep, like she'd just run a marathon. "I want...I want this in me..." By "this" she meant the thing currently in her hands, which she grabbed over his clothes.

Naruto rolled them over until he was on top and Miya on bottom. He kissed her again, enjoying the feel of those velvety lips pressing against his. Miya had some of the most amazing lips he'd ever had the pleasure of kissing; soft and supple and warm, conforming to his own as if they were meant for him. They were everything he'd pictured her lips would be and more.

He would have wondered how their situation had come to this. One moment he was about to leave Miya to her thoughts, the next they were making out on the floor of her bedroom. It was odd, unusual, surreal even. And yet, he didn't care. It didn't matter. The only thing important to him in that moment was Miya.

Deft hands undid the sash to her obi. Those same hands soon slipped inside of her kimono, pushing the garment away from her chest, which was glad in a light purple bra. Naruto's left hand slid underneath Miya, finding the clasp for her bra and unhooking it with a deft flick. And with her breasts no longer truly confined by the article of clothing, Naruto was free to push the bra over her breasts, allowing him his first glimpse of her chest.

Miya had beautiful breasts. True, they were nowhere near the size of Kazehana, Musubi, Tsukiumi or even Matsu. They weren't big, just modestly-sized. However, Naruto had never cared for size. Miya's breasts might be smaller than theirs, but they had a perkiness few could match, and her nipples, a light pink with already hardened nubs from the incessant rubbing that had gone on earlier when they started playing tonsil hockey, were truly beautiful to behold. They were just begging him to kiss them.

So he did.

Miya's voice rang out, startled and shocked, yet the yelp of surprise soon turned into a moan of desire as Naruto's skilled tongue and mouth worked over her left nipple. While this went on, his left hand finished dealing with her obi and kimono, allowing most of it to fall by the wayside, with only her sleeves keeping it on.

That same hand soon cupped her sex over her panties. He could feel her nether lips through the fabric, burning up like nobodies business. His index finger sunk into the cloth, which clung to her folds as it became increasingly wet with her lubrication.

Miya moaned into his mouth. Her tongue became increasingly frantic, which only intensified when his hand slipped into her panties and began stimulating her directly. He inserted a single finger, then a second finger, before he began to slowly pump them. Miya's hips bucked when his skilled digits found where she was sensitive and paid special homage to those parts. When he felt her body reach its peak, his thumb worked the small bundle of nerves under her hood, which threw her over the ledge, causing a massive increase in her juices to flow.

Naruto only stopped his ministrations when Miya's body went limp. He looked at the young woman and noticed her glassy eyes and slack-jawed expression. A sweat drop formed on his head. Had he gone too far? She obviously hadn't had sex since her husband died. Well, no use worrying about it now.

Scooping Miya into his arms, Naruto gently set her down on the bed. He stood back for a moment, just to admire the woman; even somewhat insensate, Miya was gorgeous. Her slender, feminine figure stood out amongst others. She wasn't busty, but she had an excellent figure. Laying there on the bed, strands of messy purple hair splayed across the pillow, her kimono opened all the way, revealing her perfect breasts and stained panties, she had never looked more beautiful.

After divesting himself of everything except his boxers, he lay down next to her, stroking her face with his left hand. When she stirred at his touch, he leaned down and kissed her. Miya stirred some more; beautiful music came from her parted lips, muffled by his own. She began to kiss back, and met his tongue in a soft dance as opposed to a frantic battle.

When Naruto pulled back, he gave one of the only woman in the past 1,500 years who entered his heart a smile he reserved only for his Sekirei. Miya's face became red. "Are you ready?"

"I..." Hesitation. Miya's face looked conflicted. Naruto understood; despite what they had done, she still wasn't sure about this.

"You don't have to do this."

"No..." A deep breath. "I do." She smiled at him, and it was the most enchanting thing he'd ever seen. "I...I want this, and I...I know that Takehito...he wouldn't want me feeling this way, he wouldn't want me to remain unhappy. I want to be happy...with you," she added at the end, looking almost shy.

"Okay then."

Miya sat up and Naruto helped her divest her kimono and bra. She laid back down and raised her hips as Naruto slid her panties off. They were wet, and clung to her body as he slid them down her bare, beautiful legs. He discarded them on the growing pile of clothes, and then situated himself between her legs.

"Here I go."

"It...It's been a while, so please, be gentle."

After taking a deep breath, Naruto pushed himself in, past her lips and further still. He could feel Miya's tight warmth as she engulfed him, and boy was she tight. Miya groaned in slight discomfort, and Naruto had to stop every few seconds in order to let her adjust. However, eventually, Naruto and Miya became fully connected.

Naruto took several deep breaths, same as Miya. On some unspoken signal, Naruto moved, pulling out of her all the way to the tip, and then slowly sliding back in. Miya moaned and began helping him along, locking her legs around his waist and using her Sekirei strength to pull him back with each thrust.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Miya's waist, pulling her onto his lap, where he continued thrusting into her. His hands grasped at her butt cheeks, squeezing them and lifting her up and down his well-lubricated shaft. Miya wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself close, where she began licking, sucking and nibbling on his skin.

Miya, Naruto soon found out, seemed to enjoy his earlobes a lot. Her mouth generally stayed near them as she nibbled and sucked and licked and moaned. He had no clue why, but imagined it was just one of those strange fetishes all people had. Like feet people, only not as creepy.

"Naruto..." Miya moaned into his ear. Naruto's entire body shuddered. Dear god, how could such a humble and unassuming woman sound so sexy? "Naruto...I-I'm close...please...cum with me..."

"I'm close too. Just hold on a little longer."

Naruto grunted and increased his pace. Miya's hold on him tightened, her arms, her legs, her passage, everything began to squeeze him as if they were trying to choke him to death. The flow of juices drastically increased, drenching their lower regions and mixing in with their combined sweat. Naruto waited until Miya reached her peak, then grunted as he exploded inside of her. Miya gave one last wail of ecstasy, her body jerking and shuddering and writhing on top of his, before going slack.

Naruto lowered Miya onto her back. She was still conscious, but her body appeared to have relaxed completely, as if she had spent all of her energy and no longer had enough to move.

He lay down beside her, on his side, and carefully pulled Miya against him until they were spooning. Miya didn't resist; her body just sunk into the comfort of his embrace.

"Miya?"

At the sound of her name, Miya fought back the darkness threatening to engulf her.

"Yes?"

"...I love you."

Miya smiled and closed her eyes. "I love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sure many of you have been waiting for this moment. The moment Naruto and Miya FINALLY get together. Here you go. It took a while to complete; I had so many different ways this chapter could have gone, but I've finally finished it. I hope you enjoyed it.<strong>

**The Q&A for the next chapter should be up on my blog some time tomorrow. If you had a question, it'll be answered there unless it asked for spoilers. Sorry guys. I've also posted the first chapter of Book 2 for my American Kitsune series titled "A Fox's Tail" on my blog as well. If you enjoyed my last book, check this one out.**

**Have a great week! ^_^**


	39. Seeds

**Chapter 39: Seeds**

* * *

><p>Takami didn't know what to think anymore. Ever since that fateful day when Naruto entered the Sekirei Plan, her entire world had been tossed on its head. As if dealing with that insane freak, Minaka, wasn't enough, now she had to deal with another insane freak who could fight on par with—no, who was far stronger than any Sekirei she knew barring maybe Miya; a being so powerful that he actually destroyed nearly one-tenth of Shinto Teito in a single night.<p>

God what she wouldn't give for the good old days, back when she _wasn't_ dealing with a super-powered human capable of destroying city blocks with strange powers that defied even her ability to comprehend.

_Ding._

Takami blinked as the elevator doors slip open, snapping her out of her revery. Good thing too. Her thoughts had been starting to travel down a rather dark road, one she'd rather not go right now.

The room she stepped into was the large office of her boss. Every time she wandered into this room, Takami couldn't help but think of the emperor's thrown room on the Death Star in Star Wars episode VI. The interior was dark, with low lighting, almost midnight-colored walls, black marble floor and only a couple screens and monitors situated in random areas around the room to provide light. There was also a couch and a table set randomly in the center that appeared unusually cheerful, but she simply chalked that part of the decor to Minaka's insanity acting up.

Minaka was sitting behind his desk, feet propped up on the surface and hands behind his head. He looked to be dozing, though she couldn't tell because of those damn sunglasses. Just how the hell does he see in here with those stupid things on anyway?

Takami walked up to the desk and slammed her clipboard down on the metal surface non too gently.

"BOW BEFORE YOUR NEW GOD!"

As Minaka jumped straight up from his seat and raised his hands in a grand gesture while shouting complete nonsense, Takami rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever tire of acting like an idiot?"

"I don't know what you mean, Takami." Pushing his sunglasses up unnecessarily, Minaka grinned at his second in command. It was the grin of deranged man, twisted and virulent, containing within it a madness that the white-haired woman always tried her utmost to ignore. "All I'm doing is acting as the gods made me. If that is a problem to some, then they can take it up with the gods. And while we're on the subject, how is our earth-bound god this morning."

Takami shifted uncomfortably. Minaka was getting harder and harder to read as the days passed. His mind seemed to be degrading at a rate far quicker than before. His brilliance remained, but it was becoming mired with his insanity.

"We do have some news about him. It appears that Uzumaki Naruto has winged Asama Miya."

Even now she remembered the shock when that news reached her. Asama Miya, winged? She'd first thought her men had made some kind of mistake. The very notion of that woman being winged by anyone was absurd.

And then she had been given the data confirming that Asama Miya had, indeed, been winged, and by the worst possible person.

Sometimes, Takami hated her life.

"Really? Good! That's excellent news!"

"Excellent news?" Takami's right eye began twitching. "How is that excellent news? The person who just destroyed a tenth of our city has now winged the strongest Sekirei! What about that could possibly be good?!"

"Ah, Takami, you're narrow-minded thinking is why you've never progressed beyond this point." Takami grit her teeth, but Minaka didn't seem to notice. "It's good because this makes the game more interesting, of course! Now that Asma Miya, or should I say Uzumaki Miya now?" He paused, then shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't matter. What matters is that I can now use my latest creations!"

"Latest creations?" Takami didn't know why, but a sense of dread welled up inside of her at these words. What creations was he talking about? And why was she only learning of them now?

"Indeed. I created these for the sole purpose of making the game more interesting, however, they only make things fun against a really strong opponent. Uzumaki Naruto and his flock are the perfect participants to test them out on." The man looked about ready to burst. Takami was just waiting for him to start squealing like some kind of fangirl seeing their favorite seiyuu at a J-pop concert. "Oh, this is so exciting! I must go prepare them immediately!" Minaka pressed a button on his console. "Prepare my helicopter! We're going on a journey!"

"Wha—hey, wait! Where are you going!"

Takami could do nothing more than follow Minaka as he went up to the roof, where a helicopter waited for him.

"Minaka! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Why, I'm preparing, of course! What else would I be doing?" Minaka hopped into the helicopter and turned to his second-in-command. "I'll expect you to hold down the fort while I'm gone, Takami. This shouldn't take more than a week or so."

"A week?!"

"Now fly! Fly and let us journey towards the heavens!"

"Minaka!"

Takami could do nothing more than gape as Hiroto Minaka took off in a helicopter heading to who-the-hell-knew where. The helicopter soon faded into the distance, disappearing from her sight, and the snow-haired woman felt rage boiling up inside of her.

"DAMN YOU, HIROTO MINAKA!"

XoX

Miya's rise from slumber was unusually slow that morning. Her body felt tired, sore in ways she'd not experienced a while. She could feel the dull, throbbing ache between her legs as muscles that had been disused for years felt the strain of having used for the first time in so long last night. A part of her just wanted to go back to sleep, to ignore the ache and let herself fall blissfully unconscious so that she might regain her stamina.

Two things kept her from doing just that.

The first was the embarrassing and sticky coat of dried liquid on her thighs. She could feel it every time she moved, rubbing against her skin and causing them to stick unpleasantly together. Miya would not be able to sleep knowing how dirty she was, not now that she'd woken up. The second reason was tied to the first. A body, the one she rested again, along with the hand that idly ran up and down her torso and hips, a meandering trail that caused her loins to yearn for more.

Opening her eyes, the landlady of Maison Izumo was greeted to the general fuzziness that comes when you've been asleep for several hours and are just now waking up. Fortunately, Miya was a Sekirei. The blurriness didn't last long, and her vision quickly sharpened to reveal...a blank wall. Huh. How oddly mundane.

"Good morning, Miya."

Miya turned her body around, wiggling underneath the covers and against the body she was spooning. She came face to face with Naruto, who watched her with soft eyes and a warm smile. It was one of the few times she'd seen that look, and having it directed at her sent a thrill down her spine.

She offered the blond man a smile. "Good morning, Naruto. Did you...sleep well?" she asked unsurely. What did you say to the person you slept with the night before? What did you say to the person you were now bonded to for forever and ever?

"Considering I fell asleep with you, I'd like to say I had the most pleasant night of my life."

Miya flushed and preened at the same time. That she could feel his sincerity through their bond only made the words hold that much more meaning.

"We should probably get out of bed," Naruto suggested. Miya didn't disagree, but she made no move do as suggested, having no desire to move from the warmth of her Ashikabi's well-muscled body. Naruto seemed to be of like mind. He didn't get out of bed either. Instead, his right hand came up, palm cupping her face. Miya's own hand rose and placed itself over his. Their eyes did not leave each other's face until their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss.

When they pulled back, Naruto was still smiling and Miya felt her insides warm. Was this what it felt like to be bonded with an Ashikabi? Or was this feeling just due to Naruto's presence alone, regardless of their bond?

Naruto's smile turned mischievous.

"I just realized something?"

Despite her mind telling her not to ask, Miya did anyway. "What's that?"

"You can no longer uphold your 'no lewd acts in Maison Izumo' policy anymore." Eyes sparkling with amusement, Naruto's smile turned into a grin revealing pearly white teeth. "Not unless you want to be a hypocrite. Or become celibate again. Or both."

Miya froze for a second as she realized the truth of his statement. Oh my god! He was right! They'd just had sex in her boarding house. On her bed! How could she possibly tell people they couldn't have illicit sexual relations when she just had incredibly illicit sex?

"You did this on purpose!" she accused.

Naruto replied with a laugh. He jumped off the bed, followed by an enraged Miya who, heedless of her own nakedness, grabbed the katana resting against the wall and began chasing him throughout the room.

That morning, the residence of Maison Izumo were subject to loud laughter and screams of outrage, which eventually devolved into loud bumping noises, a series of moans, several squeals of delight and, eventually, more silence.

None of the other residence could look Miya in the eye for the rest of that day.

XoX

Naruto walked into Matsu's tiny room to see what he'd come to expect: Matsu sitting in front of her dozens of monitors, typing away, fingers flying across the keyboard at speeds that would have made Kakashi envious. He wondered what she was working on. He hadn't given her a project in a while, not beyond the ones he'd already given her and those couldn't be done on this computer. Walking closer, he saw that she wasn't actually working on a project at all.

"Uhuhuhu, god that is so hot...hehehehe...who knew Miya had it in her. Oh, you kink in the sheets you."

"Did you really put spy cameras in Miya's bedroom and record us having sex?"

"Kya!"

Matsu spun around, well, tried to spin around. She failed because a) she was sitting on the floor and b) her panties were bunched up around her ankles. Instead of spinning around, she ended up falling flat on her face, her legs an unsightly and twisted heap.

"N-Naru-tan!" she seemed shocked to see him. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Naruto deadpanned. "I didn't. You were just too busy masturbating to pay attention."

"Oh..." Matsu had the decency to look embarrassed. "My bad. S-so what can I do for you?"

"You start by turning that off."

"...Right."

With the pornographic material of him and Miya having sex no longer showing on the screen, Naruto was able to properly speak with Matsu. He had a number of subject they needed to discuss, but first things first.

"Were you able to get that list of shrines located in the northern district of the city?"

"Yes. I just finished a little while ago."

"You mean before you got distracted fingering yourself to Miya and I having sex?"

"Mou...when you put it like that it sounds so dirty," Matsu pouted at him. "I'll have you know that Matsu was simply allowing myself to feel pleasure at seeing Miya-tan finally get the love and affection she deserves. It's been a long time since Takehito was alive and Matsu was beginning to fear her dear captain would never find love."

"Uh huh. And this is my 'I believe you' face." Matsu puffed her cheeks up at his obvious sarcasm, but Naruto switched subjects. "Forward the list to my database and I'll check it over. I'll take care of the rest myself."

"You sure you don't want any help?"

"I will, but not with this. I want to do the first part on my own. Afterward, I'll need the help of you and the other Sekirei."

"Don't worry, Naru-tan." Matsu saluted. "You can count on Matsu!"

"Indeed. So, you ready to head out?"

"Where are going?" she asked. Naruto stared. Her eyes widened. "We're going there?"

"Yep. I want to see how your research is coming along."

At the mention of her research, Matsu jumped to her feet and rushed over to the blond man. They stood in the center of the room. Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, while Matsu simply enjoyed the feeling of being held. With her head pressed against his chest, she could feel his heart beating a steady rhythm. Who knew something so simple could be so soothing?

Strange lights appeared underneath them. Arcane symbols, esoteric designs that were both ancient and unusual. They ran along the floor, an intricate web of interconnecting squiggles that Matsu was only now beginning to make sense of. The lines glowed. Bright light filled the room...and Naruto and Matsu were no longer standing in her tiny little hidden room, but inside of what appeared to be a laboratory. Metal surrounded them on all sides. In the center was a circular console with several containers holding small glowing circles, spheres bobbing within a liquid substance. A computer station sat against a wall, looking like something you'd expect to see in a sci-fi movie, and various lights blinked and flashed all around the room.

This was Naruto's laboratory. He'd started building it a couple decades ago when Star Wars had become popular. It hadn't really seen much use, since he'd built it on a whim. Now he was glad he'd actually built it.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to teleporting around like that," Matsu declared, taking her glasses off, forgoing her childish persona in favor of her more serious one.

"Most people don't."

Naruto walked over to the console, his gaze never leaving the three spherical objects floating within the mass of gelatinous liquid. They didn't look very intimidating; just three orbs. They were round and smooth, geometric perfection made real. However, he knew better than to judge something by just looking at it. These things had power. They were dangerous. And if he wanted to use them for his own purpose, then he would need to know more.

"Have you found out anything?"

"You mean about the jinki?" asked Matsu as she walked over to the computer console. "I have, actually." She typed a few buttons, bringing up an image of a 3-dimensional representation of the jinki on the flat screen monitor. "I've discovered a lot of things about these jinki that are startling, to say that least."

Naruto went over to the computer as well. He stood behind Matsu, a hand resting on her hip, observing her as she worked.

"What did you find out?"

"The first thing you should know is that these jinki aren't any kind of technological power source. They were made using technology that even our ship doesn't possess, however, they are completely organic in nature."

"So they're alive?"

"Yes and no." A few more buttons being pressed caused the screen to shift, showing a more up close image of a jinki. "These things are no more alive or sentient than a plant, however, like a plant, they are indeed alive in an abstract sense." She paused and Naruto knew she would be dropping something big. "I've discovered these jinki are actually seeds."

Naruto blinked.

"Seeds? Like plant seeds?"

"Tree seeds," Miya corrected, "saplings. I don't know the type of tree or if they even have a name, but these jinki are seeds that, if my theory is correct, can create giant trees of incredible power." The screen showed a theoretical image, something that hadn't happened but could based upon the theory proposed by Matsu. Naruto watched as the seed sprouted roots, which soon grew large and thick. He watched as a trunk burst from the seed, growing at an obscene rate, until it became a massive tree that, according to the data, would stand nearly one-thousand stories above the tallest building in the world. "I've decided to call them God Trees since I can't think of any other name that aptly describes them."

"God Trees, huh..."

Naruto pondered this new knowledge. He didn't know why, but the information struck a chord with him. These jinki had always felt kind of familiar. He felt as if he should know what they were, as if he and they were in some way related. A ridiculous notion to be sure. He'd never seen those things before and they were quite obviously alien, but that was how he felt.

"Have you been able to get a reading on their power they contain?"

"Yes. The power they emit is actually comparable to the sample of power you gave me. It's still very different from your own chakra, but there are just enough similarities between your power and these seeds' power for me to assume that it's not coincidental. Your power and the ones contained within these seeds are derived from the same source."

"The same source, huh."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He would admit to knowing very little about his power. No one had ever really explained where chakra came from or why humans possessed it back in the academy, and none of his research ever turned anything up. And that was just going into human chakra. His own powers, the powers that came from the Jūbi, were even more of a mystery.

"So you're telling me the powers I gained from the Jūbi is the same power coming from these seeds?"

"The signature is almost identical," Matsu confirmed. "There are some slight variations between each seed, and there are even more variations when compared to your chakra. But, even taking those variables into account, there is still a 82.54% compatibility between your own energy signature and those from each jinki."

Naruto took this information in. His frown grew. He began to wonder.

These jinki were objects that contained power similar to his own, similar to the power he got from the Jūbi. It was the Jūbi's power that gave him his immortality. Could he give that power to his Sekirei? Was it possible to grant his Sekirei immortality by using the jinki?

XoX

"Nee, nee, where are we going, Naruto-sama?" asked a bouncy and joyful Musubi. The girl was quite happy, happier than normal even, which was a serious feat. Then again, it had been her turn to sleep with him last night and they ended up having four hours of sex, so she had a reason to be happy.

Musubi REALLY liked sex.

"I'm curious to know as well, Lover-kun," Kazehana, the other Sekirei he'd brought with him for this trip, also said. "The only thing you told us was that we're going to meet someone."

"We're going to meet Yukari," Naruto answered them. "You remember her right, Musubi?" When Musubi just looked confused, Naruto resisted the urge to rub his face and said, "that's the girl we rescued from Higa."

"Ah! Right!"

Musubi pounded her left fist into her right palm.

"You don't know who I'm talking about, do you?"

"...No." Musubi had the decency to look sheepish. She even went the whole shebang and poked her tongue out while bumping the knuckles of her left hand on her cranium.

"Thought so."

The trio were walking down one of the less industrialized districts of the West, where Yukari was apparently lived. He knew she was located in this region because she had given him both her number and address, along with her email address, a list of all the things she liked to do and what she wanted to do for a first date, but those last ones were unimportant.

The western district of Shinto Teito didn't look all that different from the north. It was mostly a residential district. There were a high number of houses separated from each other by small fences. The house, like most in crowded cities of Japan, were small, two-story buildings with a combination of western and traditional design. Aside from homes, the district they walked through also had a number of apartment complexes. Naruto was looking at the complexes.

"So why are we going to see this girl, Lover-kun?" asked Kazehana. She pressed his left arm into her bust and gave him a lidded look with a small half-smile. "She some kind of non-Sekirei lover, is she?"

"Naw," Naruto dismissed the idea of this girl being his lover. "She's cute and all, but she's not really my type."

"You have a type?"

"Now that's just rude."

They eventually found Yukari's apartment complex and soon after discovered her apartment. Naruto knocked on the door several times. When, after several seconds, he didn't hear anything, Naruto knocked again.

"I'm coming already! Hold you're damn horses!"

Loud thumping sounded from the other end, along with some grumbling, swears and a good deal of shouting. The noises soon stopped, followed by the clinking of chains. There was a pause. Then the door swung open and an angry Yukari stood in the doorway, glaring at them.

"Alright, ya bastard! Why the hell are you interrupting me! I was just about to start dressing up...dressing up...dressing..." The words soon left when she saw who was standing in her doorway. Her eyes stared at him, blinking, her gaze dumbfounded. She looked like a complete idiot.

Naruto waved a hand in front of her face.

"Um..." Uh oh. This couldn't be good. Was she drooling? Dammit, Naruto hoped he hadn't broken her. "Yukari?"

"Hello, Yukari-san!"

Hearing her name called snapped the young woman out of her stupor.

"N-Naruto! You're here! And Musubi too!" The young girl shouted, and then seemed to realize she was shouting in his face and suddenly became incredibly quiet and demure. Her face became a mottled shade of strawberry and her head tilted to look down at her bare feet, her eyes only occasionally flickering up to look at him. "Ah! I-I mean, it's really good to see you, um, won't you come in?"

If Naruto was bothered by her behavior, he didn't let it show.

"Thank you."

Naruto and his Sekirei walked into the apartment. It was small, tiny even. There didn't seem to be much space. The room was split between a living room and a kitchen. A couch sat underneath a window looking out of the western side of the room. There was a small coffee table in front of it and a TV sitting on top of a stand at the opposite end of the room. A hallway led further into the apartment, most likely a bedroom and restroom.

"So, uh, why don't you, like, sit down and I'll...uh, get you something to drink." Yukari gestured absently with her hand towards the couch, trying to regain control over her blush. It didn't really work, and Naruto watched in amusement as the girl's face turned redder the longer he stared.

"You're too kind."

They sat down and Yukari went into the kitchen. Naruto watched the dark-haired girl pour him a glass of water. Kazehana also watched from where she rested against Naruto's shoulder. Musubi seemed more interested in looking around the room.

Yukari came back in. "So I only have water," she said, sounding mildly embarrassed that she couldn't offer something better. "I hope that's al...right...?"

She trailed off for a second time. It took Naruto a second to realize where she was staring.

"Damn those are huge."

Kazehana grinned when she saw where the young girl was looking. "I know," she said, thrusting out her chest, which bounced and jiggled in the most enticing of ways. Kazehana had a big chest.

A really REALLY big chest.

"Those are...ginormous..." A strange look overcame Yukari's face. She actually seemed to forget about Naruto in favor of staring at Kazehana's boobs. "I wonder if I could...hehehehe..."

"Um, Yukari?"

"Hmmm?"

"You're drooling."

"Eh?"

Yukari needed a few seconds to properly analyze Naruto's words. When she realized what he said, her eyes trailed down to notice that, yes, she was, in fact, drooling.

With a face that burned with the brilliance of a million suns, the college student hurried to wipe the drool from her face.

And what's when Yukari's Sekirei, Shiina, walked into the room.

He was dressed up like a doll, as in, literally wearing clothes one might expect to see on a barbie: a pink cocktail dress with a slit running up the side that revealed plenty of leg.

It was all kinds of disturbing.

"Yukari," the young boy whined. Not that Naruto could blame him. Poor kid. He would whine if he were a Sekirei and his Ashikabi tried dressing him up like that too. "When are you going to take...this...off..." and just like that, it became silent again as the boy finally realized there were more people in the room.

Talk about awkward.

XoX

The awkward situation was eventually rectified. Shiina had rushed back into the bedroom to change back into his normal clothes. Yukari eventually stopped staring at Kazehana's boobs in favor of blushing at Naruto. And Naruto was eventually able to drink the water she'd handed to him without risk of having it come out of his nose.

Musubi was a nonfactor. Nothing seemed to phase that girl, even when it really should.

"Sorry for not bringing Kusano along," Naruto said to Shiina as the young boy sat on a small chair, trying not to squirm in front of the powerful immortal. "I would have brought her over, but she got so excited this morning about seeing you that she exhausted herself and fell asleep before we left. I didn't have the heart to wake her."

"That does sound like her." Shiina seemed to relax just a bit at the mention of Kusano. Naruto wondered if, perhaps, the reason was because he had faith that anyone Kusano chose as her Ashikabi would be a good person.

Now that her moment of "oh my god I can't believe Naruto is here!" seemed to have passed, Yukari appeared wary of the blond. He surmised that she had seen Minaka's announcement and knew what he'd done. He was actually surprised she'd been so excited and shy when he first showed up.

"So...what are exactly are you doing here? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really glad to see you again, you know? It's just that, well, you haven't seen me in so long, and so I was kinda thinking maybe you'd forgotten about me...or something."

Or maybe she was still just being a bit shy.

Naruto gave the girl a smile, one he'd used multiple times on multiple women.

"I could never forget you."

Yukari looked like a rabbit staring down a shotgun. Her wide eyes seemed almost frightened. Her cheeks, once pale, had taken on a dark red hue. Her body shivered once, as if hearing those words come out of his mouth had caused her to orgasm.

Shiina frowned.

"O-oh. R-really?"

"Of course. Kinda hard to forget you after all we've been through together."

"Ah." Yukari smiled, but she seemed embarrassed. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Though I do understand why you'd be curious," Naruto admitted. "It is pretty unusual for me to visit you this late in the game, especially since if Minaka had his way we would be enemies." Shiina and Yukari looked mildly alarmed, which Naruto noticed. "Don't worry, I've got no intention of becoming enemies with you. Shiina is important to Ku-chan. If for no other reason than that, I won't let any harm befall either of you."

They breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, I would like your help."

Yukari and Shiina looked at each other, and then back at Naruto.

"What exactly do you need our help with?" asked Yukari. She sounded cautious, understandably so, but also interested.

Naruto had to keep himself from smiling.

"Minaka is currently handing away several dangerous objects that could destroy the world if they fall into the wrong hands. They are known as jinki..."

XoX

Training Musubi was always a delight. Unlike most of his other Sekirei who either struggled, complained or both at one point or another, the fist-fighting shrine maiden never complained. She always gave one-hundred percent to everything she did. Of course, it probably helped that training was one of her favorite activities in the world, right after spending time with him and sex.

Naruto watched as Musubi rushed in, her body moving almost sluggishly, as if in slow motion. She was technically moving pretty damn fast, at least 60 kilometers per hour, but Naruto's eyes kept track of her with ease.

A left fist shot out at him, quicker than a whip. Naruto's head moved, tilting to the left, allowing the fist to soar past him. His haired ruffled. A powerful blast of wind shot forward, past his head. A loud boom followed by the sounds of something being smashed let him know she'd just obliterated a rock with nothing more than air pressure from her fist. Impressive.

His right hand moved up, knocking the fist further away from his body before she could pull it away. At the same time, his forearm twisted and latched onto Musubi's wrist. The young woman was then pulled forward, right into Naruto's waiting fist.

A knee rose up. The fist was blocked. An explosion of kinetic energy between fist and knee caused the ground underneath them to crack.

Musubi jumped back, gaining distance. She knew that in a straight-up fist-fight, she would lose. Naruto was stronger than her. Stronger, faster, and all around better. To keep pace with him, she needed to break his pace.

Yes, even Musubi can learn the necessity of tactical retreat when faced with such overwhelming opposition.

A feminine fist struck the ground. The earth shook. Gravel split. Musubi lifted a large chunk of rock, which she proceeded to chuck at Naruto.

The rock soared forward at impressive speeds. It closed the distance at a rate that was nothing short of astonishing. Naruto remained calm. He spread his legs, widening his stance, knee bent, fists tucked into his sides. He breathed in. The close came closer. He breathed out, slowly.

And then he struck.

"Hya!"

With the force of a jackhammer, Naruto's fists pounded into the rock. Thunder rumbled as the rock exploded, sending a shower of shards in every direction, deadly projectiles that pelted the earth with the fury of a god.

Musubi didn't get hit by the fragments.

She was already slipping through his guard.

Having used the rock as a distraction, she boosted her speed by using her innate Sekirei power. Channeling all of her incredible strength into her legs, she managed to get behind Naruto. Her left foot slid along the ground at the same time as her right hand cranked back. Then her right foot slid forward and like a jack in the box whose lid has been lifted, her right fist hammered into Naruto's side.

The attack was caught with a hand. A hurricane force of winds generated from the point of impact between fist and hand, buffeting their hair. The ground cracked underneath their feet, such was the force behind Musubi's attack. Naruto twisted Musubi's wrist around in an attempt to put her in a bind, but Musubi, ever quick on her feet, broke his lock by sending her left leg rocketing straight into the air. Naruto jerked back as a small brown boot brushed against his nose.

Jerking backwards, the blond immortal backpedaled, gaining some distance. Musubi didn't follow him. She suspected, quite wisely, that he was prepared for her. Instead of pressing her attack and possibly getting taken out, she let him put more space between them and used that time to regain her breath.

Musubi and Naruto eyed each other. Naruto smiled.

"You've improved a lot Musubi."

"Thank you!"

"Now then, I think it's time we take this up a notch."

This time, Naruto sent himself on the attack. His body seemed to flicker. Musubi barely had time to blink before he stood right in front of her. His right leg came up and then shot forward at speed in a power heel kick that split the air.

Musubi's body spun counterclockwise. Her left leg came up, knocking Naruto's kick off course. The blond's foot hit the ground, but he didn't stumble. He spun, his left leg rising in a low-kick that struck Musubi's knee.

"Ga!"

Her knee unable to hold her up, Musubi wobbled and her leg gave in. She sank to a knee, but managed to keep from falling. It didn't really matter though, as a fist already struck her upside the head, knocking her for a loop.

She fell on her backside, her bells ringing. Her vision blurred. When it snapped back into focus, she was laying on her back and a shadow covered her body, one that grew larger with each passing second.

Musubi's eyes widened. Reacting with incredible speed, her body rolled along the ground. Naruto's heel struck the gravel she'd been on. Earth shattered and split, a gaping chasm brought about by the blond's impressive destructive power. Scrambling to her feet after her narrow escape, Musubi went on the attack.

"HYA!"

She struck fast and hard. Her fist shot forward, corkscrewing and twisting, encased in power that flared into an aura of purple. It was blocked by another fist, one that did not have the aura of power but remained steadfast and strong despite this.

Bursts of wind erupted as Naruto and Musubi fought. Their fists moved in speeds that caused them to blur in and out of focus. Their footwork had them in a state of constant motion, circling around each other, moving deftly and without pause.

Musubi was grinning, and Naruto knew that he also wore a bright grin on his face. This particular Sekirei, so like him in so many ways, shined the brightest when fighting.

"_Perhaps she is the one..."_

A straight jab aimed at the end was defended against and redirected when Naruto's arm came up and parried. The arm went wide, circling up and over his body. The arm was then locked between his arm and torso, underneath his armpit.

"Gya!"

A headbutt caught Musubi completely unaware. She would have stumbled backwards, but Naruto still had a hold of her arm, which he took liberal advantage of by yanking her back in for another headbutt. Only then did he let go, allowing the girl to stumble backwards.

His headbutt must have been pretty hard. Naruto watched as blood ran down a small cut on Musubi's forehead. Her eyes, glazed over and distorted, blinked several times before snapping into focus. He didn't allow her much recovery time. The person she wanted to fight wouldn't, so he went straight in for the kill regardless of how ready she was.

Musubi's hand rose to block Naruto's thrown punch. At the last second, however, his attack proved to be a faint. The arm pulled back and the fist he'd kept hidden by his torso struck out, extending and knocking all the air out of Musubi's lungs.

"Oof!"

Stumbling back, Musubi felt tempted to hold her arms around her stomach. However, she had the peace of mind not to. She kept her guard up, which proved to be a grand idea because Naruto was already coming in with another swift attack.

A left fist was blocked, but the power behind it sent her stumbling back. A right fist came at her in quick succession after the left. Musubi put her hands in a cross-guard, but the attack broke her guard and she blew her several feet away where she landed on her back with enough force to crack the earth. Despite the pain stinging her back, she flipped back onto her feet and launched herself at her blond opponent.

Blow after blow was traded, with Naruto landing all of the punches and Musubi slowing down. Each exchange ended with the Shrine Maiden's attacks and getting more and more sluggish. A left fist slipped through her guard, striking her torso. A knee found its way into her stomach. Two fists struck her head in quick succession. It had no longer become a fight, but a slaughter.

Musubi tried counterattacking, but it proved futile. Her fists were blocked at every turn. Everyone of her attacks was redirected and she received a swifter and more brutal counterattack in return. For every attack she launched, six of Naruto's slipped past her guard. Very soon, her face and body began to look like one large bruise.

A set of knuckles made stars appear in front of her eyes. She fell backwards and made her body roll along the ground. It proved to be an excellent idea. Naruto's fist smashed into the ground and up heaved the earth. Musubi crossed her arms as large chunks of sharp rock battered her body. By the time the barrage had ended, Musubi was lying on her back, staring up at the fake sky. Her vision grew dark, eyes became heavy. The last thing she saw was blond hair and blue eyes.

XoX

Naruto set Musubi on the bed and pulled up the covers. He took a look at the young shrine-maiden snoring away, his lips twitching as he absently noticed the snot bubble coming out of her nose. Poking it, he watched the thing pop and snickered when Musubi got snot all over her nose and some of her face. The girl snorted and tried to roll over, but he stopped her, at least until he could wipe the snot off.

"I swear, this girl..."

Shaking his head, Naruto placed a kiss on Musubi's forehead, stood back up and left the room.

Tsukuimi was waiting for him.

She did not look very pleased.

With her arms crossed under her magnificent chest and her eyes narrowed into a mild glare, the water user definitely appeared annoyed about something. There were probably a lot of things annoying her at that moment. He wondered which one she would bring up.

"Husband."

"Afternoon, koibito."

Critical hit.

"D-d-d-d-don't think that I—that just because you call me that! It—don't think that makes me happy!" Tsukiumi's face steamed. Naruto almost smiled when swirls appeared in her eyes. He had to give the young woman credit, though, she recovered admirably and was soon glaring again. "I have a question for you, husband, and I want you to answer honestly."

"Uh." Oh dear. Had he done something wrong? "Ask away."

"How come you have been with all of your other Sekirei, but you haven't been with—but you and I—I mean that we haven't―"

While Naruto thought tsun-tsun Tsukiumi was adorable, he actually began growing worried when the woman started tripping so completely over her own words that he could hardly make sense of what she was saying. It eventually got so bad that all he could make out was "that way" and "this and that" and a few other nonsensical phrases.

"Tsukiumi?"

"A-a-a-a-and you and Musubi—several times―"

"Tsukiumi?"

"And you and Kazehana have been doing this and that!"

"...Darling?"

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU HAD SEX WITH ME?!"

Naruto stared at Tsukiumi while his fellow blond huffed and puffed. His eyes blinked several times. Even now, he could still hear her words echoing in his mind...and down across the hall. No doubt Miya had heard what Tsukiumi said as well, where ever she was.

"Um." In the stillness of the hallway, Naruto decided to break the silence. "You do realize you just said that out loud, right?"

"I..." Tsukiumi's face twisted into an expression he'd never seen before. Naruto had to admit, she looked very fetching in red. "I..." Her body began to shake as she truly realized what she just said. "I..." She quivered and hesitated. "I should go."

Tsukiumi was just about to turn around, but Naruto had no intention of letting her leave. She tried to about face when Naruto grabbed her hand. She barely had time to squawk as she was pulled into a hug.

"W-what do you think you're―"

"Tsukiumi." That single word rendered her speechless. "My Tsukiumi." A hand came up and began running a hand through her hair. "I love you so much."

He might as well have proposed to her on the spot.

"Ah...ah..."

Naruto kissed her cheek. Words disappeared again.

A pair of hands went to her waist. Naruto leaned back so that he could look into Tsukiumi's eyes. If she weren't already rendered speechless, the smile he graced her with would have fixed that.

"Tsukiumi, I promise you here and now that I will give you the greatest wedding night you'll ever have." Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against Tsukiumi's. Blue eyes gentler than the calm ocean lapping at the shore quivered as they stared into dark amethyst. "However, I need a little bit more time before I can give you the wedding night you want so much. Please trust me on this."

Unable to speak, barely able to even think, all Tsukiumi could do was nod. This action brought a smile to Naruto's face. He leaned in and stole a kiss from her lips. Wings flared within the hallway. Tsukiumi's eyes widened as she felt a soft, warm mouth against her own. Before she even knew what was happening, the water-using Sekirei began kissing back.

Naruto pushed her back against the wall. Tsukiumi gasped as his body pressed down on her. Naruto's tongue wormed into her mouth. That gasp turned into a low, long moan as Naruto, her Ashikabi, thoroughly explored every inch of her oral cavity. She felt saliva churning inside of her mouth, exchanged by their dancing tongues.

"Tsukiumi..."

"Hn!"

Tsukiumie could do nothing against the coordinated assault as Naruto pressed his left thigh between her legs. Holding her body up while keeping her pinned to the wall. Her body had become hypersensitive to every movement he made; every gentle caress, every silken touch and every rubbing movement created an endless well of pleasure, and she was drowning in it. She wanted more. She needed more. She wanted...needed...

"Ahem."

A bucket of cold water doused her body. The heat coiling in her loins evaporated. The desire burning in her breasts vanished. All that remained was fear.

She was darkness incarnate, the woman standing across the hall. Her form writhed as she walked. Tendrils of darkness, like archaic horrors of an unknown dimension spread from her shadows. They crawled along the surface of the hallway; the walls, the floor, the ceiling, everything. A smiling face hid in the dark, revealing nothing but a gaping red maw and glowing yellow eyes. The face was joined by another face, then another and another and another until, soon enough, over a hundred smiling faces appeared around the one hovering over the seemingly humble landlady who, in that moment, looked more like a demon.

"Naruto-san. Tsukiumi-san." That voice, it caused Tsukiumi's body to shudder in fear. It haunted her nightmares and invaded her mind. Few things made her more terrified than _that voice_. "While I do not mind you two enjoying a little healthy fun, I do so despise lewd acts happening when not inside of the privacy of your own room. Even Uzume knows better than to try something so lewd outside of her room." The smile widened. "It looks like I am going to have to teach you two about keeping your private life private."

The woman closed the distance between the immortal Ashikabi and the water user. While Tsukiumi stood shock still in horror, Naruto scooped her up and ran.

"Naruto! Tsukiumi-san! Get back here!"

Very soon, the house became filled with dark miasma and bleeding hanya masks as Miya chased Naruto and a still motionless Tsukiumi across the boarding house.

That day, the residence of Maison Izumo learned a whole new meaning to the word fear.

XoX

Even two days after her talk with Naruto, Yukari's mind was still whirling at all of the information the blond hunk had given her. It was unbelievable! Unreal! Yet it all made sense! Her mother wasn't working at MBI by choice, but because Minaka had threatened to experiment on her children if she didn't comply with his demands! She was being used by that delusional sperm donor, forced to do his evil bidding as he tried to take over the world! How dare he!

"Um...Yukari..." Sitting at the opposite end of their tiny table, barely even eating his dinner, Shiina watched his Ashikabi with wary eyes. "Are...you feeling alright?" Shiina winced when Yukari's fork stabbed into the plate, through the plate, and then got stuck in the table.

"Damn...him..."

"Y-Yukari?"

"DAMN THAT MINAKA!" Eyes glowing with righteous fury, Yukari jumped to her feet. The seat was thrown back, clattering to the floor. She put her left foot up on the table, raised a fist to her face and glared at the ceiling. She was probably trying to glare at the heavens and the ceiling just happened to be in her way. "Do you hear me Minaka?! You might think you've won! But I won't rest until you have been brough! To! Justice!"

"Y-Yukari..." Shiina sweat dropped. "There's no one here but us..."

"Quick Shiina!" Shiina jumped. "Follow me! We must prepare for our inevitable battle with the forces of evil!"

"H-hai!"

Shiina followed Yukari into their bedroom, the food lying forgotten on the table. There he was party to watching Yukari as she knelt on the floor and went under their bed, mumbling to herself.

"Now let's see...which box is it...no, that's my shojo collection...and those are my Seinen collection...my romance...and this is my H-series...mou! Where are my—ah! Here they are!" She stood up with a large box in her hands. "Quick Shiina! To the living room!"

"Ah, um, h-hai!"

Several seconds later they were in the living room. Shiina remained off to the side, worried over his Ashikabi's strange behavior. Meanwhile, the girl in question was kneeling by the now open cardboard box, searching through what he recognized as manga.

"Hmmm...let's see, which one to choose, which one to choose. There are so many..."

The girl mumbled to herself, completely oblivious to the world around her. Shiina could only wonder what was going through his Ashikabi's head.

"The Adventures of the Gutsy Ninja? No. Bleach? Nu uh. Ooh, what about Fairy Tail? Mmm, nope."

She went over several different manga series. Shiina didn't know anything about any of them. Yukari tried explaining some of them once, but she'd started with her H-series and he had taken to doing his best to ignore everything she said after that. Finally, after what had to be at least five minutes of searching, the girl released a loud "Ah ha!" and pulled out a manga.

"I finally found it!"

Shiina almost dreaded to ask.

"Found what?"

"The manga that is going to help us defeat the lord of evil!" Yukari grinned as she held up a manga volume titled Kamen Rider.

"And, uh, how is this going to help us?"

"You clearly don't understand the greatness of this series, Shiina." Yukari almost tsked, her tone taking on the quality of a professional lecturer. "Within these hallowed pages lies the key to defeating evil with style. In order to beat the ultimate evil, we must become the ultimate heroes, and no group of super heroes is more ultimate than Kamen Rider."

"I think you said ultimate too many times," Shiina mumbled.

"Now then!" Yukari shouted, making Shiina jump. "We must begin the preparations right away! Come on Shiina! Let's practice our sentai poses!"

"Our what?"

Fortunately for Shiina's quickly eroding sanity, Yukari's cellphone rang. Clicking her tongue at this most unfortunate interruption during this most critical hour (didn't people know she was trying to save the world?!), Yukari picked up the phone and placed it against her ear.

"You'd better have a good reason for calling me or—"

"Yukari."

That voice on the other end...

"Mom!" Yukari shouted in surprise. "How are you doing, mom? Have you been well? That jerk hasn't tried to committing any vile sins upon your virginal flesh, has he?"

"My what? Never mind. That's not important. Yukari listen, you've been―"

"Don't worry mom! I'll save you from that man's villainous ways!"

"Yukari, stop talking for a second. I need to tell you something important. You've been―"

"I won't let that nasty old coot lay another hand on you!"

"Yukari, you need to calm down. I have something that I want to―"

"That old man thinks he's going to win, but I know better! Villains like him always get whats coming to them in the end!"

"Would you shut up and listen to me!"

"Eeek! No need to shout."

"I wouldn't have to shout if you'd keep that trap quiet and listen to me!" Takami took a deep, calming breath, audible even over the phone. "I have something important to tell you. The second round is happening tomorrow and you've been chosen as one of the contestants."

"...Eh?"

XoX

"Here you go, Naruto-Sama."

"Open wide, husband."

It was just another dinner within Maison Izumo. As per the usual, Tsukiumi and Musubi were trying to feed Naruto at the same time, which more often than not resulted in Naruto having two sets of chopsticks shoved down his gullet. Not the most pleasant of experiences, to be sure, but Naruto wouldn't change it for the world.

"I really don't mind being fed, but do you girls think you could do one at a time?"

Or maybe he would. It does hurt. Getting two chopsticks shoved down your throat, that is.

"Just so long as you eat mine first," Tsukiumi said.

"Nu uh, you should try mine first!"

"Musubi! You've already had your time with my husband before me! I will not allow you to take the most sacred tradition of feeding him first from me!"

"But Musubi wants to be first too."

"You can only feed him first once! And the person who is going to be doing that is me!"

"He heh, look at bro. He's such a player, don't you think so, Chi...ho...ba...by...? Eh?" Uzume looked at her Ashikabi, whose cheeks were flushed as she watched the battle going on between Tsukiumi and Musubi. "Ne, Chiho-baby, are you alright? You're not catching a fever, are ya?"

"Eh?" Chiho blinked, and then realized where she was and what she had been doing. "No, no!" She waved her hands frantically in the air. "I'm fine, really! I just..." Her eyes flickered over to the trio again. Her blush deepened.

"Ho?" Uzume looked amused. "Do ya wanna be pampered like that, Chiho-baby? I would be more than happy to oblige. Here..." she picked up her chopsticks and grabbed some food, which she then presented to Chiho. "Let this humble Uzume-chan feed you."

"A-ah, that...wasn't what I was―"

"Here ya go!"

While Uzume tried to feed an embarrassed Chiho, Homura sat in his usual spot, frowning.

"Is something wrong, Homura?" asked Kazehana, who sat beside the white-haired woman with a bottle of sake in her hand. She looked at the places occupied by Tsukiumi and Musubi with longing, but comforted herself knowing she'd be getting a whole day with him tomorrow.

Homura looked up at the raven-haired wind user, and then went back to staring at her plate. "Is it alright for us to act all calm like this?" she asked, gesturing to the people around them talking and laughing and faux arguing while trying to force feed a certain blond immortal. "The second match could be starting any second and here we are goofing around."

"Hmm..." Kazehana observed the people around her for one second, and then shrugged. "I think it's not only alright, but necessary." Homura looked back at the large-chested Sekirei. "One of the things you have to understand is that everyone here knows that the second match could start at any moment, that we could be called upon to enter the second match. That's why everyone's relaxed and goofing off like this. You need to take what time you have and enjoy it, because you might not get another chance later on down the road."

"I guess you're right." Homura smiled at the woman. "That was surprisingly insightful."

"Of course it was. I'm not just a pretty face, you know?" Kazehana winked...and then took another a long swig of her drink. "Puag!" Her cheeks were burning. "Man this is good stuff."

Homura looked at her fellow Sekirei and her right eyebrow twitched.

"Hmmm..." Sitting next to Miya, a bowl of rice sitting untouched in front of her, Matsu's glasses glinted with an ominous light. "Judging from the network it looks like only one Sekirei is going to be allowed to participate in the second stage. I wonder...does that mean most of the Ashikabi participating only possess one Sekirei, or is Minaka just trying to make the game more interesting?"

"Are you peeping again, Matsu?"

"Gya! Miya-tan..." Matsu puffed her cheeks up like a hot air balloon. "Matsu was not peeping. Stop looking at Matsu like you're expecting her to be looking at ecchi stuff. And can we please call it 'Eye of the Electronic Brain?'"

"So you're looking up information on the next round?" asked Naruto, who just finished swallowing the food Kusano had shoved down his gullet. She'd ended up beating both Tsukiumi and Musubi in being the first to feed him.

Those two were currently sulking in a corner.

"I can't believe I lost to a little girl..."

"Mou...Musubi wanted to be the first to feed Naruto-Sama..."

Matsu nodded. "I was. I wanted to see if the second match would differ from the first match."

"And what did you find out?"

"The first match appeared to be nothing more than a simple test. At the same time, it was something to draw in hype. That's why they had Sanada, Mikogami and Seo in it, because they've each got more than one Sekirei."

"I'm surprised Minaka didn't throw me right into the fray right off the bat."

"If he knows that you're immortal like we think he does, then he's probably got something special planned for you," Matsu explained. Both Naruto and Miya agreed. "Anyway, it seems like the second stage is set up to be a lot more fair. I suspect this is being done to make it a sort of battle royal where the Sekirei must all fight and the last one standing will receive the jinki as a prize."

Matsu paused, gathering her thoughts.

"A lot of the paired teams were destroyed during the second stage, so there's not that many of them left." Matsu frowned, her expression turning just a tad serious. "Aren't that many left...I feel like I've forgotten something important..."

"If it's really important, I'm sure you'll remember it," Naruto said.

"Oh yes, Matsu!" Tsukiumi suddenly stopped sulking in a corner to confront the redhead.

"Hm?" The amiable and childish persona returned. "What is it, Tsu-tan?"

"Don't call me that!" Tsukiumi coughed into her hand. "A-anyway, I've been meaning to ask this, but what exactly are Ashikabi?" Noticing the stares she was getting, the water user blushed. "I-I've always wanted to ask you that." Her eyes looked away. "My adjustor was a bit unusual and shy about things like this, so I never really learned anything about Ashikabi." Which probably explained why she hadn't wanted one at first. "In the past, I used to think the only thing that mattered was winning my battles. That as long as I fought and won, nothing else mattered..."

Tsukiumi looked at Naruto. Her cheeks reddened and she looked away.

"B-but, now there's Naruto. And just like how Naruto has been learning more about the Sekirei I..." Tsukiumi's cheeks took on the hue of a certain Hyuuga. Naruto thought it was absolutely adorable. "I also want to know more about...Ashikabi..."

"Musubi wants to know too!"

"Ku-chan too!"

"Y-you guys!" Tsukiumi growled. "Stop butting into my moments!"

Matsu was about to answer Tsukiumi when music began playing.

"_Tooku de kikoeru koe wo hitori  
>Hitori mata hitori de chi agaru toushi<br>Kurikaesu dake no fudan doori  
>Kutsu ga iku junbi ii ze, ARE YOU READY?"<em>

"What is that obnoxious racket?" asked Miya. Everyone else was looking around for the source.

"Karadajuu furuwazu shinzou ni  
>Hageshiku chinarase yo STOMPING<br>Taeru tsuki wo ukasu CALL ME  
>Kawarisugiru ga nuki ka STORY"<p>

"Ahahaha!" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "That would be my phone." When they looked at him he blushed, just a bit. "I, uh, wanted to try something different, so I got a new ring tone."

"COME ON! EVERYBODY STAND UP!  
>Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da<br>Me ni mo tomoran no SUPIIDO HANTA  
>Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba YEAH"<p>

"And so you thought that annoying, hideous, disgusting music would be a good idea?"

"Mou..." Naruto pouted at Miya. "I think it's a good song."

"COME ON! EVERYBODY HANDS UP!  
>Mata ashita no HERO'S wa COMEBACK<br>Tsuujou kazoe hibi wo COUNTDOWN  
>Iku ze, 3-2-1 MAKE SOME NOISE!"<p>

Miya rolled her eyes. "Of course you would think it's a good song. You're male. It's a well-documented fact that men have no taste in music."

"_HEY yo mou basho nori tsuku wa kakugo desho  
>Nankai korondatte tatsu GET OT ON<br>Nade aida naze kami hito e no seisho  
>Irikunda kanjou kizuki ageta desho"<em>

"Ah! Musubi...Musubi likes it too!"

"Musubi doesn't count."

"Mou..."

"Mochiagaru kansei ga yuuki to naru  
>Tashiagareba ima kurushimi tomonau<br>Sore demo saikou wa kitto aru  
>Subete sarau to shouri no kansei"<p>

"Are you going to answer it, Naru-tan?"

"Yeah, I guess I should, huh?"

"You most definitely should. It might be important."

"Well, considering only four people have my number and all of them are important somehow, I imagine it must be." He looked at the phone. "Oh, it's Yukari."

"EVERYBODY STAND UP!  
>Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da<br>Me ni mo tomoran no SUPIIDO HANTA  
>Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba YEAH"<p>

Before the opening theme song of a certain anime could reach its end, Naruto accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear. "Yukari? What's up?"

"NARUTO-SENPAI!" Came the whine from the other end. Naruto had to hold the phone away from his ear. Even the other residence could hear the shouting from where they sat. Even after he adjusted the volume to a lower setting, they could still hear the voice on the other end.

"Slow down, Yukari. What's the problem?"

"I've just been selected for the second match and I don't know what to do!" Another wail. "I haven't done enough research on defeating evil yet! Shiina and I haven't even practiced our sentai poses! I need life counseling!"

…

A pause.

"Eh?"

XoX

The next morning Naruto lay in bed. The sun had already risen, denoting that the time was later than he'd normally stay in bed. He would usually be training his Sekirei by now, but today he was doing something else: thinking.

His hand absently stroked the soft, naked flesh of his Sekirei. She cooed in response and snuggled deeper into his chest. That got him smiling for a bit, but his mind, clouded with thoughts, forced that smile to leave.

Today Yukari and Shiina would be fighting in the second round. Last night he'd gone over to her place and helped prepare her as best he'd could. He gave her all the information he had on the Sekirei and their Ashikabi that were fighting in the round as well (props to Matsu for doing some digging) and advised her on some tactics she could use during the fight. They were basic tactics, something that wouldn't require training to use, but they should help. Still, he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried.

"Naruto...sama..."

He looked down at the young woman using him as a body pillow. Musubi looked about as content as could be, laying against him and drooling all over his chest. He knew that he should be grossed out (someone was drooling all over his chest, after all), but all he could only think about how cute she looked.

It almost made him regret what he was about to do.

Rolling the shrine-maiden onto her back, Naruto set himself between her legs and looked down at her, his hands already flowing through a series of hand signs. When he finished, he reached out and gently pressed them to her temples.

"**Dokushinjutsu (Mind Reading)."**

A variation of the Yamanaka Clan's mind reading technique, Naruto had invented this particular jutsu himself during one of the centuries he'd decided to try his hand at creating his own techniques. While many of his attempts had been disastrous and ended up exploding in his face, a few had become invaluable tools in his arsenal. This happened to be one of them.

It didn't take long for Naruto's soul to travel out of his body and into Musubi. Unlike the **Shintenshin no Jutsu, **his soul stayed connected to his body through a thin strand of chakra projected out of his chest. He looked around his new surroundings, the inside of Musubi's mind, or soul, or whatever you wanted to call it.

And frowned.

"This is Musubi's soul? Man, I knew she was empty-headed but I didn't think she was _this _empty-headed."

Everywhere Naruto looked, left, right, up, down, all he could see was white. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything; one big uniform color of pure white in which no other colors existed, a blanket of snow that covered all, which nothing could see past. He didn't even know if there _were _walls or a ceiling.

Using his ability to sense disturbances within all things, Naruto traveled in the direction he felt the most chakra coming from. It eventually led him to something that caused him to stop. A giant purple sphere floating in the air could be seen before him. Nearly as large as he was tall, it hovered there, a zephyr bobbing up and down on unseen winds.

"This must be Musubi's tama," Naruto observed. Moving closer to the object in question, he began making out more distinct details and eventually saw something that startled him. "Are those...cracks?"

Indeed, forming all along the surface were several cracks. They would appear seemingly at random, with varying lengths and depths. A second later they would vanish. Naruto placed his right hand against the orb. It's warmth invaded his fingertips and he could feel the familiarity between this orb and Musubi. It was the same feeling he had in the back of his mind, that sense that let him know of Musubi's love for him. Being this close to her source of power, that feeling was cranked up a hundred fold.

"Something is healing this..." he murmured, eyes fluttering closed. Eyesight wouldn't help him here. He needed to find out what was happening by looking beyond what his vision told him. "Is this damage being caused by that time Musubi had been kidnapped?"

"Yes, it is."

Naruto's eyes snapped open. He didn't spin around in surprise, but he would not deny being startled. That voice, it sounded a lot like Musubi's. An older, more mature sounding Musubi.

He turned around.

"An older, more mature, not as busty Musubi."

The woman in front of him gave him a flat look. "Really, we meet for the first time and that's the first thing you have to say?"

"Sorry." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "It was just the first thought that came to mind. I didn't mean to actually say it out loud."

"Oh, Naruto-kun," the woman just sighed, appearing more amused than exasperated.

Naruto studied the female before him. She was gorgeous, which didn't surprise him since she looked like Musubi. In fact, aside from her bust being a good deal smaller, she looked almost like a carbon copy of the vibrant fist-fighter he'd come to love, except that...

"You're Yume."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Yume smiled at him. "I am indeed Yume, Sekirei number 08, the Sekirei of Fate." An odd title. Naruto wondered if that title was given to her or a self-appointed one. "I would like to thank you for taking care of Musubi," Yume continued. "Your love for her as helped Musubi grow by leaps and bounds. She's very happy because of you."

"I didn't do much," Naruto confessed, shaking his head. "If anything, she's the one who did the most for me. None of this would have ever happened if she hadn't shown up in my life."

Yume smiled at the blond immortal. "I think you will find that Musubi does not feel that way, and neither do I. You've done just as much for her as she has done for you. True, it took you a while, but the act of giving and accepting a Sekirei's love is all we can ever ask for and more. That you have managed to give your heart over to her and the others so completely despite who you are makes it all the more remarkable."

"If you say so." Naruto shrugged, showing just what he thought about that. He quickly changed the subject. "So if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the reason you are is because your tama is here, right? I heard from Matsu that you sacrificed your tama to save Musubi's life."

"You are both right and wrong at the same time. I did indeed give Musubi my tama, thereby sacrificing my existence to save hers. Where you are wrong is that my tama is no longer here." When she saw Naruto furrow his brow in obvious confusion, Yume smiled and explained. "My tama is no longer because it is no longer mine." She looked at the giant sphere. "This is Musubi's tama, however, it was my tama."

"I see." Naruto's mind quickly went to work on figuring what she meant. "When Musubi's tama was destroyed, it could not be recovered, not fully at any rate. To save her life, you gave her your tama and let it merge with the shattered remains of hers, combining the two into one."

"That's right."

"So then, what are you exactly?" asked Naruto. "A thought projection? The remnants of Yume's soul? A ghost?"

"I'm not a ghost, silly," Yume said. "The first two would be more accurate. I am the remains of the Sekirei once called Yume. However, even as I speak, more and more of me is getting absorbed into Musubi."

"I've noticed. There are times when Musubi acts more mature than normal, times where she says things that she wouldn't say." He paused to study the woman before him, noticing how she seemed somewhat translucent. "Your spirits are merging, aren't they?"

"Yes. Very soon, Musubi and I will become a single person. We'll no longer be Musubi and Yume, or even Musubi or Yume. We'll become something else, a brand new Sekirei who is neither one nor the other, but a combination of both."

"What will happen after that?"

"You need not worry for either of us, Naruto-kun." She reassured him with a smile, so similar yet so different from Musubi's; bright and cheerful, possessing a joy for life, but carrying a weight with it, a maturity that his Musubi lacked. "No matter what happens after we merge, both Musubi and I love you very much. That means our new persona will love you twice as much as we do now."

"You don't even know me," Naruto pointed out wryly.

"That is where you are wrong. I do know you. Everything that Musubi knows, I know, so I know you very well."

"Yeah, okay. I guess that makes sense."

Yume smiled at him. "You should probably head back now. Musubi's currently riding you."

"What?"

Naruto blinked and then returned to the real world. For a moment, he was confused, disoriented. His vision was blurry and he couldn't see much more than brown hair.

A moan from above him.

Naruto blinked again, finally able to see what Yume meant by her last words. Musubi was, indeed, riding him. He didn't know when he had pushed onto his back or when she'd decided to go ahead and start having sex with him, but it must have been a while ago because her body was already glistening with sweat.

Deciding not to be bothered by this, Naruto grabbed onto Musubi's hips and began helping her along.

It would be at least another hour before he or Musubi got out of bed that morning.

XoX

That morning after breakfast everyone had gathered in Matsu's room, even Miya. The tiny space normally only used for one person suddenly found itself containing Akitsu, Chiho, Kusano, Kazehana, Homura, Miya, Musubi, Matsu, Tsukiumi, Uzume and Naruto. That was a lot of people for a room that seemed more like a large broom-closet than an actual chamber meant for sleeping in. But somehow, they made due.

Naruto found himself being pressed by soft female flesh on all sides. Tsuikimi had taken his right. Akitsu was on his left. Musubi pressed her body against his back, breasts pushing into his shoulder blades. Kazehana lounged in front of him, as did Miya. Meanwhile, Kusano sat on his lap and Homura stood near the back. Uzume and Chiho were also sitting down, with the ashikabi of the two sitting on her Sekirei's lap.

The group sat in front of Matsu's many monitors, all of which were focused on a single image, that of Takami. Naruto found it odd that she would be making the announcement and not Minaka. He wondered what that man was doing now.

"Everyone, it is time for the second challenge of the third phase to begin," Takami, unlike Minaka, spoke in a monotone completely devoid of life. Naruto had the distinct impression that she did not want to be there. "The second stage is taking place in a jungle setting created for just this purpose. The rules of this challenge are simple. All of the Sekirei here must fight until only one of them is left standing. That Sekirei shall then be able to claim their prize."

There was a brief pause. Takami looked down and Naruto realized she was reading a script. From the way her right eye was twitching, she was obviously expected to say something she'd rather not say.

"And now...let us begin this...indubitably...auspicious...occasion. Let the...ugh...games...being..."

"Is it just me, or did that sound really painful?" asked Kazehana.

"It wasn't just you," Homura somehow managed to look both amused and appalled. "I thought Takami was choking on something."

"Probably on Minaka's cock."

Homura sent Kazehana a sharp glance, but didn't get to say anything before the video went off, signifying a start to the match.

Matsu's fingers flew across her keyboard. Less than a second later, each of her monitors showed a different set of video feed showing the map where the next challenge of the Sekirei Plan would be taking place. Most of the people in that room were focused on a particular feed showing a young girl with black hair and a pale-skinned boy with silver-hair.

"Shiina-chan! Look, onii-chan, It's Shiina-chan!"

"Yes, I can see that, Ku-chan." Naruto smiled and rubbed the little girl's head. Kusano beamed at him and went back to watching the screen.

Naruto turned to Matsu.

"Are we ready?"

A thumbs up was his answer. "All systems are go."

"Good." Naruto placed a hand against his ear, which already had a communication device stuck inside. "Yukari? Can you hear me?"

XoX

Yukari was frightened. She could admit it. Early this morning she'd received a call from her mother claiming that a helicopter was on the way to pick her up and take her to the sight chosen to be her battle ground. She'd gotten on the helicopter with her Sekirei an hour later and they made off for the next challenge in their lives. Her nerves had been wreck the whole way.

She would never let anyone know this, because Yukari Sahashi was just not the kind of person to let people know that she felt anything other than supreme confidence, but the things she had learned from Naruto had scared her. Items with the power to destroy the world? Enough power to wipe out all of humanity and the Sekirei? Items with this much power that the leader of MBI was giving out to people who could and probably would misuse them? Yeah, that was some scary stuff right there.

She still wouldn't let anyone know this, even if the only people who were privy to what was going on already knew how she was feeling. Shiina was her Sekirei. She had little doubts that he knew how she was feeling. Naruto...well, she didn't know what Naruto was (other than a living god if Minaka was to be believed), but she was pretty sure he knew how she felt as well.

Last night Naruto had come over to her place again. She would have normally been overjoyed to have such a hunk in her apartment, but this time had mostly been business. They had gone over tactics, he had given her a communication device so they could be in contact during her challenge and he had even watched her and Shiina do their sentai poses.

That last one had been particularly important. What new age superhero didn't do sentai poses?

His assistance had been appreciated, truly, but even still, Yukari was nervous. Did all super heroes feel this way when they first took up their mantel as well? She didn't know. She guessed it was natural to feel apprehension when so much was riding on her shoulders.

Looking at her surroundings, Yukari could only wondered what this stage had in store for her. The place looked a lot like a jungle, not one of steel, but a real, honest to god jungle. Trees blocked her vision. Vines hung from branches, forcing her to push them out of the way. Air, hot, humid, muggy air clung to her body. Her skin broke out into a sweat. She was beginning to regret choosing to wear a leather costume for this. It clung to her body in all the wrong ways and was starting to chafe. And she felt sticky!

Shiina walked by her side, helping clear a path with his abilities of decay. Naruto actually told her that Shiina would have an advantage in this kind of environment due to his powers. She hoped he was right.

"_Yukari? Can you hear me?"_

Speak of the devil.

"Yeah, I can hear you, Naruto-senpai."

"_Good. It looks like the match will be starting soon. Remember, this is a four-way match between you and three others, so don't focus entirely on the first opponent pair you come across."_

"I know, I know. We went over all of this last night."

"_Yes, but I just want to make sure. I don't want anything to happen to you."_

Yukari nearly stumbled into her Sekirei at those words. Her cheeks turned an incredible shade of red. She was sure that even the camera, where ever it was hidden, managed to pick up her blush.

"O-oh...hehehe, w-well, thank you. That's...it means a lot to me..." Yukari cursed. This wasn't fair! The mega-hottie known as Uzumaki Naruto was expressing worry for her and she was all tongue-tied! Dammit! Why was she losing her ability to form coherent sentences now of all times? This was a critical moment! A flag raiser if there ever was one!

She needed to think of something to say quickly. Something that would turn this moment around for her. Come on H-series! You can't fail her now!

"_Alright. Are you ready for this?"_

Dammit!

"Yeah..." Yukari sighed. "I guess so..."

"_Something wrong, Yukari? You seem kinda down."_

"Just lamenting a missed opportunity."

"_What?"_

"Nothing."

Trying to get over her depression at what might have been her biggest missed chance, Yukari sucked in her torment and slapped her cheeks. She needed to psyche herself up. She might have missed her chance at getting some hanky-panky time with the blond stud, but she would be damned if she didn't at least succeed in her mission! This was for the good of all man kind!

"Alright! I'm ready!"

"_Atta girl! I'll be backing you up with support, so don't worry about a thing."_

"Right. So where is the first target?"

"_He's 2 kilometers southwest of your position. There's another pair heading right for them though, so I wouldn't bother―"_

"2 Kilometers! Got it!"

"_Are you even listening to me?!"_

"Shiina!" Yukari yelled, startling her pretty-boy Sekirei.

"Y-yes, Yukari?"

"Let's go! We've got our first target!"

"H-hai!"

"_Listen to me when I'm talking to you!"_

XoX

Reiji Koya was a thug. He looked like a thug, acted like a thug and spoke like a thug. Just looking at his buzzed head, ear piercings and the whole "I like wearing a hat under my hoodie because I'm da boss diggity" thing he had going on was enough to let everyone who met him know that this man...was a thug.

Of course, right now his general thuggery didn't really matter. No one else was near him, so no one else could be intimidated by his thuggishness. In fact, the people watching him on live TV were probably having a laugh at his expense.

It only served to piss him off further.

"Da fuck is wit' all these stupid fuckin' plants! When I get my hands on da bitch who sent us here, ima fuckin' kill her."

Ever since that white-haired bitch told him that he and his hoe were gonna be participating in this shitty tournament thing, nothing had been going his way. He'd been picked up and dropped off in this mother fucking jungle and he couldn't even do a thing about it! Them fuckers that came to pick him up had guns! Guns! The moment he'd told them to piss off, they pretty much threatened to shoot him! What the fuck? Who does shit like that?

He and his hoe, Yahan, had been traversing this jungle for what felt like hours. He was hot and sticky and sweaty. He didn't really care about that, but he would prefer getting sweaty doing ecchi shit to his hoe.

He looked around them. Nothing but trees. Trees and tree branches and vines and all kinds of green plant stuff as far as the eye could see. Which wasn't very far. He couldn't see more than several feet on all sides because the damn trees were blocking his way.

"Reiji-san," Yahan, ever the pragmatist, tried to calm her Ashikabi down. "We need to remain clear-headed for this. Remember, there are three other Ashikabi/Sekirei pairs within this jungle. The louder we are, the more likely they are to find us."

"Good," Reiji grunted, showing how little he cared, "Maybe then I can actually have some fun in this shitty jungle. I'm getting' bored anyway. I could use some excitement right about now."

"Did someone say excitement?!"

Reiji blinked as a voice echoed around the jungle. He couldn't tell where it came from, though it was really loud.

"Evil doers who would trample upon justice, it is time you met your maker!"

Something fell upon the ground. A small orb of some kind, which exploded upon contact. Dust billowed out, an unfurling wave of thick, black smoke that hid everything in front of him from view.

"Da fuck?"

"I am the defender of love and justice and—Shiina? What are you doing? Come on, I need you to pose with me!"

Reiji stared at the smokescreen, from which he assumed the voices came from.

"D-do I really have to? This is so embarrassing!" Came a piteous whine.

"Aw, come on! This is no time to be embarrassed! Now hurry up, before the smoke disperses!"

"A-alright..."

Reiji and Yahan stood in place, their bodies frozen by indecision. They were so flabbergasted by the whole thing that neither of them even thought of doing the smart thing and attacking the two people before they could do whatever it was they planned on doing.

"I am the defender of love and justice!"

"A-and I am the defender of...peace and prosperity..."

"If you think we're going to let you get away with your evil deeds, then you've got another thing coming!"

The smoke finally cleared. If Reiji had not been so shocked by what was occurring, the sight before him would have probably caused his brain to short circuited and melt out of his ears.

Yukari stood with one leg lifted off the ground, arms held out on either side in a sort of crane stance, as if to help keep her balance. Her Sekirei, Shiina, also stood, one leg in front, bent at the knee, while the other supported him like a pillar from behind. His left hand, clenched into a fist, had been brought back near his head, right next to his cheek. Meanwhile, his other hand extended straight out in front of him, fingers also extended like the edge of a knife.

They were also wearing costumes. Yukari was decked out in black leather: leather pants, leather boots, leather shirt, leather gloves. Just how the girl could wear something so damn hot in this humid environment was beyond Reiji. At the other end of the spectrum was her Sekirei, Shiina, who wore a...Sailor Fuku costume, a white and light blue sailor fuku costume complete with short skirt, boots, shirt, the whole nine yards. It was pretty damn disturbing, especially when the skirt was caught in a breeze and lifted up.

"Kya!" Shiina dropped the sentai pose to push his skirt back down.

"Oh god..." Reiji's face turned green. He dropped to his knees, eyes wide, struggling to keep from vomiting. That...that boy...he was...ugh...he was wearing a thong! What kind of man wears shit like that?! "...I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"Ha! Look at this man kneeling before us. It seems he's already been defeated by love and justice!"

"He saw my underwear~" Shiina moaned, his face red. "Now how am I supposed to get married? I've been sullied." A pause. "Wait. I'm a guy? Does that even apply to me?"

Yukari ignored the sick man dry heaving on the ground, her Sekirei contemplating whether he was still eligible for marriage and Yahan who just stood there looking like an idiot. She placed her hands on her hips and began to laugh.

"Now taste my wrath, evil doer! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!"

XoX

Within Matsu's not-so-secret room, everybody present, human, Sekirei, whatever, stared at the scene with twitching eyes and disbelieving looks. Several of those in the room began shuddering as they heard Yukari's laughter. For someone who claimed to be a defender of justice, this girl had the most evil laugh they'd ever heard.

"And this is the girl you're relying on the get the jinki for us this round," Homura said, her voice dry.

"That girl is certainly quite the character," Miya added, giggling just a bit behind the sleeve of her kimono. "I've never met someone like her before."

"With luck you won't have to," Kazehana said. "I swear, that's the most unusual little girl I have ever seen."

"Ah."

A pause.

"Strange."

"This girl...she doesn't seem very reliable, does she?" asked Tsukiumi. "Naruto, why have you asked that...strange girl for help?"

Naruto, for once, did not appear confident in his choice. His shoulders were slumped, face buried in his hands. He looked somewhat distraught. "I didn't have much choice," he mumbled, his voice muffled by his hands. Musubi rubbed his back, a consoling gesture that did nothing to console him. "She's one of the few Ashikabi I know who doesn't have any ulterior motives and actually has the strength to accomplish what I ask of her. All the other Ashikabi have Sekirei who aren't that strong and therefore unlikely to win in a match like this. Besides, her Sekirei is Shiina. I can't _not_ help them. Ku-chan would be sad if I didn't."

"Mm mm!" Kusano nodded her head.

"Look on the bright side," Matsu tried to be the positive one. "With how freaky Yuka-tan is, she'll probably win this whole thing just by making every Ashikabi start vomiting all over the jungle."

Indeed, Yukari had already defeated Reiji and Yahan and was now fighting against another pair, Yashiro Itsuki and Sekirei number 13, Amebane. It looked more like an argument than an actual fight, though just what they were arguing about was anyone's guess.

"Thank you so much for that imagery, Matsu," came Homura's scathing reply.

"You're welcome!"

"I was being sarcastic!"

XoX

While it hadn't gone the way he'd expected it to, Yukari still ended up winning the jinki after thoroughly thrashing her opposition, not to mention terrifying them beyond all reasonable comprehension. Were it not for the level of secrecy in the Sekirei Plan, Naruto felt sure that the second competition of the third phase would have gone down in the annuls of history as one of the freakiest battles ever. The crap Yukari pulled had been both horrifying and shocking, not to mention childish and perverted. Naruto had seen many freaky kinky things in life. Few of those things could compare to what he'd witnessed Yukari do.

Who knew the girl could be such a damn pervert?

Teleporting into his laboratory with Matsu, Naruto immediately made for the cylindrical table with nine tubes protruding from its surface. Only two of those tubes were full at the moment; the sphere bobbing within the gelatinous green liquid.

"Matsu."

"Right."

Matsu went over to the control console. Buttons were pressed and a slight hiss erupted from one of the cylinders, the top of which slowly slid open. Naruto placed the jinki inside of the cylinder. The lid closed with another hiss and sealed shut. Liquid began bubbling to the surface, green and oozing, a thick, viscous substance with the cohesiveness of jello. The tank was soon full and the orb began to float and bob like the other two.

"Alright! It looks like Naru-tan officially has three jinki," Matsu said, grinning. She slinked up to Naruto, hips swaying to an unseen beat, rhythmic and sensual, carrying with it the desire of someone who could no longer hold themselves back. Half-lidded eyes stared up at him as two magnificent mounds were squished flat against his body. "Now," she breathed, and her hot, minty breath washed over him. "You promised Matsu a reward for all her hard work."

Naruto smiled.

"So I did."

A pair of hands went to Matsu's hips. He pulled them in until they were pressed together. The heat from her core was overwhelming.

He ground himself against her. The moan that followed, throaty and lustful, filled the air, ringing out in cacophonous symphony, fueling Naruto's own desire.

He pushed her up against the wall, his mouth consuming hers, his tongue pushing inside of her. Wet warmth surrounded his tongue, an endless current of ceaseless friction created by the duel going on inside of Matsu's mouth. They stirred up the saliva between them, giving and taking, sending and receiving, a gift from one to another that served to bring their need to feel each other to new heights.

No longer able to support herself, Matsu was forced to rely on Naruto. Her body leaned against the wall, cool metal underneath the fabric of her clothes. Jolts rocked her body, an earth quake that shook her core as Naruto's knee pushed between her legs and began rubbing her folds. She wasn't wearing panties that day, and the juices leaking out began staining her dress. Not that she cared about something silly like that.

"W-wait." Panting, it took all Matsu had to push Naruto back. "W-wait. There's something that...that I wanted to do."

Naruto looked at the redhead. "What is it?"

"L-lay down on the floor, please."

Confused but curious to know what Matsu's plan was, Naruto did as requested, laying down on the cool metal surface. He watched on, curious, as Matsu...took off her shoes? Odd. What was she doing now?

Naruto found out Matsu's plan when she began rubbing her foot against his crotch. He'd never really been a foot person before. It just wasn't his thing. However, even he could not deny that the feeling was pleasurable, and his body quickly reacted to her ministrations.

"M-Matsu..."

"I've always wanted to try this after what you did to me during our first...fufufu, sexual encounter." Ah. That made sense. Naruto remembered that time too. Perhaps pleasing her that way had been a mistake. Then again, this was kind of kinky. "Does it feel good?"

"Y-yes," Naruto admitted, "However..." Grabbing Matsu's foot, he yanked her off balance. A loud squawk proceeded her fall. Red hair encompassed the two in a shroud of fiery strands glistening like silk. Matsu had landed on top of Naruto, her face mere inches from his own. "I would much prefer it if I got to have a little fun too."

They spun, rolling over until Matsu was lying on her back. Naruto's left hand reached behind her, undoing the zipper on her back. He then peeled the clothes off her lovely frame. Inch after inch of flawlessly smooth skin revealed itself before his eyes; sensual curves, well-rounded breasts and amazing hips, beautiful legs and gorgeous calves. Like all Sekirei, Matsu was a study in sex-appeal.

The next article removed was Matsu's bra. As her breasts popped free with an almost enthusiastic bounce, Naruto sat back up, in between her legs, and admired the young woman for just a moment. The red-haired female preened under the attention, eyes narrowing in delight and lips curved in a pout that would have made most men putty in her hands.

"You have too many clothes on."

"Hmm?" Naruto looked down at his fully clothed body. He then looked back at Matsu, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Yes, I suppose I do. Let me rectify that."

Naruto divested his clothes quickly. The shirt first, followed by his sandals, pants and boxers. When clothing no longer hindered Matsu's view, the woman purred...and then she pounced.

Once again on his back, Naruto did nothing as Matsu rubbed herself against him. Her nipples scraping against the skin of his chest inflamed his soul, a searing heat that started from the point her nipples rubbed against him and spread through the rest of his body. Lips pressed against his mouth, hungry and needing and wanting, they kissed him as if they were trying to suck out his soul. Another pair of lips began lubricating him, trapping him between her thighs and folds, the incessant rubbing that caused juices to flow down him and coat his legs made it hard to resist the urge to be inside of her.

Hands gently probed for Matsu's entrance, caressing petal-like folds that parted for his fingers. Matsu moaned into his mouth as a single finger was inserted inside of her. The moan increased, its intensity making it reminiscent of a keening wale, muffled only by the mouth hampering her voice. She squirmed on top of him as his finger probed her entrance and caressed her walls. A second finger joined the first and Matsu's hips bucked and jerked in time to their tempo.

"Ah! Ah—oh! Oh! Oh! Ahn!"

Her release came soon after. She writhed underneath him in unrestrained pleasure. Hips bucked in wildly spasmotic motions, jerking and thrusting. Only after Naruto pulled his finger out from her did her wild movements cease. Even then, Matsu's body still shuddered with the after shock of pleasure coursing through her.

"Naruto..."

Her breath was an evanescent sigh floating on silent zephyrs, tickling the ear with its enchanting melody. Naruto leaned down to kiss those lips again. She kissed back, even as he lined himself up and began slowly sliding into her.

"Hnn!"

Any hope Matsu might've had at cooling down disappeared as Naruto became fully sheathed inside of her. Naruto frowned. Much like Kazehana, Matsu did have a hymen. He wondered, then, perhaps the first five—well, four (Mutsu was a man)―had not had theirs taken away? The adjustors had still been new to the procedure back then, so the theory was not entirely implausible.

He shook his head. Now was not the time for such thoughts.

"Naruto," Matsu breathed out, eyes hooded with desire, a lust that was only now being satiated. "I'm ready."

"Alright then."

Naruto began to set a rhythm, one that Matsu could match easily. Her large breasts swung on her chest, bouncing and jiggling and shaking with each thrust of his hips. Naruto felt the temptation to take her nipples into his mouth but resisted. He had other ideas.

He grabbed her ankles and pushed her legs back until her knees were touching her chest, even as he continued thrusting inside of her. Her feet now pressed against his chest, Naruto took the right one and brought it up to his mouth.

"Oh! OH! AHN! AH!"

If Naruto ever needed proof of Matsu's kink, this was it. The girl writhed and moaned and shuddered with pleasure as he sucked on her feet. His tongue licked in between her toes. Her walls tightened around him as he swirled his tongue around each toe and suckled them. Her screams increased to a keening wail and juices flowed from her far quicker than before, allowing the speed and power of his thrusts to increase as both his shaft and thighs became covered in her honey.

"Ah! Ah-ahn! Oh! Uh, uh, uh!"

Naruto switched to her other foot. The screams of pleasure increased and Naruto picked up the pace. The sounds of flesh slapping lewdly were nearly drowned out by Matsu's lust filled cries. He could feel her tightening around him, a wall turned into a vice, clamping down on him and refusing to let go despite the lubrication that made her insides so slippery.

"OH FUCK!"

He could tell when Matsu's orgasm washed over her. The look of bliss on her features, the way her eyes widened and her mouth hung open in a soundless scream told him as much. Her body shook. Her chest jiggled and swayed with enticing suddenness. Naruto watched her sweat covered body glisten in the overhead lights, his hands absently massaging her left foot as she came down from her incredible high.

"Naruto..." a heady breath. Dark eyes stared at him through thick lashes. "That was...that was..."

"Yes?"

"It felt...ha...really...zzz...zzz..."

Naruto stared at the woman, amused. For all her boasting about how they would have a six hour long sexathon her first time, it seemed the hacker just couldn't hack it. Now here she was, sleeping soundly , snoring away on the cold metal floor of their laboratory without a care in the world.

Not releasing himself from inside of her, Naruto's arms came around her waist and held her to him. He stood, position the woman against him so that her head rested in the crook of his neck. A clone appeared beside him, grumbling out a complaint about being summoned only to clean the aftermath of his creator's passionate, sweaty sex-affair.

"Stupid oyabun...should fucking kill him..."

"If you did that, you'd die as well. Now stop complaining."

The clone stuck a tongue out at him, but he was already gone, vanished back into Matsu's bedroom.

As he lay them both down on the fuuton and let Matsu cuddle into his chest, Naruto decided they would have to do that again. Sex in the laboratory, that is. Who knows, maybe they could even do some cosplay next time. Yeah, that sounded like a grand idea.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll be out of touch for a little bit; over a month or so, I'd say. Before you freak, no, it's nothing serious or major. I'm just planning a bit of a surprise. What is the surprise? I can't tell you. If I did, it wouldn't be a surprise.<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More will be coming soon.**


	40. A Song of Fire and Ice

**Chapter 40: A Song of Fire and Ice**

* * *

><p>"Fire Release is one of the five basic elemental compositions that make up the elemental circle. For a shinobi to create fire ninjutsu, the wielder must mould the chakra in their stomach before releasing it via the lungs and mouth."<p>

Naruto lectured Homura as the silver-haired fire-user continued training. Flames burst around her form, flaring and burning the atmosphere to weave intricate patterns in the air. Sweat poured down Homura's frame in rivulets as she struggled to control her own powers.

"For you it's a little different. You have no chakra network and your affinity with fire is far greater than any I have ever seen. Even my daughter, Amataresu, would have found herself envious of your ability to manipulate fire."

Homura's eye twitched at the reminder that Naruto was far older than he appeared. It still bothered her, this knowledge that every legend and myth she'd read about had either been about or perpetuated by this man in some way.

"The differences in ability, power and technique matter little in this instance, however. Whether you manipulate it outside or inside of your body, the way you do it remains the same: superheating the energy of your tama to unprecedented levels and causing the air around you to spontaneously combust, then directing the flames produced in the manner you desire."

"However, flames aren't really meant to be controlled, they don't like it, wild and spontaneous and raging, that is fire. Part of the trouble you've always had when using your powers isn't that you lack the aptitude, but that you try to control that which was never meant to be controlled. The best you can do is direct the flames in the manner you desire, gently guiding them along the route you wish them to take."

"I already know all that." Homura scowled, half-frustrated, half-annoyed. Who did he think she was? She'd been born with these powers and knew more about flames than anyone else―except maybe Naruto, but she knew at least this much. Why did he insist on lecturing her like that?

Due to her lapse in concentration, the fire surrounding her began to sputter, its form flickering before dying out. Homura's eyes widened for a second. In desperation she put more power into her flames, which turned out to be a horrible idea.

"Gya!"

Fire exploded in front of her. A raging conflagration that singed her body with its searing heat and sent her flying backwards. Homura closed her eyes and waited for the impact of her back against the ground.

It never came.

Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Naruto's smiling face. It was then that she realized he was holding her in his arms, much like a husband carrying his bride to the doorstep of their new house―or the bed when they're about to get busy during their honeymoon.

"You okay?" asked Naruto.

Homura's cheeks gained a sudden bright flare. She looked away, her softly mumbled, "I'm fine," just barely heard by the blond. Naruto chuckled, causing the redness to spread from her cheeks to the rest of her face.

"I think we're done for the day," Naruto said, still quietly chuckling to himself. The sound sent reverberations through Homura's soul, burning her like the very fire she wielded. She tried ignoring the feelings it invoked, as well as the dampness to her panties that she knew was not sweat.

Naruto began walking. Homura's legs swung back and forth as he carried her in his arms. She tried to scowl at him, but her face was still being marred by a prominent blush.

"I can walk on my own, you know," she grumbled.

"I know you can," Naruto said, smiling down at her. "But I enjoy holding you like this. So just let me carry you for a little while longer, okay?"

Homura mumbled something incomprehensible and buried her face in his chest. Why did he always have to say crap like that? Didn't he know how embarrassing it was?

She peeked at their surroundings as Naruto moved with sure, confident footsteps. They'd left the craggy canyon landscape and were walking through the forested area now. Her ears perked up as the sounds of running water filtered through them.

They eventually came upon a small pool of water. Steam rose from its surface, making her realize it was a hot spring. Naruto gently set her on the ground and then began disrobing her.

"W-what the―Naruto, what are you doing?!"

"I'm getting your clothes off. What's it look like I'm doing?"

"W-wha―I get that. I meant why are you trying to strip me naked?!"

"Uh… because you can't get in the hot spring with clothes on?"

"W-who said I want to get in the hotspring, huh?!"

"Now, now, this will be good for you. You need to loosen up a little, Homura. Being so tense all the time just cannot be healthy for you."

"W-well maybe I don't want you to see me! Did you ever think of that?"

"Hmm…" Naruto paused in his attempts at getting Homura out of her shirt. The fire-user used this moment to pull the hem of her shirt back down over her breasts, her face redder than the fire she wielded. "It did occur to me, and I suppose I should have asked. I'm sorry, I guess I was allowing my desire to be closer to you get the best of me."

Homura thought her face could not get anymore red.

"B-be closer to me?!" she squeaked pitifully.

"Um!" Naruto nodded. "Skinship. I wanted to become more intimate with you, and since you always seem so reserved I thought sharing a bath would be the best way to do it."

Homura was almost 100 percent certain that her head had just caught fire.

"T-t-t-that's―I mean, I guess that's okay if we… do that. Since you're my… my ashikabi and… stuff," she mumbled after remaining silent for nearly fifteen seconds. The soft smile her response got from Naruto made her feel like hiding in her jacket.

Naruto eventually helped Homura out of her clothes and then folded them neatly in a pile. While Homura covered herself with her arms and stepped into the small spring filled with steaming hot liquid, Naruto discarded his own clothes. Unlike his Sekirei, he had no shame and didn't bother covering up as he stepped in and sat down right next to the fire-flinging Sekirei.

There was no talking involved. Homura squirmed in place, twiddling her indexes. She occasionally looked at Naruto, only to look away when he noticed her gaze on him.

"Are you uncomfortable being intimate like this?" Naruto asked after several tense seconds of silence.

"A little," Homura admitted softly. "Don't get me wrong," she added quickly, "I don't… dislike you or anything, but I still tend to think of myself as, well, not a woman, you know?"

"Mm. Yeah, I guess I can understand that," Naruto said, slowly scooting a little closer. Homura didn't seem to notice. "I remember one time when I got curious about what it would be like to live as a member of the opposite gender and lived an entire lifetime as a girl. Let me tell you right now that it was the most awkward time of my life and I'll never do it again."

"Really―"

Homura turned her head to look at Naruto. Words died on her lips when she saw how close he was to her. Were her skin not already flushed due to the heat of the water, it would have been now. His face was so close their noses were touching!

"Really." Homura shuddered as Naruto's hot breath washed over her face. Her skin burned when his right hand cupped her cheek and his thumb lovingly stroked her face. "I understand, and that's part of the reason I'm doing this."

"R-really?" Homura was finding it hard to concentrate on anything but the feel of his hand on her face. Why did that feel so good?

"Really," Naruto said again, shifting his body so that he was facing her. Homura could do nothing as strong fingers behind her neck gently pulled her until her forehead was resting against his. She stared into his eyes, clear eyes that were bright and vibrant and so unlike the ones she was used to seeing. Were they always this blue?

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me," Naruto continued, his voice a gentle whisper. "You and I are connected, bonded at a level few will ever experience, and I'm very blessed to have you as my Sekirei. That's why I want to be closer to you."

Homura felt her heart beating frantically at his words. "Y-you're just saying that." She looked away, trying not to let him know how much those words got to her. "I know you're really just a player. Even if I wasn't aware of how many children you've sired. Do you think you're the only person who's ever spoken like that? The other Sekirei might be completely taken in with words like that, but I can see them for what they are."

After all, she had been one of those people before. Someone who, much like Naruto, had caused women of all types to swoon with his―her―words. She could tell a practiced line when she heard one.

"Perhaps I'm not the only person who's said lines like this," Naruto said, right before he pulled Homura into a hug. The young woman could've sworn she'd just gone into shock. Her entire body felt like the internal components to an overheating computer. "But it doesn't change the fact that I want to be closer to you, that I want us to bond on a level deeper than just Ashikabi and Sekirei. It doesn't change the fact that I want you to one day be able to say 'I love you' just like I am going to do right now."

Homura's eyes widened when Naruto moved away. His hands on her shoulders felt hotter than the water they sat in, scalding her in ways that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Homura."

She looked into his eyes. Naruto's face had never appeared so serious―unless he was going into a bout of emo angsting.

"I love you."

She stared at Naruto for several seconds, her mind unable to comprehend the words bouncing around in her head. Slowly, words and phrases began combining, forming meanings that her mind could understand. It took a while, but at least, after what felt like hours had passed, the words Naruto spoke became firmly imprinted in her mind, and Homura did what any woman of her stature would do in that situation.

She passed out.

XoX

Naruto walked along one of the less populated districts of Shinto Teito―although calling this district "less popular" didn't mean much these days. Reports coming in from Matsu confirmed that over 60 percent of the civilian population had left the city, and the only reason the other 40 percent still remained was because Minaka was forcing them to stay and run their shops. He didn't know how Minaka managed that, but assumed massive amounts of blackmail was involved.

Walking alongside him were two of his Sekirei. Miya, her purple hair swaying as she moved, observed their surroundings with a keen eye, her mind obviously wary for attack. On his other side, Akitsu seemingly ignored everything around her in favor of holding his arm. Her chains clinked ceaselessly with every step she made.

"Are you sure the person you are looking for lives in this place, Naruto?" Miya asked, frowning as she observed the constructs around them. Many of the buildings were in the beginning states of disrepair. This sector of the city had never been that well-off, and Minaka had clearly not directed any effort into improving its condition.

"Yes," Naruto said, "I'm positive he lives here. According to Matsu's information, this is where he's currently residing." A pause. "Although there is a possibility that he has already changed locations. Matsu's been tracking him for a while now, and it seems he has a habit of never staying in the same place for very long―a prudent precaution, if you ask me. In any case, Matsu has been keeping a constant eye on him and this is where she claims he currently is."

Miya said nothing, choosing to just accept his words for what they were.

Naruto pressed a hand to his ear, activating the com unit, and said, "so which of these buildings is Minato staying in?"

He'd been tracking Minato Sahashi for a while now―ever since the young man had become involved with the Sekirei plan and winged not one but two Sekirei. Much like how Yukari had gotten into a spot of trouble with Higa, Minato had also found himself on the receiving end of that man's unwanted attention. Unlike Yukari, though, MInato had two Sekirei on his side and thus managed to escape. He'd been on the run ever since.

"_It's just a little ways down,"_ Matsu's voice rang in his ear. _"Keep going until you reach the end of this street. There will be a small, abandoned complex. That's where he's staying right now."_

"He hasn't left?"

"_No. I've been monitoring that building since he entered it. There have been no signs of anyone leaving or entering since he and his Sekirei did."_

"Got it. Thank you."

"_You can thank Matsu-tan by giving her a reward when you get home, ufufufu."_

"_Matsu!" _Naruto heard Tsukiumi's shout over the line._ "I will not have you speaking like that in my presence! And don't think I will allow your scandalise behavior toward my husband go unpunished."_

"_Ufufufu… it sounds like Tsu-tan is angry."_

"_Don't call me that!"_

"_Is Tsu-tan jealous that Matsu-tan got to Naru-tan before she did?"_

"_T-t-that's―no, of course not! It's just―I mean you can't―"_

"_Can't what?"_

As Tsukiumi's sputters came over the communication device, Naruto decided to leave the pair to their bickering. He did make a mental note to visit the list of shrines Matsu had given him later today. After clicking off the device, Naruto's hand returned to his side.

The trio eventually arrived at the building Matsu directed them to. Rust stains covered much of the metal and the walls of the tiny complex had fungus growing near the bottom. Much of the wood that made up the building was stained and beginning to rot. The roof also appeared to be in a serious state of disrepair.

The stairway creaked as they walked up, groaning ominously. Naruto worried that it wouldn't be able to handle their weight, but they made it up just fine.

He walked up to the doorway and raised a hand to knock when his instincts warned him of danger not a second too soon.

He jumped back just in time to avoid the door exploding in his face. A figure darted out, something long and gleaming held in their hands. In response to this sudden threat, Miya rushed forward, her still sheathed katana coming up and blocking the attacking weapon: a naginata, Naruto realized.

At the same time several tridents shot toward them from another direction. Akitsu responded to the threat, summoning a wall of ice in the tridents path. The four tri-pronged weapons penetrated the ice but did not break through. The tridents disappeared when whoever threw them realized they'd not accomplished their task.

Naruto took a quick moment to assess the two attacking him. They were Sekirei, obviously. The one with the naginata had long black hair and doe-like brown eyes. She wore a kimono similar in many ways to the one Miya wore, except the obi was colored different and the sleeves had slits near her shoulders. Her hair had a bow in it. The other one had short blond hair and blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a red dress with a golden belt that gleamed brightly in the light. A brown jacket thrown over the dress completed the outfit. She also wore red gloves. He knew both of these Sekirei: number 87, Kaho and number 54, Kuruse.

"Who are you people?" Kaho demanded, her tone deathly serious, sharper than the very blade she was currently using against them. "If you're after Minato-sama, I can tell you right now that you're wasting your time. There's no way I'll let any of you through."

"Woah." Naruto raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Easy there. We're not here to hurt your Ashikabi or anything. We just wanted to speak with him."

Kaho's scowl told him exactly what she thought of his words. She clearly didn't trust him. He couldn't blame her, but it did make things more difficult.

Fortunately for him, before hostilities could reinitiate, a voice from inside spoke up.

"Kaho-chan? What's going on out here?"

"Nothing, Minato-sama. Just taking care of some intruders."

From the open door, a figure walked out. Naruto recognized him easily enough, even if the young man had undergone many changes in the past few months. And it seemed he was recognized as well, because a second after spotting him, MInato's eyes widened in shock and he pointed at the blond.

"It's you!"

XoX

Several minutes later the group sat on the tatami mats of the small, decrepit living room. A glance around revealed that, just like the exterior, the interior of their residence was in sore need of remodeling―no, it should just be torn down and rebuilt. The place was disgusting. Degraded tatami mats, mould covering the walls and cracks along the ceiling told Naruto how desperate these three must be if they were living in this condition.

Kaho, who sat on Minato's left, bowed her head low in apology.

"I am terribly sorry for attacking you without provocation," she said, "I had assumed you were another one of Higa's thugs coming after Minato-sama. I did not know that you and he were acquainted."

"It's fine." Naruto waved off her apologies. "I can't really blame you for attacking us after everything that's happened to you."

Naruto studied the trio in front of him. Having read up on their profiles, Kaho and Kuruse were about what he expected them to. Minato was the one who shocked him the most. The young man he'd first met all those months ago appeared to have done a good deal of growing up. Last they'd seen of each other, the much younger man had carried himself with a noticeable slouch. That slouch had all but disappeared and he now sat straight. A calm confidence permeated him.

He also had a angry red scar going over his right eye, which led him to believe the one in his socket was a replacement.

"Anyway, I believe introductions are in order," Naruto continued. "You probably know me if you've watched the news. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. With me are two of my Sekirei: number seven, Akitsu, and number one, Miya."

Kaho paled. "You mean to tell me I just fought the strongest Sekirei in existence?"

"Oh my." Miya held a hand to her cheek and smiled, her mien every bit that of the demure and humble landlady. "Such flattering words. I don't know about the strongest, but I will admit that I am pretty good with a blade."

"Always the humble and modest landlady, Miya," Naruto joked. Miya turned her smile on him, a single purple eye cracking open.

"Of course. What else would I be?"

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone looked at Akitsu as she opened her mouth.

"Scary."

While Naruto snickered Miya frowned, just a bit.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Minato, trying to steer their conversation back on track.

"Looking for you, of course."

Minato seemed confused. His face scrunched up. "You're looking for me? Why?"

"Because I was hoping you'd be willing to join me," Naruto said, "I'm already working with your sister."

"Yukari?" Minato looked shocked.

"Yep."

"Wait. So you're the person she's always talking about then!"

Naruto blinked. "Yukari talks about me?"

"All the time," Minato confirmed. "I always make it a point to keep in touch with her because I don't want to worry her; she thinks I'm living in an apartment on the other side of the city and studying for my entrance exams to get into Tokyo-U. Whenever I call her up, she's always talking about―well, she never mentioned you by name, but she often spoke of a…" Minato coughed into his hand, his cheeks turning just a little red.

"A what?"

"A…"

"A hot blond stud with sexy abs and arms," Kuruse supplied.

"Kuruse!" Minato blushed bright red sped while Kaho scolded her sister-Sekirei for speaking so blatantly. "You shouldn't speak in such a crass manner. It's impolite."

"Whatever," Kuruse said, crossing her arms under her chest and rolling her eyes.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Ma, ma, it's fine. I sort of expected it would be something like that. No offense, Minato, but your sister is more than a little weird."

Minato's shoulders slumped. "You don't have to tell me."

"You mentioned that you want to join forces," Kaho prompted. Naruto got the feeling she was the most serious of the trio.

"Yes, I'm beginning to tire of the Sekirei Plan," Naruto said. "Miya and my other Sekirei, minus maybe Musubi, don't really care for the plan or how they're being forced to fight against their own sisters. I want to put an end to it."

"Couldn't you do that by yourself?" Minato asked, curious. "I'm not completely out of the loop. I've watched the news and I saw what you did to the city."

Naruto gave a mirthless smile. "If it was simply a matter of killing Minaka and destroying MBI there wouldn't be a problem. I could do that easily, provided I'm willing to turn Shinto Teito and the surrounding area into a smoking crater―which I'm not." He might not care for human life, but that didn't mean he went out of his way to snuff it out. "There are several issues that are stopping me from simply wiping him out."

"Such as?" asked Minato.

"Aside from the fact that I don't want to destroy the city, I have several goals that cannot be met by simply destroying MBI."

"First." Naruto held up his index finger. "I want to find out where all of the deactivated Sekirei are being stored and find a way to reactivated them. They deserve to be allowed to find their own Ashikabi."

Miya placed her right hand in Naruto's and squeezed it affectionately. Naruto offered her a smile, and then turned that same smile on Akitsu when she leaned into his side.

Naruto held up a second finger.

"Second: I want to find all of the Sekirei who have been forcibly winged and severe the connection between them and their Ashikabi, this way they can also have a chance at finding their real Ashikabi."

"Third: Minaka has several dangerous artifacts in his possession and I have no idea what he plans on using them for. These artifacts are incredibly powerful and could end up doing more harm than good by simply wiping him from the face of existence without at least knowing what his intentions toward them are."

"And finally." Naruto held up a fourth finger. "Some of my Sekirei have goals they would like to accomplish, which can only be accomplished by competing in the Sekirei Plan. Until they have succeeded in their goals, I would like the plan to continue."

"That seems awfully ambitious," Minato said.

Naruto almost snorted. If this kid knew of half the crap he'd done in his life, he'd realize that goals like this weren't all that much for him―comparatively speaking.

"Only if you're willing to look at it that way."

"Say we do agree to this," Kaho started, "what would you have us do?"

Naruto turned his attention toward the young woman. She seemed to be the one who made the strategic decisions among them.

"Right now my goal is acquiring all eight jinki before Minaka or someone else can misuse them," Naruto explained. "If you agreed to work with me, I'd simply have you help me get those before anyone else."

Kaho narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "And what do you plan on doing with those jinki? How do we know you won't abuse them?"

"I don't plan on using them." At least he didn't at the moment. Not until he knew if they were capable of granting his Sekirei immortality. "All I want to do is make sure no one else can use them. As to how you can know I won't abuse them… you can't." Kaho looked like she was about to jump him, but Minato held her back. "Let's face it, all I have is my word that I won't abuse them. You don't know me beyond what you've seen on the news, so my word probably means little. That means you have two choices: you can choose to believe me when I say I don't intend on abusing their power, or you can choose not to believe me."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "However, you know what I am capable of; you saw it on the news. If I wanted to, I could easily destroy everyone and everything here. I think the fact that I am not abusing my own power and actually asking for aid should tell you more than simple words can."

A thick silence permeated the air, cloying and heavy. Minato exchanged uneasy glances with his Sekirei, before looking back at Naruto.

"What would you do if I said I didn't want to help you?"

"I would leave." When he saw Minato's and Kaho's incredulous looks, Naruto shrugged. "I'm not going to force you into working with me. The reason I am asking for your help is because you're Yukari's brother and I would rather work with you than fight against you, not because I feel the help is actually needed."

Kaho's lips became a thin line. "That's an awfully arrogant statement to make."

Naruto shrugged. "Perhaps, but why don't we look at the facts. I have eight Sekirei, most of whom are single-digits and one of them just so happens to be Sekirei number one, the most powerful of all one-hundred and eight Sekirei."

Naruto took a moment to smile at Miya, who returned it with one of her own. He then looked back at Kaho.

"Going by Sekirei alone I have the most powerful team, however, let's add myself into that equation now. You know what I can do. Minato has already mentioned seeing the video feed of my battle with Karasuba." Naruto smiled grimly when Kaho grimaced. "And it seems you know who I'm talking about. If you saw that battle, then you know I am more than capable of fighting on par with the most powerful Sekirei out there and leveling an entire city block on my own."

To some people, these statements would seem like they were made out of arrogance. To Naruto they were just facts. Facts which had been already been proven true.

More silence. The tension in the room became thickened to the point that it was almost suffocating. Minato and his two Sekirei started to sweat nervously.

"Now then, ask yourselves this," Naruto continued, his voice grave. "If I have all this power, why would I ask someone else for help if not because I wanted to keep them safe?"

No one had an answer to that. Naruto nodded.

"Thought so. If there's one thing you must understand it's that I'm not necessarily doing this for the extra help, though several more sets of eyes is certainly appreciated; I'm simply doing this as a favor to Minato's sister."

Kaho and Minato remained silent. Kuruse, who seemed to be the quietest of the bunch, looked introspective.

Naruto stood up, followed swiftly by Akitsu and Miya.

"I'll leave you to think about my offer and everything else I said," Naruto said, "if you agree to help, we'll give you a place to stay so you're not always on the run and help pay for your expenses, however, the choice to work with us is yours."

Naruto turned around, about to leave when…

"Wait!"

Stopping by the door, Naruto looked back to see Minato on his feet.

"We'll work with you."

"Minato…"

Minato smiled down at Kaho. "I don't really care about this Sekirei plan or the jinki. All I want is to be able to live with you and Kuruse. If Naruto-san can guarantee that, then I don't mind lending a hand."

Kaho flushed under his words while Kuruse beamed. Naruto nodded his head and smiled at the boy. It seemed he'd manned up a bit since the last time they'd bumped into each other. For some reason, he found Minato's behavior kind of familiar but shook it off. It was probably because he was Yukari's older brother.

"In that case," Miya said, speaking now that Naruto had convinced Minato to join them. "How about we continue this discussion back at Maison Izumo. I have no desire to stay here and would like to get dinner started."

Everyone agreed, so the group began to move out as one.

XoX

Later that night found Naruto relaxing in the tub, his mind reviewing the days events. After convincing Minato and his Sekirei to help them, the group had traveled back to Maison Izumo where Miya had proceeded to prepare dinner. Naruto had spent much of that time discussing the finer points of what he was hoping to accomplish with Minato, who seemed agreeable to his plans. After that, Minato and his Sekirei were directed to the last remaining empty room, which they would stay in until Naruto set up a place for them to live.

As he leaned back against tub, his head resting on the lip, eyes staring at the ceiling, the door slid open. Naruto looked over to see Homura, covered in just a towel, closing the door behind her.

He took a moment to admire the woman as she walked. Her towel barely covered her modest bust and the flare of her hips. He could see bits of side breast poking out from beneath the fabric in front of her as she walked. Her cheeks were red, inflamed, and Naruto had a feeling he knew the reason why.

"Homura," he greeted with a smile as the silver-haired woman climbed into the tub opposite him. "I didn't expect something like this from you. Matsu maybe, but I thought you weren't the type who would want to join me in the bath."

Homura's already red cheeks seemed to brighten. Naruto didn't know if his words were the cause or just the heat of the tub.

"I-I wanted to… talk to you… about something."

Naruto shifted his posture. Something about the way Homura said that made him feel this discussion warrant a little more seriousness.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to ask…" Homura paused. Naruto watched her chest visibly expand as she exhaled, and then contract as she inhaled. "I wanted to ask if what you said back then… during training. I wanted to know if the words you spoke were true."

"Which parts?"

"All of it."

Naruto remained silent for but a moment before smiling. "Do you really doubt me so much, Homura?"

When the woman in question looked away Naruto moved forward. Homura almost squawked as she suddenly found him between her legs, but didn't get a chance to say anything when the blond immortal grabbed her hand and placed it against his chest.

His heart was beating frantically.

"Do you feel this?" he asked, "can you feel my heartbeat?"

Homura could only nod.

"This heart is beating so fast because you and the others make it beat like this. Before I met you, this heart had been dead for nearly one-thousand years. It has only been through meeting and interacting with you and the other Sekirei that my heart has finally become alive again."

Homura said nothing, but her fingers twitched against his chest, as if desiring to rub his skin.

"However, if that is not enough to convince you that my feelings are quite real, then how about this."

As he spoke these words, Naruto opened the bond between him and Homura more fully. While the bond never truly closed, he often kept it under a tight leash. That way his Sekirei's decisions were not affected by his feelings. Now, however, Naruto allowed Homura to experience the full intensity of the bond they shared, of the feelings he had at one time tried to deny.

He watched Homura's eyes grow wide and her cheeks flush. Her breathing picked up and became heavy. As the towel she'd been holding to her chest fell from slack fingers, Naruto saw her breast sway with the motion of her breathing and felt himself harden.

Homura's hands rose from beneath the water's surface to cup his face, fingers delicately tracing his features and whiskers. The way she gazed at him, as if just now seeing him for the first time, would have been amusing were the situation different.

"This is how you really feel?" she asked, her voice a breathy whisper. Her eyes went down to her hand pressed against his chest.

"You should know the answer to that question," Naruto said. Homura nodded. You can't fake emotions through the bond. You can hide them, mask them, make it so others don't feel them, but sending false emotions through the bond was impossible.

Homura nodded absentmindedly, her mind too focused on the hand pressed to her Ashikabi's chest, the warmth his body emitted, stronger than any hotspring, to pay anything else any mind. She rubbed her hand against the skin in sweeping gestures that grew larger over time.

A hand on her face forced her to look into Naruto's eyes. The intensity in them was impossible not to notice. Had she ever seen his eyes look so clear before?

"Naruto…" She mumbled, and it was all he would allow her to say. Not a moment later his lips were on hers, kissing her with a passion that left her stunned. Her mind soon cleared, however―at least to the point where she began kissing back.

Wings of fire emerged from her back. Steam rose all around them, clinging to their skin. Homura's hand slid from his chest to his back, pulling him close. She could feel his hardness settled against her crotch. Naruto's arms wrapped around her waist as he sat down, pulling her onto his lap. Hers legs, acting on instincts not her own, wrapped around his waist, feet locking together on the small of his back.

The kiss grew more intense. Naruto's tongue bypassed Homura's lips and teeth, finding her tongue and beginning to play with it. The friction produced caused a muffled moan to escape her and for Homura's own tongue to return his affectionate playing.

A particularly loud moan escaped Homura's mouth when Naruto's hands went from her back to her rear, grabbing handfuls of her cheeks and giving them a squeeze. It became a prolonged sound when those same hands began kneading the flesh in a way that shot arcs of pleasure like electric currents up her spine straight into her brain.

Their bodies pressed together, leaving no room between them. Naruto's hardness rubbed against Homura's folds, sending her body into blissful fits. She shuddered and writhed and moved her hips to increase the feelings of intense pleasure. Naruto helped her along with his hands on her butt.

"Naruto…" Homura gasped when his lips left hers. Whatever else she might have said was lost when his mouth found her neck and suckled on it. Her incessant rubbing against him increased and she knew that, were it not for the water already making her wet, her entire lower half would have been drenched in her own fluids.

"Homura," Naruto rasped against her neck, even as his hands pulled her to him, causing her body to quake as the action worked the small bundle of nerves from underneath its hood. Whatever sense of self-control she might have maintained became lost in that instant.

"Hn!"

It wasn't long after that Naruto slid inside of Homura. It was a tight fit, and Homura hissed in pain as her walls expanded, but she urged Naruto further in until she could feel a small patch of pubic hair rubbing against her skin.

"Are you okay?" asked Naruto. Homura didn't say anything, instead just nodding against his shoulder. "Let me know when you're ready to continue."

It took several minutes before Homura gave him the go ahead. She was smaller than most, and tighter, which meant his intrusion probably hurt a good deal more. It took time for her body to accommodate him.

"I… I'm ready," she said eventually.

Unlike the passion displayed earlier, Naruto was incredibly gentle when they were connected. He worked slowly, his chakra covered hands pulling her back until just his head was inside of her and then pushing down until he was fully sheathed again. Homura helped, moving her hips back and forth in time with his hands. Their rhythm remained slow and steady, causing the build-up inside of them to grow at a slower pace.

However, grow it did, and Homura eventually felt the telling signs of impending orgasm.

"N-Naruto… I… I… Ahn!"

Homura's words were lost when Naruto bit down on her collar bone. The act somehow sent a spike of pleasure directly into her brain. Her walls clamped around him, tightening to the point of becoming uncomfortable. She shuddered against him as, for a single second, she became even tighter around him, and then just as suddenly loosened as her body went slack.

Wanting to get comfortable, Naruto moved back until he was leaning against the tub again. He rested his hands against Homura's body, gently rubbing her hips and fondling her breasts. Homura, basking in the afterglow of what they'd shared, merely sighed and snuggled against him.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Naruto spoke. "See, aren't you glad you're a girl now? You wouldn't be able to experience my amazing technique if you had a dick."

Naruto could not see the blush on Homura's face.

"Bite me."

"I'd be delighted to."

The grin on Naruto's face as he said that made Homura both fearful and aroused. She had a very strong feeling she'd come to regret her words.

Or not.

XoX

Naruto and Musubi walked hand-in-hand, their destination being the well-maintained apartment complex several meters away. It was early afternoon and the sun shone overhead. From their current position, they could easily see the large stack of supplies situated right next to a staircase.

As they made it to the stairs, Kaho walked down, about to grab the box full of appliances. She stopped upon noticing them, however.

"Naruto," she greeted formally, before turning a smile on the Sekirei by his side. "Musubi."

"Hi, Kaho-chan!" Musubi greeted cheerfully.

It hadn't been a surprise to learn that Musubi and Kaho were friends. They'd had the same adjustor, according to Musubi, and Kaho had also been captured by the same militant group that kidnapped buoyant fist-fighter, though she'd not suffered the damage Musubi had.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Kaho.

"We came to see if you needed help moving your stuff!"

It hadn't taken long for Naruto to arrange a place for them to live. With so many people leaving the city, a lot of real state was being sold cheap. This complex was a perfect example. Naruto had found out through Matsu that this place was being sold because the owner left and had decided to buy out the whole complex for less money than some of the suits he owned.

It was a decent place to live with spacious, twenty-two tatami mat rooms, well-maintained, and very little wrong with it. The complex was perfect for someone like Minato and his Sekirei to set up shop.

That morning, upon telling Musubi that Kaho and her Ashikabi were moving in, she'd immediately asked if they could go help her friend set up their house. Naruto hadn't been able to refuse.

Kaho smiled at Musubi's enthusiasm and agreed to their offer of help. "I'm sure Minato-sama won't mind," she said.

Inside of the apartment the trio were greeted by Kuruse and Minato, who appeared to be decorating the living room.

"I'm not sure we should start decorating until we have all of our furniture in here," Minato said, frowning as Kuruse moved about the room with a giant poster of some J-pop band in her hands. "Since we don't know where everything is going to go, it might be best if we hold off on decorating for now."

"Stop worrying so much, Mina-san," Kuruse said, moving over to the wall opposite him. She pressed the poster against the wall, and then pulled it back. "I'm not putting anything up yet. I just want to see if―oh." Her eyes locked onto them. "We have visitors."

Minato spun around, eyes locking with Naruto.

"Naruto-san, what are you doing here?"

"Figured you could use some help with your moving in," Naruto said, "I also wanted to give you some information on the Ashikabi who pose the greatest threat, and who you might end up facing off against in the coming games."

Minato acknowledged Naruto's words with a nod and the group soon got to work. With Naruto's and Musubi's help, it didn't take long for all of their supplies and furniture to be brought in. They didn't begin decorating though. Instead Naruto and Minato sat down at the coffee table while Musubi chatted happily with Kaho and Kuruse.

"I've managed to find out that the third phase of the Sekirei Plan is going to be a three way match. Ashikabi will be allowed to bring two Sekirei with them and it will take place in the capital Chuuou Junction."

"Isn't that one of the busiest freeway junctions in Shinto Teito?" Minato asked, though it was not really a question as he spoke again seconds later. "Is it really alright for us to fight there?"

"MBI plans on evacuating the area of all civilians," Naruto said, "not that it matters. Few civilians use that junction these days for, well, reasons."

Naruto coughed into his hand, mildly embarrassed. The reason that junction wasn't used much anymore was because of his rampage. Chuuou was just a few blocks down from where he'd destroyed an entire city block.

"In either event, there are only a few Ashikabi who can take part in the third match: myself, Higa and Natsuo. All the other Ashikabi with more than one Sekirei have either been defeated or already took part in a match."

"I doubt you will have to face me," Naruto added, making Minato sigh in relief. "Chances are you'll face Higa and Natsuo."

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you think it's unlikely you'll be chosen to participate in the third match?" asked Minato. Naruto gave him a smile.

"Let's just say I get the feeling Minaka has something special planned for more.

XoX

Several dozen miles off the coast of Japan, a certain mad scientist sneezed, the loud noise echoing along the metal walls of his secret laboratory.

"Hmm, someone must be talking about me." Rubbing his nose, Minaka grinned. "I wonder if it's Naruto-kun?"

He turned back to his creations floating in their tubes, and the grin slowly widened. Once he got these things up and running, the games would become much more interesting.

"Mwahahahahahahaha! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

XoX

Naruto walked up the stone steps leading to one of many shrines located across the city. He was alone this time, feeling it would be best not to have any of his Sekirei with him for this. Trees and plants swayed in the breeze on either side, lending a peaceful ambience to the place. He could actually feel the nature here―though he doubted he'd be able to gather much natural energy here. Maybe enough for five minutes in Sage Mode.

As he ascended the last step, the space opened up to reveal a sprawling complex before him. The traditional Japanese shrine appeared well-maintained, if a little aging. He could see a few spots along the wall that were slightly decayed, but, for the most part, this shrine held the simple elegance expected of a place to worship the gods of old.

Naruto felt a little silly since all Shinto shrines either worshiped one of his many personas or one of his many children. He shook the thought off. It wasn't important.

He went up to the main building where the curator no doubt presided, walking up the wood steps, past the lintel posts to stand in front of the shogi screen door, which depicted the image of Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto, Shinto god of marriage and one of many his sons. He rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Just a second," a female voice called out.

Footsteps reached him, growing louder by the second. Naruto stepped back as the door slid open and a woman appeared before him. Plain was the word he'd used to describe her. Long brown hair reached mid-back and dark brown eyes were set into a face that was neither ugly nor pretty. Just plain. The miko shrine maiden kimono she wore was the only thing that made her stand out.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she asked.

"I believe so," Naruto said, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and you're Temura Manami, right? I believe we spoke over the phone."

"Ah, yes, we did." Manami opened the door a little further and stepped aside. "Please, come in."

Smiling, Naruto did just that. The door slid closed behind him and he followed Manami into the sitting room. While she prepared some tea, Naruto sat seiza and waited patiently for the meeting to start.

"Thank you for your patience," Manami said as she set the tea in front of him. She then took up seiza several feet in front of him. "You mentioned wishing to use this shrine for a ceremony?"

"Yes." Naruto smiled as he held the cup aloft. "A very special ceremony."

XoX

Naruto observed Akitsu as she created the jutsu he'd been teaching her. Frosty mist gathered in the air around her, gathering, thickening, hardening and taking shape. A series of mirrors formed from the mist, surrounding the two of them in a dome. Naruto saw his reflection staring back at him on the mirrors he looked at.

While his training with Musubi consisted of sparring and his times with Kazehana and Homura focused on making them better at using their elements, his training with Akitsu involved him teaching her all the ice jutsu he knew.

It was interesting to see how different teaching her was from teaching one of his children. All of his children needed hand seals to learn jutsu when they first started learning, the consequence of being born from him, he guessed. Akitsu didn't need hand seals. Her control over ice was on a level above all his children who'd gained the powers to control ice. All he needed to do was show her the technique and she simply mimicked it.

Some techniques were harder than others. The Demonic Ice Mirrors being a perfect example. They required far more concentration than creating simple needles or stakes. Aside from the ice mirrors and normal ice release jutsu, Naruto had also taken to teaching her Guren's Crystal Release jutsu. While she couldn't actually use Shoton, Akitsu was more than capable of recreating each technique via ice manipulation and had learned a number of powerful techniques thus far.

"Not bad," Naruto said, smiling. "It looks like you've finally gotten the hang of the Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Mirrors). You'll need to work on casting it faster, though. It takes you point five seconds to gather the ice and another point five to form the mirrors. Even a second can mean the difference between victory and defeat in combat."

"Yes, Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu answered without hesitation. He noticed she tended to have quicker reply times when training. He wondered about that, but chalked it up to this just being another quirk.

"Still, you've done an excellent job," Naruto complimented, smiling. "It took me two years to learn this technique, whereas it's only taken you a few weeks. I'm very impressed."

Akitsu flushed at the praise, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. Naruto thought it was adorable.

"Thank you, Ashikabi-sama."

"So then, I think we've done enough training this day," Naruto said, clasping her hands in his. Akitsu looked at him, then down, then back up at him. He just smiled at her. "Would you like to do something fun?"

Akitsu just tilted her head.

XoX

Naruto's definition of fun became clear when he took Akitsu to an ice skating rink on the other side of the city. Due to how far it was from the damage-zone caused by him, the skating rink was one of the few places that remained open and still had a decent number of customers.

After buying a pair of skates from the clerk, Naruto had Akitsu sit down on a bench. He set the skates down and sat on the ground in front of her, then grabbed her left foot and set it on his lap.

Akitsu wore tabi socks and geta sandals. Her took her sandal off and set it aside, then did the same with her socks. The snow-woman sat, quietly watching as he pulled another pair of socks from his pocket, her cheeks a little flushed.

"Raise your leg a bit, please," Naruto requested softly. Akitsu complied, raising her leg and consequently her foot, which allowed Naruto to slide the sock over her foot. She set it back down as he continued pulling the black knee-high sock all the way up. When finished, his gaze traveled up, mouth open to ask something.

He paused. And then began twitching.

"Akitsu?"

"Yes, Ashikabi-sama?"

"Why aren't you wearing any underwear?"

"Ah."

A pause. Akitsu looked down to see the slit of her kimono had opened, revealing her pantiless crotch, exposing absolutely everything.

She looked back at Naruto.

"I forgot."

Naruto twitched some more.

Fortunately for his own piece of mind, Naruto had the foresight to bring a spare pair of panties with him. He made Akitsu put them on (and made her do so in the restroom when she attempted to put them on in public), before he finished putting on her ice skates.

"You've never gone ice skating before, right?" Naruto asked as he led Akitsu onto the ice skating rink. The blades of his skates clinked as he set foot onto the ice. Akitsu followed, her right hand grasping his.

"No," Akitsu admitted. Her left skate touched the ice and the poor woman nearly fell on her bottom when she lifted her right leg. Naruto caught her before that happened and eased her onto the ice rink, arms wrapped around her waist to help keep her from falling.

"Careful now. We wouldn't want you to slip and fall," Naruto said, smiling. Akitsu found herself caught within his gaze. Her cheeks turned red and her body became hot. She felt like she would melt under that gaze.

"Ah… okay."

They soon began to skate―or at least tried to skate. Naruto soon discovered that, in spite of her powers over snow and ice, Akitsu had no talent with ice-skating―probably because she'd never done it before.

To help with this, Naruto turned until he was facing her and skating backwards. His hands grasped hers and he gently pulled her along the ice. Akitsu smiled at him, one of the few she'd ever given, and Naruto felt his body become lighter. She really did have one of the prettiest smiles. It was a shame she didn't do so more often. He should think about doing more fun activities like this if it got her to smile more.

They appeared to be the center of attention, which Naruto noticed as he continued teaching Akitsu how to skate. He didn't know if the few people at the rink were staring at him or Akitsu. Considering his infamy and her beauty it could be either or. He put these people out of his mind, however, and instead simply enjoyed the time spent with her.

Naruto didn't know how long they spent ice-skating, but when Akitsu's stomach made a loud, rumbling complaint, realized they'd probably been there for several hours. They moved off the rink together and left to grab a bite at the nearest restaurant, a small sushi-bar. While sitting at the table they were directed to, Naruto decided it was high-time to learn more about Akitsu―more specifically, he wanted to know about her goals.

"Ne, Akitsu, do you have any plans for the future?" he asked. When all Akitsu did was blink, Naruto clarified. "I mean after the Sekirei Plan is done. Is there anything you would like to do or become?"

Akitsu's face shifted, morphing into one of thought. She didn't speak for several seconds, and when she did her tone was slow and halting, as if she was thinking about each word carefully before speaking.

"I've never really thought about it," she admitted. "The only thing I care about is being with you. So long as I am with you, nothing else matters to me."

Naruto felt his insides warm. Truly, Akitsu's dedication, loyalty and love for him was incredible. At the same time, he felt kind of sad. She didn't have any goals or aspirations of her own. She lived for him―a result of her conditioning at the hands of her foolish adjustor, no doubt.

He made a silent vow to help Akitsu discover something she could enjoy outside of her relationship with him.

He also promised himself that he would find the adjustor who "broke" her and kill them in the most painful manner he could think of.

"Ne, ne, Akitsu."

Akitsu looked at him inquisitively.

"Wanna have our wedding night?"

XoX

They rented out a room at a love hotel in one of the red-light districts of Shinto Teito. Perhaps because of the nature of red-light districts, most if not all of the ones that lay scattered across the city were still up and running, signified by the bright, colorful neon signs that glared in brilliant luminescence when they were walking down the street looking for a place to stay.

Naruto sat on the bed in just his boxers, red satin sheets underneath his fingertips, eyes surveying their surroundings. His feet grasped at the dark red carpet, as if to pluck strands of fabric with his toes. The dark lighting in the room made the light pink walls hard to see.

They could have gone back home and done this. Miya had repealed the "no lewd acts in Maison Izumo" policy to a "keep lewd acts confined to your room" policy―the fact that she abused this policy of hers notwithstanding. But, still, Naruto kind of wanted to do something special with Akitsu, and while a love hotel might not seem that special, it was the best he could come up with on such short notice. He would doing something special for their honeymoon to make up for it.

He listened to the shower running. Akitsu was in there getting ready, something about needing to prepare herself. He assumed she just didn't want to be dirty for their first time―which sounded like an oxymoron to him if there ever was one.

The shower turned off. Naruto tilted his head. A moment later the door to the restroom opened and steam billowed out. Akitsu entered the bedroom, her form covered by a towel, silver locks of hair still damp from her shower as bare feet stepped onto the carpet. She stopped in front of Naruto, and though her expression remained blank her cheeks were slightly red.

"Come here," Naruto said, standing up and holding out his hand. Akitsu did not hesitate to follow his orders. She grabbed his hand and let him pull her over.

Her body bumped against his, and Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her pinned to him. He stared down at her steel-colored eyes. Her cheeks gained an even darker color from his starring.

"Ashikabi-sama, I―"

"I love you," Naruto said. Akitsu's eyes widened. "I just… wanted you to know that."

Akitsu stared at him for several long seconds that seemed to stretch on forever. Then she leaned in, pressing her face to his chest, arms going around his body as she held herself to him.

"I love you too," she said softly and with no hesitation in her voice. "Ever since we met and you took me in I've loved you. Even if you had never given me my wings, I would still love you."

"Akitsu," Naruto said, "do you mind if I ask why you love me? Is it just because I gave you a home?"

Akitsu looked up at him, frowning. "Of course not; it's because you're like me." Naruto tilted his head. "You're broken," she clarified. "I knew the moment we first met that you were like me. It was all in your eyes. Behind that smile you put up and that friendly facade you had when we first met, I recognized the signs of someone who's been broken by the weight of the world."

"I see." Naruto smiled sadly. "I should've guessed you wouldn't be fooled."

"I wanted to be close to you because I knew you'd understand what it meant to be broken." Akitsu laid her head back against his bare chest. "And then you fixed me. You gave me wings when I had resigned myself to remaining broken. You have no idea how much that meant to me. That's why I love you, because you're broken like me, yet you do not let it stop you from helping others… even if you do not care for people as a whole."

Naruto looked down at Akitsu as she spoke. It was one of the few times he'd ever heard her talk so much. As he stared down at her, his eyes wandered to the bare shoulders her towel exposed to her towel-clad body; the way the bust strained against the cloth and the tantalizing hint of cleavage, the curvature of her lovely hips and mile-long legs. The longer he admired the woman the harder he felt.

Akitsu could feel it to.

"Ashikabi-sama―"

Naruto's mouth hampered her ability to speak, but she did not resist. As if she'd been expecting this, her arms tightened around him, pulling their bodies together until her breasts mashed against his chest. Meanwhile, Naruto's hands traveled down her back to land on her towel covered rear. Akitsu moaned into his mouth as he grasped and squeezed her cheeks, and before long, Naruto decided he wanted to feel more of her and undid the knot holding the towel to her body.

The towel fell away. Akitsu's bare breasts pressed against his chest. Naruto pulled her even closer while his tongue penetrated her lips.

They fell back onto the bed as they continued kissing, their tongues dancing an eternal waltz. Naruto groaned as Akitsu trapped his arousal between her thighs. His boxers grew wet as her folds rubbed against him in ways that caused his spine to tingle pleasantly. A hand reached down between them, delicate and soft, grasping him through his boxers and moving up and down. Naruto's hips bucked in Akitsu's hand, even more so when said hand slipped underneath his boxers to grab him directly.

"A-Akitsu…" Naruto tried to sound out a warning of impending explosion. As if sensing this, Akitsu's stroking increased in speed and the hand softly squeezing him tightened just a bit, which was all the encouragement little Naruto apparently needed to explode in her hand.

As Naruto's boxers became a mess, Akitsu slid her hand out to see that it was covered in his seed. She stared at it for a moment, then gave it an almost tentative lick. A second later she was licking the rest off her hand with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. Watching the sight from where he lay, Naruto felt himself become aroused again.

Grabbing Akitsu by the shoulders he pulled her down and then rolled so he was on top and Akitsu was on the bottom. He leaned down and kissed her again, ignoring the slightly bitter taste. As she returned his kiss with equal fervor, he slid his hands down her flat belly and in between her legs.

Calloused fingers stroked her folds, causing them to become slightly engorged with arousal. His fingers became wet with her dew, letting him know she was ready. He slipped a finger inside of her, eliciting a low moan that drove his mind and spurned him to add a second finger. While he began to pump his fingers inside of her, his thumb works out the small bundle of nerves under her hood and began to play with them. Akitsu's moan turned into a muffled cry as her hips bucked against his hand and her body writhed in the pleasure he inundated her with. Very soon her walls were squeezing him tightly, and a second after that she unleashed a flood of sweet nectar that drenched his hand, her thighs and the bed.

Naruto stood up only long enough to get out of his boxers. He then moved back down until he was lying on top of Akitsu, his hardness pressing against her inner left thigh. He leaned down further her their chests were touching, watching as Akitsu's glazed eyes fluttered and sharpened.

"Ashikabi… sama…" she muttered in a blissful tone. Naruto smiled and kissed her sweet lips, a kiss that she gladly returned.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"I've been ready since you granted me wings," Akitsu told him, her voice low and sensual, though he could tell it was not on purpose. "Please, Ashikabi-sama, make me yours, fully. I want to become one with you."

Naruto nodded and used his hand to guide himself into her entrance. He slid in and, just as he suspected, she did not have a hymen. He wondered if this was the result of her adjustments or maybe her escape from the labs.

Tears began leaking from Akitsu's eyes. At first, Naruto thought his intrusion had hurt her, but then she said, "I can feel you. You're inside me."

Naruto smiled. "That's right. We're one now."

"One," Akitsu breathed in the word as if it were some kind of inhalant ambrosia. Her hands buried themselves in his hair as she pulled him into a kiss.

They began to move in unison, arms and legs entwining as their bodies, generating heat, covered in sweat, dancing together as one. Akitsu's heady moans and pants created an orchestral symphony to accompany the sounds generated by their love making.

"Ashikabi-sama…" Akitsu moaned out as Naruto thrust into her. "I-I'm close… I'm gonna…"

Words ceased when Naruto leaned down and nibbled on her ear. "Let go, Akitsu," he whispered, and so she did. Her walls clamped around him as a flood of nectar caused her to become slick. Her body quaked and shivered as her voice, normally so soft, almost like a winters breeze, grew in volume as she rode out a wave of pleasure.

When her orgasm passed, Akitsu's body relaxed completely, almost to the point of going limp. Naruto gently scooped her up and repositioned her against the pillows. He then climbed back in and cuddled up to her.

No words were spoken as they snuggled under the blankets and slowly fell asleep. No words needed to be spoken. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, and Naruto and Akitsu fell asleep peacefully, wrapped in each others arms, secure in the knowledge of their love for each other.

* * *

><p><strong>First off, I would like to thank everyone who's been reading this conglomerate of plot holes and angst I call a story. Thank you and I hope you have a Merry Christmas... unless you don't celebrate Christmas, in which case I wish you a happy holidays.<strong>

**Second, I have an announcement to make and two favors to ask. Starting today and ending on Thursday, December 25****th****, my book, A Fox's Love, will be free to download on Amazon Kindle. This is a limited time deal that I can only afford to do this once and only for this book. I'd like to ask that all of you who enjoy reading my fanfictions and haven't gotten this book to please go onto Amazon, download it, give it a read and, if you like it, please leave a review on my book's Amazon page (or goodreads if you've got an account there), letting everyone know what you liked about it. Consequently, if you thought it was crap, I would love to personally pick your brain. Please send me a message so I might be able to figure out where I went wrong and do better next time.**

**If you don't have a Kindle, do not worry, you can download a Kindle application onto your computer and/or mobile phone for free. I myself don't have a Kindle, but I do have an android, which is where I read my Kindle ebooks.**

**For those of you who are patiently waiting for the next installment, I ask for just a little more patience. I'm having manga illustrations done to go with Book 2, so it's taking a bit more time than I initially suspected. My hope is to have it ready to launch sometime next Spring.**

**Thanks again, and I hope you all have a great holiday.**


	41. Matches and Marriage

**Chapter 41**

**Matches and Marriage**

* * *

><p>Akitsu and Naruto didn't arrive until later the next day.<p>

"We're home," he called out after entering the boarding house and holding the door open for Akitsu, allowing her to proceed him. He and his Sekirei discarded their shoes as the sound of footsteps reached them. Naruto looked up, expecting to see Miya walking toward them with her usual placid smile.

Instead of being greeted by their beautiful landlady, he was greeted by Tsukiumi.

With one hand placed on her hips and the other pointed at him, the water-user looked the definition of an angry tsundere housewife.

"You're late, husband," she sounded the definition of an angry tsundere housewife, too.

Fortunately for him, Naruto already had experience on how to deal with angry tsundere housewives. Tsukuimi hadn't been his first.

"Sorry," he leaned down and placed a swift kiss on her lips, "I didn't mean to arrive so late, koibito."

It was interesting, the shades of red that Tsukiumi's face could turn. Naruto thought he even saw steam pouring from her ears.

"I-i-i-it's, I-I guess it's fine," Tsukiumi looked a bit dizzy. Her eyes seemed to swirl within their sockets. "J-j-just so long as you don't stay out late again."

"Of course."

Grabbing Akitsu's hand in his left and Tsukiumi's in his right, Naruto led the two into the living room, where he was greeted by an excited Kusano.

"Onii-chan!" The little girl ran up to him with her arms outstretched, clearly wanting a hug. Naruto scooped Kusano into his arms and let her snuggle against him. At that moment, Miya walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron, probably drawn by the noise, he assumed.

"Welcome home, anata," she said, and Naruto blinked at her usage of the Japanese word darling. He wondered if she was trying it out, or if there might be some other reason for her to suddenly start calling him what amounted to "honey" in a very formal fashion.

In the end, he shrugged it off and greeted Miya with a kiss.

"Thank you," his sunny grin was met with her gentle smile, "Sorry for getting back so late."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Miya held her hands to her cheek and smiled, "I knew that you and Akitsu-san might not make it back in time for breakfast, so I only prepared enough for seven Sekirei."

Naruto noticed the way she said Sekirei and not people. Humans didn't eat nearly as much as a Sekirei did. According to what he'd learned from his biology lessons with Matsu, a Sekirei needed over six times more food than a human.

"Wait," Naruto blinked, "Are Uzume and Chiho not here, then?"

The shaking of Miya's head indicated all he needed to know.

"No, I believe they have decided to follow your example and went to a love hotel. Last I saw of them, Uzume was dragging an embarrassed Chiho out of the house."

Naruto hummed for a moment.

"Uzume does know that you're no lewd acts policy is no longer in effect, right?"

"Oh dear," Miya's innocent smile was decidedly the most un-innocent thing he'd ever seen, "I think I might have forgotten to tell her that."

Naruto's flat stare made the beautiful landlady giggle.

"Muu," Kusano pouted at being ignored, "Ku-chan wants to chu chu with onii-chan, too!"

"Silence," Tsukiumi pointed at the little girl in Naruto's arms, "You are far too young to be thinking about committing any lewd or passionate acts with my husband. You must at least wait until you're older."

Kusano didn't seem to like Tsukiumi's suggestion. She crossed her arms and sent the water user a baleful glare-or at least what passed for a baleful glare. Naruto wasn't sure anything the adorable child did could look truly malign.

"Ku-chan is plenty old enough," the girl spoke with the imperiousness of a princess. Tsukiumi's annoyed face reddened.

"Are not!"

"Uh huh!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I refuse!"

"Jiiiii!"

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone looked over at Akitsu, who stared at Naruto with an expression he'd come to recognize.

"… I want a kiss, too."

"Didn't you and I just sleep together last night," Naruto teased, "My, but aren't you being greedy."

Despite this, he kissed her anyway. It's not like he didn't enjoy showing his Sekirei physical affection. He was actually beginning to grow used to it, even though he still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Where's Musubi, Kazehana and Homura?" Naruto asked. Miya opened her mouth to speak, but never actually got the chance to say something, because in that moment, they were rocked by an earthquake.

The room shook and the table jittered along the floor like a rabbit on crack. Tsukiumi screamed and Kusano's grip around his neck tightened. Naruto held his ground, but that was most thanks to the chakra he sent to his feet, which made him stick to the surface.

Fortunately, the rumbling of the earth did not last long. It stopped almost seconds after it began.

"Ah…"

Akitsu just paused.

"… Earthquake?"

No. Not an earthquake. This had a different feel to it, a more artificial one. Being a man who'd created feats of strength and could easily make earthquakes, he knew that whatever happened had been induced not by nature, but by man, or rather, by a Sekirei.

"Musubi?" Naruto sent a look at Miya, who simply sighed and nodded.

"I believe she is trying to replicate the strength technique you showed her a while back."

"I'd say she's doing a damnably fine job."

Better than fine, even. Naruto could do a lot with his strength, from creating earthquakes to destroying mountains. At full strength he could probably create massive hole the size of the Ptolemaeus crater, but that was only if he augmented himself with obscene amounts of chakra. Without chakra reinforcing his muscles and skeleton, he could probably only destroy boulders about the size of a large hill.

"Why don't you go tell her and Homura-chan that it's almost time for lunch?" Miya asked.

"No need," Homura walked into the room, "I'm right here." She sent Miya an irritable look. "And can we please not add the '-chan?' I know I'm not a male anymore, but I still don't feel comfortable with suffixes like that."

"But you're perfectly alright when it comes to you and Naruto-kun engaging in intimate relations within my bathhouse?" Miya asked a little too innocently.

"T-t-that's completely different!" Homura squeaked. Her eyes flickered to Naruto, then her face turned red and she looked away awkwardly. "He's my Ashikabi, so, um, it's only… natural… that I would want to do that… and stuff."

An awkward silence ensued for a second. Everyone stared at Homura, who merely looked away. It was actually kind of cute how she tried to play off what they'd done like it was no big deal. It was cute because she failed at it completely.

Tsukiumi broke the silence and pointed a finger at Homura.

"That is completely unacceptable! How is it that you, who became my husband's Sekirei after me, have been intimate with my husband when I have not!"

Homura's red face twitched.

"Don't look at me. I-it's not like I wanted to… I mean, he's my Ashikabi , so of course… wait, no, that's not it."

"Having trouble which dere to choose from, Homura-chan?" Kazehana asked as she entered the room with a swagger. Naruto smelled alcohol on her breath.

"You're drunk," he accused. Kazehana merely giggled.

"Hello to you too, lover-kun," she purred, right before kissing him. Unlike the light pecks he'd given everyone else, Kazehana wouldn't let herself be satisfied with that. Her tongue penetrated his mouth the moment he opened it to greet her. Only after she was thoroughly satisfied did she removed her tongue from his mouth, a string of saliva connecting them, until she broke it by running her tongue over her lips.

Tsukiumi was incensed.

"Y-y-y-y-you!" Her face burned with rage and, Naruto suspected, more than a little embarrassment. "How dare you kiss my husband like that when I have yet to do that today!"

Kazehana's amused, half-lidded eyes focused on the blond woman, her lips quirking into a leer.

"Ho? Jealous, are we?"

Tsukiumi's face exploded like a star going super nova.

"W-w-why would I be jealous?!"

"Hmph. I fail to see how that is my fault. If you wanted to kiss lover-kun like that first, then you should have done so when you first greeted him."

Tsukiumi went silent. She glanced at Naruto, then down at her feet. Her fingers were twiddling.

"B-but that's not proper behavior in public. It's just-it's not right!"

He could already sense an argument coming. Deciding that he wanted no part in it right now, he quietly left the room as Kazehana proceeded to mercilessly tease the water-user, Kusano resting on his shoulders.

"You're just saying that because you didn't have the guts to do what I did," Kazehana teased as Naruto closed the door behind him. The last thing he heard before stepping down the ladder that led to the training ground was Tsukiumi's enraged tsundere yells ringing throughout the house.

The training ground had definitely seen better days. Naruto wasn't sure what surprised him more: the destroyed forest, which looked like a pyromaniac had set it on fire, or the giant twelve meter crater in the ground several feet away?

He walked over to the edge of the crater, Kusano's hands gripping his hair as she sat on his shoulders. Standing at the bottom of the crater was Musubi…

… She was cheering.

"Yatta! I did it! I did it, I did it, I did it!" The shrine maiden threw her hands in the air and jumped up and down with more enthusiasm than Jiraiya when he was about to get laid. "I made a really big hole!"

Naruto wondered if he should correct the girl on her terms.

"Musubi!"

"Ah! Naruto-sama!"

The ground around Musubi's feet cracked as she leapt out of the crater. Small abrasions appeared on the earth when she landed. The amount of destruction her actions caused was completely at odds with her blindingly innocent smile.

"Look at that, Naruto-sama!" Musubi pointed. "I made a hole with my fist!"

"Uh, so you did."

Oh boy. This girl really did remind Naruto of himself when he'd been young and stupid. He honestly didn't know how to feel about that. Well, he supposed congratulations were in order regardless. She had just made a giant ass crater-which he was going to have to repair, now that he thought about it.

Dammit.

"Good job, Musubi," Naruto smiled at the girl.

"Thanks!"

"Miya has lunch ready, so I came down to get you."

"Okay!"

After Naruto created several hundred clones to fix the crater and restore the forest, he and Musubi-with Kusano still on his shoulders-climbed the ladder up to the Maison Izumo household.

"Just you wait, Naruto-sama!" Musubi seemed pumped by her most recent success. "Next time, I'm going to make an even bigger crater."

"Uh huh… that's, um, great."

Naruto made a quick mental note to reinforce the training ground interior with some seals. The last thing he needed was Maison Izumo collapsing because Musubi had caused a level five earthquake or something.

_Bzzt!_ Naruto was shaken from his thoughts as his cellphone vibrated against his pocket. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Sahashi Minato. Interesting. There were only a few reasons that Minato would call him, and he already had a good guess as to what that reason would be.

He put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"_Naruto-san, I've been chosen for the third match."_

"Alright, are you already on your way to the stage for the match?"

"_Yes, we were picked up almost as soon as I got the call."_

"Good. I'll gather my Sekirei and we'll get in touch with you soon," Naruto hung up the phone soon after that and smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

XoX

Minato sat in the helicopter that would take him to the third match. He took in several deep breaths and tried to keep calm. He was worried, but he couldn't let that consume him. He just had to follow the plan. Just follow the plan. Just follow the…

A hand slid into each of his. He looked down to see one the holding his left hand. It was soft and feminine. Kaho's hand. He then looked at the other one, harder, a little rougher, but still beautiful. Kuruse's. His eyes trailed from the hands to his Sekirei.

"Don't worry," Kaho's reassuring smile filled Minato with a calm confidence, "Everything will be okay. We've planned for this."

Minato relaxed and his smile came more naturally.

"You're right. Thank you. I'm sure we'll win this match."

Kaho was his first Sekirei. She understood him better than anyone else-even his mom and sister didn't understand him as well. It was that very understanding attitude and the reassuring confidence she exuded that had helped him grow into someone he could actually be proud of.

"And after we win, we can go out and have an orgy," Kuruse added.

"Kuruse," Kaho scolded while Minato turned red, "You shouldn't say something so crass in public. Remember, you have to show proper manners."

"Especially when you're in front of your Ashikabi's mother," Takami added as she gave her son a dry look, "You sure know how to pick 'em, Minato."

Minato felt his embarrassment reach its peak, until all he wanted to do was hide within his shirt. Kaho sensed his discomfort and tried to steer the conversation back on course.

"Do you remember what the rules for this match are?"

Minato got over his blush easily enough (he was used to Kuruse saying things like that, though it was embarrassing that she said it in front of his mother), and began trying to recall the information he had on the third match.

"It's a three way match between myself and two others. Each team is allowed to have a maximum of two Sekirei. There are no rules beyond winner takes all. In order to win, we must defeat both Ashikabi and their Sekirei, and the winner will receive the jinki as a prize."

"That's right," Kaho nodded, "What else?"

Minato thought harder as he worried his lip.

"While it hasn't been confirmed, there is a strong possibility that we'll be faced with either Izumi Higa or Natsuo Ichinomi, or both. As some of the only two Ashikabi that have more than one Sekirei, they are the most likely ones to be sent into the third match." Minato paused, then added. "There's also Hayato Mikogami and Sanada Nishi, but since they've already taken part in one of the matches, I doubt he'll show up."

"It seems you've done some growing up," Takami remarked idly. Minato turned to see her smiling face. "I'm proud of you."

Minato smiled at his mom.

"Thanks, mom."

XoX

Matsu's secret room had expanded.

What had once been a small room barely capable of fitting more than four or five people was now large enough to fit twenty. Glowing blue seals lined the walls, floor and ceiling. The intricate and arcane symbols flowed together in a seamless dance that only Naruto could possibly understand; bending laws, creating laws, going against the grain of the universe. They were the cause of the expanded space.

It was inevitable that such a thing would happen. There simply wasn't enough room for him and all of his Sekirei to fit inside, never mind the additions of Uzume and Chiho.

"Dare I ask how you managed to create such a large space when I know this room shouldn't be more than ten by ten feet?" Miya's curious eyes glanced at all of the seals.

"I'm a several thousand year old immortal with powers reminiscent of a god," Naruto remarked dryly, "Distorting the natural universe to suit my whims isn't that hard a feat."

"Hn."

"You can distort the laws of the universe, Lover-kun?" Kazehana asked. Naruto sent her a glance, then nodded.

"How do you think I built that training ground you all enjoy destroying so much?" His question was met with blushes from the people who caused most of that destruction. "To answer your question, Miya, the many seals lining the surface have a specific purpose. They seal this space away in a bubble that separates it from our dimension, allowing me to manipulate the space within the seal to suit my purposes."

"You create your own dimensions?" Homura asked in shock.

"More like I borrow space from other dimensions," Naruto saw the looks he was getting and quickly made to reassure his Sekirei, "Don't worry, I only summoned Cthulhu once."

That did absolutely nothing to reassure the now pale Homura.

"You summoned an old one-wait, those deities in Lovecraftian mythology actually exist?!"

"Just about every deity from every mythology has existed at one point or another," Naruto shrugged off Homura's unnaturally high pitched voice, "Most of them are dead, though-that, or they were me just pretending to be a god or something. Sometimes my sons or daughters would also be mistaken for gods. However, deities like the old ones are actually real. You don't need to worry, though. Like I said, they can't get here without my say so and I only accidentally summoned one of them once."

"That really does nothing to reassure me," Homura looked ready to vomit.

"The match is starting," Matsu informed them all, cutting off their conversation and directing attention back to the task at hand.

Naruto looked at the monitors, which showed the stage where the third match was taking place. It looked like the deepest interiors of the city. He saw dozens of highways crosscrossing over each other in a confusing network that defied logic, like a wandering labyrinth created by an insane mage who enjoyed distorting the natural laws of the universe. Buildings stood like monolithic statues, gleaming silver in the light and imposing their dominance upon those who stood beneath them.

Minato and his two Sekirei walked along the bottom, where they had been dropped off by the helicopter that picked them up. In another two monitors, Naruto saw Higa and Natsuo. Higa had Ichiya and Oshino by his side. It was an unusual combination, as Ichiya was often paired with Higa's other bloodhound, Toyotoma.

Oshino was a petite young woman, pretty in a cute, girlish sort of way. Her messy black hair framed a youthful face. The white top she wore stopped a few centimeters below her breasts, showing off her tummy and the crisscrossing bands attached to her black bloomers. The long-sleeved black gloves and black thigh high socks completed her outfit.

"Matsu, please pull up all of the information you have on Oshino. Also, establish a line of communication between us and Minato."

"Right."

Matsu's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly bringing up Oshino's Sekirei profile. She then dialed up Minato's cell phone, the one that Naruto had given the boy upon their first meeting.

Minato stopped walking on the screen. He raised a hand to his ear.

"_Hello? Naruto-san?" _Minato's voice sounded out over the speaker system he'd installed into the room.

"Minato," Naruto said, "Can you hear me?"

"_Um, yeah, I can hear you just fine."_

"Good, the operation is about to commence. Higa is currently on a platform two kilometers northwest of you. He's brought Ichiya and Oshino. Ichiya is a fist type while Oshino is a ground type. Natsuo is southeast, and he's brought Benitsubasa and Haihane."

"_It's just as you expected, then."_

"Yep, which means the plan remains unchanged. Get to high ground and find a place where you can observe them both at the same time. We'll let them duke it out, and then you can take on the winner."

"… _Kaho doesn't really seem to like this plan."_

"Kaho is a very honorable Sekirei," Naruto shook his head, "And while I can understand her feelings, honor has no place in battle. Not a battle like this. Neither Higa nor Natsuo will have any problem double-teaming you, and Higa is well-known for bribing or blackmailing other Ashikabi into doing his dirty work, as you well know. He's not a man who plays by the rules, so neither should you."

On the screen, Minato began speaking with Kaho, whose cheeks puffed slightly in a pout. He pressed a hand to his ear again and began speaking.

"_Kaho says that's the only reason she's going along with this plan."_

A grinning Naruto looked at Miya and made a whipping motion. The lovely proprietor of Maison Izumo giggled into her hand. Homura and Tsukiumi rolled their eyes in unison.

He turned back to the screen and studied the relative positions of all the players, nodding to himself. The pieces were in place. All that was left to do was let his allies of the moment do their thing.

The battle was about to commence.

XoX

Getting to a high point was neither easy nor pleasant.

Minato had never liked tall places. Perhaps it was a consequence of being raised the way he was, or maybe it was just genetics, though he was betting more on the former than the latter. Consequently, because he didn't enjoy high places, he also didn't enjoy being carried like a sack of potatoes by someone who was ascending to those high places.

He tried not to look down as Kaho effortlessly carried him over her shoulder. She and Kuruse jumped from one platform to the next, their leaps easily letting them asecend to the next level. He tried focusing on something other than the fact that he was being carried higher and higher, but it was hard when all he had to look at was the ground growing farther away.

They eventually reached the top of one of the buildings. Kaho let him down, which he felt impossibly grateful for.

The moment his feet touched hard concrete, Minato nearly collapsed. Only his desire to not look like a total wimp in front of his Sekirei kept him from falling to his hands and knees.

"What's Higa's and Natsuo's location now?" Kaho asked. Minato looked up to see his first Sekirei walking over to the lip of the building. She set her left foot on the ledge and peered out across what would soon become a battleground. He knew that her eyes were very good, far better than a humans. If she knew where their opponents were, she would be able to spot them easily.

He placed a hand into his ear.

"Naruto-san, do you know where Higa and Natsuo are now?"

"_They've currently engaged each other in combat exactly point-five kilometers north of your location."_

Minato immediately relayed the information to Kaho. Kuruse had joined her, and both swiveled their heads in the direction he'd given.

"I see them," Kuruse said, peering out into the distance. Beside her, Kaho nodded.

"I see them as well. It looks like they're locked in a fierce battle," as if her words contained prophetic abilities, several explosions rang out where Higa and Natsuo were. Minato looked that way to see one of the many highways littering the landscape like a network of spiderwebs crumble.

He joined his Sekirei in watching the battle, even though all he could see was the accumulated damage being done. He settled himself into position, and tried not to think about how high up they were.

All that was left to do now was wait for either Higa or Natsuo to win.

XoX

Something was wrong.

Natsuo frowned as he watched the battles taking place. Benitsubasa was engaged in combat with Oshino, who fought the Red Sekirei with surprising tenacity. The frail-looking female launched a series of punches at Benitsubasa, who was beginning to look annoyed at being constantly attacked, especially as she seemed to be having some trouble keeping up.

In any other situation, Benitsubasa would have already won this fight, but extenuating circumstances had dictated that this battle would not be so simple. Benitsubasa was still suffering from her run in with Naruto. Her major wounds may have healed, but the accumulated battle damage had really done a number on her, and that wasn't going into the psychological trauma she'd suffered. The only reason she was even fighting was because Karasuba had disappeared somewhere.

A little ways off, Haihane was having an easier time, but still not coming close to victory. Her opponent, Ichiya, was one of Higa's bloodhounds. According to the date MBI had gathered, she was one of Higa's strongest fighters and had the most combat experience. Even against someone like Haihane, who'd seen plenty of combat, she was a strong contender.

He looked away from the two battles taking place and over to Higa. His opponent watched the battles with rapt attention-or so it seemed at first glance. Natsuo narrowed his eyes. Something was seriously wrong here, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

XoX

"I am surprised," Tsukiumi spoke into the silence as everyone watched the battle.

"What are you surprised about?" asked Naruto.

Tsukiumi's arms crossed under her chest and glared at the screen.

"Higa is trash. Everyone knows this. Among the Ashikabi who abuse their Sekirei, he is the worst. Not only does he abuse his own Sekirei, but he uses other people's Sekirei by bribing or blackmailing their Ashikabi. We even had to rescue that flat-chested strumpet from his clutches because he was using Kusano's friend to do his bidding instead of his own Sekirei. He is not the kind of man who would fight in a straightforward and honorable manner like this."

"You're right," Naruto agreed, "He's not the type of person who would willingly fight like this without using underhanded tactics."

Homura gave her Ashikabi a very suspicious glance.

" I noticed something very strange in the way you worded that."

Naruto gave her a mysterious smile, but didn't say answer her.

"Tsukiumi, Kazehana and Musubi," he turned to the three Sekirei, "We're beginning phase two of this operation. Would you three please travel over to Higa's compound and get everything ready?"

Tsukiumi gave Naruto an imperious look, the kind a haughty princess might give a prince trying to woo her. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Right!" Musubi spoke first. "Leave it to us, Naruto-sama!"

Tsukiumi's face became inflamed as she turned to glare at the shrine maiden.

"I was going to say that!"

"Oh, um, oops! Tee-hee!"

As Musubi wrapped her knuckles against her head and stuck out her tongue, and Tsukiumi began fuming because Musubi beat her to the punch, Kazehana draped herself over Naruto and grinned.

"How about a kiss for good luck, lover?"

"Youre insatiable, you know that?"

Naruto smiled as he gave Kazehana the kiss she craved.

"Ah…"

A pause. Akitsu watched them with the intensity of a woman on a mission.

"I want a kiss, too."

"Oh, oh! Ku-chan wants to chu chu with onii-chan, too!"

"You are much too young!"

"JIIII!"

"Now, now," Miya's dark smile brought all of the fighting to a screeching halt before it could truly become fighting, "Let us not bicker like this while a mission is going on." The other Sekirei in the room shuddered. "And you all know my policy on violence in Maison Izumo. I would hate to be the type of landlady who has to mete punishments to those who break the rules. Now, are you going fight anymore?"

The other Sekirei couldn't shake their heads fast enough.

"Good," Miya's smile became placid and pleasant once again, causing her fellow Sekirei sisters to shudder.

Naruto turned back to the screen, where the battle had taken an interesting turn.

XoX

Benitsubasa was struggling.

Ever since her battle with Naruto, she had been unable to sleep. Nightmares plagued her constantly, showing images of her being chained to a wall while the blond male who defeated her flayed her beloved Ashikabi alive, Natsuo's blood spraying across the wall and her face like a painter throwing paint balloons filled with crimson onto a canvas. Naruto would then turn to her, his face splashed with blood, the insanity in his eyes causing her to lose control of her bowels. He would tell her that it was her fault, that she failed to protect her Ashikabi, that Natsuo died because of what she'd done to Musubi. Then she would wake up, always just before he killed her.

Those dreams became worse as time went on. At first it was just Naruto killing her Ashikabi, but after awhile, it would be others. People wearing the faces of those Sekirei she'd terminated, of the Ashikabi who lost a Sekirei at her hands. They would do the same thing that Naruto did. They would kill her Natsuo and say it was her fault, that if she hadn't harmed them, that if she'd let them go, none of this would have happened.

A fist appeared in front of her face. Benitsubasa's eyes widened and she just barely leaned out of the way. Oshino pressed her attack, not letting up and sticking to Benitsubasa like glue. The girl seemed emboldened by her success.

Several straight jabs were dodged, but only just. Benitsubasa was forced to retreat. Her left hand came up and blocked a strong punch aimed at her chest. The attack didn't hurt, but Benitsubasa winced in discomfort all the same.

The girl came at her again and again, and as more punches were thrown her way, Oshino's image became overlapped with another image, one that haunted Benitsubasa every second regardless of whether she was asleep or awake.

"_**You're the one who took Musubi away from me…"**_

Benitsubasa's eyes widened as spiky blond hair appeared in front of her, and glowing eyes with strange rings glared at her with malicious hatred.

"N-no…"

"_**Now tell me what you cherish most… give me the pleasure of taking it away from you."**_

"No."

_**"I am going to kill him, and I am going to force you to watch."**_

"NO!"

Panicking, Benitsubasa lashed out with a sloppy punch. Oshino's legs bent and she ducked under it. The girl then came up, pushing Benitsubasa's arm out of the way, leaving her open to attack.

A fist smashed into her face. Pain exploded like Thor's hammer smashing into her head. Her vision momentarily turned white as her brain was rattled inside of her skull. Benitsubasa stumbled backwards, seeing stars and feeling more than a little whoozy. She looked up after trying to clear her head, and panicked when she saw the man with blond hair and strange eyes rushing at her again.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Benitsubasa threw a punch, but the blond-haired man dodged it. He moved to the left while continuing his run, closing the distance and slamming a fist into her gut. Spittle flew from her lips as she doubled over like a fold out chair. Her head then snapped back as an elbow slammed into her jaw, knocking her for a serious loop. She stumbled away from the blond, trying to maintain her precious position as she felt her mind slip farther and farther away. When she looked down again, her neck cracking with the motion, it was to see _him_ charging right at her.

"I SAID STAY AWAY!" Unable to think of what else to do, Benitsubasa used her signature attack. "EXTREME QUAKE!"

Before the blond nightmare could rush her again, Benitsubasa slammed her fist against the cement highway. A large shockwave blew outwards from the impact. The cement exploded everywhere. A loud feminine scream was heard. Benitsubasa looked toward the source and saw the blond nightmare covering his body as thousands of fragments pelted him like raindrops on a stormy night.

"Hahahahaha! How do you like that!" she crowed as the ground around her crumbled away. Without anything to stand on, she fell. All around her, large chunks of cement fell with her as she plummeted headfirst to the ground, gravity doing its work. "You think I'm gonna let you screw with me?! I won't let you screw with me! You're gonna die! You're gonna die, you're gonna die, you're gonna die, you'regonnadieyou'regonnadie-hahahahahaha!"

Benitsubasa kept laughing as she fell. She kept laughing as the world crumbled around her. She kept laughing as the world rose up to meet her. She kept laughing as her head cracked against the pavement, shattering bones and driving the tip of her spine straight into her brain.

She stopped laughing after that.

XoX

Tsukiumi glanced around their current location, a tall building they were standing atop of. Power boxes hummed with life all around them. Steel pipes gleamed in the sunlight. It didn't look that different from every other building in the city. The difference lay in their location.

"When do you think our part of the plan will start?" Musubi asked from where she was doing stretches. Tsukiumi turned her attention away from observations to stare at the woman she considered her rival.

There was something different about this Musubi. While she still seemed incapable of staying still, her mien had changed slightly, no longer jumpy, no longer bouncing around like a child. She stood there, her expression more serious than Tsukiumi had ever seen it. Her calm composure was a little unsettling.

"Our part is supposed to start once that Minato boy and his Sekirei have taken care of Higa Izumi," Tsukiumi frowned. She knew that her husband planned on having Minato kill Higa somehow. She was not a fan of killing others. There was no honor in killing. At the same time, she would support him in this. Higa Izumi was a monster who abused the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei. If for no other reason than that, he deserved to die.

"Hn, Lover-kun's got it all planned out," Kazehana also stretched, and Tsukiumi eyed how the woman's boobs practically popped out of her dress distastefully. "After Higa Izumi is gone, all of his Sekirei will deactivate. Our job is to go in after that happens and take their bodies to Theta base, where they will be safe."

"I wonder why Naruto-sama wants us to do that, though?" Musubi placed a finger against her lips. "We're supposed to leave them to MBI, aren't we?"

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone looked over at Akitsu, waiting for her to continue.

"… Ashikabi-sama doesn't trust MBI."

"That's only part of the reason," Tsukiumi corrected with a shake of her head, "Naruto believes he has figured out how to reactivate the Sekirei who have been deactivated by using the jinki. He plans on reactivating all of the Sekirei who were forcibly winged and allowing them to find their true Ashikabi."

That's the reason Tsukiumi was willing to go along with this plan. While she didn't enjoy killing, she enjoyed her fellow Sekirei being enslaved even less.

"Right," Kazehana nodded, "Lover-kun has set up a number of hidden bases throughout Tokyo that he plans on allowing Sekirei to use in order to hide from MBI and the people trying to wing them without their consent. I believe he mentioned it's the first stage of his plan to destroy MBI."

"Destroy MBI, hm?"

Tsukiumi froze when an amused voice filled with mocking laughter spoke to her left. She was not the only one. The others had frozen, too. Kazehana stood in paralyzed fear, and Musubi's eyes had gone wide.

She turned her head, then, and looked at the person before her. The woman was perched on top of a power box, her crouched position resembling a predatory cat in the South American jungles. Long silver hair caught within a ponytail swayed in the breeze blowing across the rooftop. The gray cloak she wore ruffled and wavered with a life of its own. Her eyes, cold gray and sharper than steel, held a malicious gleam of delight that matched her smile.

"I should have expected something like this from that man. How lovely," Karasuba spoke, and her smile became even wider.

XoX

Natsuo stared at the scene in horror.

He'd watched the battle between Benitsubasa and Oshino degrade. He'd seen the way his Sekirei had panicked, how she started shouting, babbling and screaming at her opponent. He'd tried ordering her to come back. The battle had clearly been over once she lost her composure. Benitsubasa either couldn't hear him or was too far gone to listen. She'd used her extreme quake and destroyed the bridge on which both she and her opponent stood.

From where he stood several meters above, he had a bird's eye view of what happened. Benitsubasa had struck the highway with force derived from panic. Concrete had been ripped asunder as if a pantheon of angry gods had body slammed it. Everything was destroyed, exploding outward and sending large fragments everywhere. They smashed into more walkways and buildings. Some even hit support pillars, which caused those walkways to collapse, too, creating a domino effect that caused more and more structures to crumble like legos being kicked by an angry child.

Throughout it all, Benitsubasa had laughed until the very end.

He stared at the spot where she had vanished, at the rubble that had been piled on top of her and her opponent. There was no way she had survived that. This was a level five termination.

Minaka had made a mistake. This entire battle had been a mistake. Benitsubasa should have never been allowed to battle when she was still undergoing so much psychological distress. While Natsuo didn't particularly care for her, she'd been a useful member of his squad and easy to manipulate. Now he couldn't use her anymore.

He looked up at Higa Izumo, who also stared down at the destruction with an impassive gaze.

His fists clenched.

His dreams had just become a lot harder.

XoX

"Confirmed, two level five terminations."

Matsu's words rang out ominously within the room. Naruto stared at the screen. Benitsubasa had just committed what was essentially a kamikaze attack, killing herself to kill her enemy. Part of him really didn't care, another part felt she deserved it. He squashed the part that felt pity for her. This was simply what happened to people who tried killing the ones he loved.

"Naruto," Miya's voice made him look at her, and suddenly, the hatred he felt toward Benitsubasa seemed more petty than justified. The look on his Sekirei's face spoke of pain, of loss. To Miya, the first Sekirei, the pillar, all of these Sekirei were children, _her children_. Seeing them die like this hurt her.

He brought her pain by killing off her children.

He went behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. As her back hit his chest, he buried his face in her hair and muttered, "I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you."

Miya's hair tickled his nose when she shook her head.

"I knew the moment Minaka initiated the Sekirei plan that some of them would die. This isn't your fault."

"That's not what I was apologizing for."

"What are you… oh…"

Miya turned around in his arms and looked up at him. In her eyes he saw understanding. She knew, without him having to say anything, that he was not referring to Benitsubasa's death.

Her arms going around his waist and the relaxation of her body against his set Naruto's mind at ease.

"I knew what I was getting into the moment I let you wing me," she spoke against his chest, "While it does bother me to some degree, I can see where you are coming from. I do not like it and I do not approve, but I do understand."

She didn't understand, not fully anyway, but he didn't say anything to contradict her. She accepted this part of him, the cold and unfeeling part that grew from emotional instability and countless millennia of watching loved ones die. He was grateful for her acceptance, and promised himself that he would do what he could to mitigate any and all potential loss of Sekirei life from this point on. It was the least he could do for someone who accepted a person as flawed as him.

"Thank you, Miya."

Naruto closed his eyes and allowed his mind to sink further into a relaxed state of being. Miya's presence washed over him through their bond, sweeping across his mind like fresh spring rain. It felt like it was cleansing his soul.

"_You know this won't last, don't you?"_

He stiffened.

"_This woman, these Sekirei, everything you love will die eventually, and you'll be alone once more. It is inevitable. Can you really go through that again?"_

"Naruto?" Miya shifted in his arms, "Are you alright?"

Naruto stared into Miya's eyes, and found the answer to his own question.

"_Probably not, but I'll do everything in my power to keep from going through that again. I won't let them die like I did everyone else."_

The voice said nothing.

"I'm fine," Naruto pressed his lips to Miya's forehead, "Just fine."

XoX

The situation could not have been worse.

She stood with her fellow sister Sekirei on the roof of a building next to Higa's pharmaceutical HQ, where all of that man's Sekirei currently not engaged in the third stage resided. With them was a woman she'd been hoping not to face at the moment.

"You don't know how pleased I am to see you four here," Karasuba purred at them like a cat who'd just been given a bowl of the world's finest cream, "I had been hoping that I would get the chance to confront some of you girls while you were out and about. You see, I really, _really_ want a rematch with your wonderful Ashikabi. At first I thought about just asking him, but then realized that would be boring and not my style. And that's when I came upon a wonderful idea. Why don't I hurt the people he cares about most, his Sekirei, and goad him into attacking me? What do you think? It's a great idea, is it not?"

"I think you're insane," Tsukiumi tried to sound brave, but her fear was palpable, a fact that became obvious when Karasuba's predatory eyes turned on her.

"Insane?" The woman tilted her head, a curious gesture as she pondered the words, before slowly nodding. "Yes, I suppose I am. Should that mean something to me? I don't care for whatever labels people place on me. The only thing that matters to me is getting the fight I so crave."

Karasuba stood to her feet, and even that simple movement carried a deadly grace. Her sword hissed as it was unsheathed from its scabbard. The grin she wore contained madness as she pointed the tip of her blade at the four Sekirei.

"Now then, which one of you would like to die first? Hm?"

Musubi stepped forward.

"Karasuba," she greeted the other woman solemnly, "It's been a long time."

Karasuba eyed her for a moment. That sharp gaze dissected her, studied her, judged her. Only after an insurmountable time had passed, did Karaubsa's eye light up with insane delight.

"Yume, that is you, isn't it? So you've been hiding out in the girl all this time, huh?"

"You are only half right," she said, "Though it would be more accurate to say that I am neither Musubi nor Yume now, but someone else, someone new."

"I don't really understand what you mean by that," Karasuba said slowly, "And I honestly don't care. I want to fight your Ashikabi, but I have no problem playing with you until he arrives."

"Akitsu, Kazehana, Tsukiumi," Musubi turned her head just slightly to look at her sister Sekirei, while also keeping Karasuba in her sights, "I want you three to continue with the mission. Please leave Karasuba to me."

"You can't be serious," Tsukiumi finally shook herself from the fear gripping her, "You can't honestly expect us to just leave you alone with that woman, do you?"

"That is exactly what I expect," Musubi declared to the shock of those present, "None of you would even stand a chance of fighting against someone like Karasuba. Even if all three of you teamed up to take her down, you would still lose."

"And you wouldn't?" Tsukiumi challenged. Musubi's smile seemed to throw the water user off guard.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Musubi informed the blond, "You may not know this, but I was once the leader of the Disciplinary Squad's second reincarnation, and I was Karasuba's former superior." She smiled at Tsukiumi's look of blatant shock. "To this day, Karasuba has never defeated me in a spar even once."

"Airing my dirty laundry, are we?" Karasuba's grin twisted into a macabre of derangement. "That's not a very nice thing to do, Yume. Not that it matters. You might have beaten me every time we fought before, but things are different now. I've been honing my skills ever since you gave Musubi your tama in order to surpass you. This time, you will not come out on top!"

"Run now, you three!" Musubi/Yume, shouted as Karasuba leapt from her perch. The nodachi in her hand glinted in the light as MBI's Dog spun like a top and descended toward Musubi.

Tsukiumi took a step forward.

"You can't just expect us to-"

"I SAID RUN!"

Tsukiumie froze as Musubi shouted. Karasuba descended on the fist fighter like a fallen angel, her blade nothing more than a flash of silver. It did not hit, however, as Musubi had deflected the blow by striking the flat surface and leaping over the swing. The blade struck cement and dug a furrow through the roof.

"Come on," Kazehana placed a hand on Tsukiumi's shoulder and dragged the blond woman away as the battle between Musubi and Karasuba commenced. "We need to leave."

"But what about Musubi?" Tsukiumi protested.

Kazehana looked over at the battle between Musubi and Karasuba. The two seemed deadlocked. Karaubsa's sword would strike at Musubi's openings, but were unable to find their mark. Musubi would then counter with several strikes of her own, but they would be dodged by Karasuba's impressive agility and speed.

She turned back to Tsukiumi.

"Musubi will be fine. The best thing we can do right now is leave before we get caught up in their battle," Kazehana declared. Tsukiumi looked ready to protest again, but then noticed they were missing someone.

"Where is Akitsu?"

"She already left!" Musubi shouted as her fist hit the flat of Karasuba's blade, launching it over her head, "Which is what you two should be doing as well!"

"Right," Kazehana started dragging Tsukiumi off again, "Let's go, Panty-flasher-chan."

"Let go of me! And my name is Tsukiumi! TSUKIUMI!"

"Right, right, whatever you say."

Musubi saw her sisters leave out of the corner of her eye and smiled in relief. Now she could focus all of her attention on Karasuba.

"Are we done playing around now?" MBI's Dog asked, her nodachi resting lazily on her shoulders. "I hope so, because I'd like this fight to really get started. Playing with kid's gloves has never been my thing."

"Don't worry," Musubi stood on the balls of her feet and raised her arms into a guard position, "Now that Tsukiumi and Kazehana have left, I have no problem fighting you at my full strength."

Karasuba's hideous smile was masked by the blade she raised to her mouth. A tongue darted out, licking the shining surface.

"That's good. You're going to need your full strength if you want to survive against me," she purred, right before launching herself at Musubi again.

XoX

Images poured into Naruto's head like cracked eggs drizzling into a bowl.

Ever since his ill-fated attempt at doing something good, the escape from Shinto Teito, Naruto had taken to having a couple thousand clones going around the city. A few had jobs-which were surprisingly easy to get since over half the population had abandoned the city-but most stuck to the shadows. Their job was twofold: keep an eye on MBI and the general populace, and look after his Sekirei whenever they went out.

One of those clones had just dispelled.

"Musubi's fighting Karasuba."

Still being held within his arms, Miya stiffened. Over by the monitor, Matsu looked like she'd just shit herself.

"What do you plan to do?" Miya asked, her purple eyes studying his face.

Naruto contemplated the situation. His first desire was to Hiraishin over to Musubi and rescue her from Karasuba. After what happened the last time she fought, he wasn't keen on letting her fight again. However, when his mind touched the bond that he and Musubi shared, Naruto discovered that she was not panicked, not frightened, but calm and composed. There was an underlying confidence within his Sekirei, which seemed to say, "_Don't worry, I've got this."_

Closing his eyes and taking a slow breath, Naruto felt his mind clear.

"I won't interrupt her battle," he determined at last. His eyes opened and sought Miya's. He smiled. "However, that doesn't mean I can't be on hand in case things go south either."

Miya smiled, her left hand rising to caress his cheek. Naruto reached up and grabbed the hand, placing her palm against his lips.

"If you plan on going out, then would you like me to prepare Theta base for the Sekirei that Kazehana-san and the others will be bringing?" she asked softly. Naruto hummed thoughtfully against her hand, then nodded.

"I would be very grateful to you if you did."

"In that case, I shall head out as well."

Sitting over by her monitors, Matsu looked back and forth between the two.

"Is there anything you want me to do, Naruto-sama?" the redhead, no longer wearing her glasses, asked.

"Keep an eye on Minato and give him all the information he needs to make informed decisions," Naruto said after a moment.

"Got it. Good luck, Naruto-sama, Miya-san," she said as Naruto turned around and both he and Miya left the hidden room.

XoX

Everything had gone exactly as planned.

After Benitsubasa unleashed her attack and killed both herself and her opponent, Minato had directed Kaho and Kuruse to attack Haihane and Ichiya in a pincer maneuver. The two had been caught completely unaware. The battle was over before it even began.

He stood on a platform several meters above Higa. His two Sekirei stood at his side, while a little ways off on another platform, Ichiya and Haihane were laying on their stomachs, the Sekirei Crest that had been on their necks now gone.

"Well played," Natsuo sighed, "It seems I have well and truly lost this round. I hadn't expected an unknown player in this game to execute such a masterful plan."

"Then that was your mistake," Minato didn't let this man's subtle jab at being considered an "unknown" bother him. "Perhaps you should have taken the time to gather more intel on other players, rather than obsess over the few who had more than two Sekirei."

"Yes," the MBI executive worker agreed, "You are probably correct. To be fair, though, we really did have our hands full dealing with Naruto-san and all of the trouble he's been causing." Natsuo looked up at him with a gleam in his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

"Ah, um, no?"

Minato felt a brief moment of panic. He didn't know why. It wasn't like Natsuo knowing that he had been conspiring with Naruto would change anything, but still, something about the look in Natsuo's eyes made him nervous.

"Hm, so I see," Natsuo shrugged, "A pity."

Minato breathed a sigh of relief.

"So this is it," another voice spoke up, Higa, who stood in the same place he'd been standing the whole time. He looked unbothered by the events that had just happened. "I have lost, it seems. I guess that means it is time, then."

"Time?" Minato looked over at Higa to see the man walking toward the edge of the walkway, "Time for what?"

"For my grand exit, of course," Higa's reply was drowned out by shock as the man walked right off the platform. Minato's eyes widened as he watched the man fall to his death. He only looked away when man's body broke against the unyielding concrete, bones and blood splattering across the ground, painting it carmine.

"Oh… oh, god… I think I'm going to be sick," Minato fell to his knees and tried not to throw up.

"M-Minato-sama!" Kaho's shocked cry greeted his ears. Two soothing hands rubbed his back. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Minato swallowed the bile rising up in his throat and glanced at his two Sekirei, "Thank you."

"Of course, Minato-sama," Kaho's warm smile eased the feeling rising up in his stomach, the one that made him want to vomit all over the ground. Kuruse nodded her head.

"Dont worry, Minato. I have no desire to taste your vomit when we kiss, so I won't let you puke all over the place."

"Glad to know you care," Minato muttered dryly.

"Well, that was unexpected," Natsuo attracted Minato's attention. The other man peered down the lip of his platform, gazing at the broken body of one Higa Izumi. "I wonder why he decided to commit suicide?"

"What do you mean?" Minato asked, standing back to his feet.

"I mean that Higa Izumi has never been the type to willingly do something like this-I doubt he would even do it unwillingly," Natsuo tapped his chin several times, "Higa is-was-a very ambitious and driven young man who desired to topple MBI and place his own company over its ashes. Him committing suicide, especially in such a blazé manner, runs counter to everything MBI knows about him, which is actually quite a bit. It's almost as if someone else was controlling him or something…" Natsuo trailed off for several seconds, then shrugged. "Whatever the case may be, I suppose it doesn't matter now."

"Wha-hey, wait! Where are you going?" Minato asked when Natsuo began walking away.

"I thought that was obvious. With the battle over and myself having lost, there's no reason for me to stay here anymore."

"But what about your Sekirei?" Kaho asked with a hard look, "Are you not going to stay with her?"

"Why should I?" Natsuo answered her question with one of his own. "MBI will pick her up anyway, so it's not like my presence will change anything. But I believe we have spoken enough. Goodbye, Minato-san."

"That man," Kaho scowled, "I don't like him. His Sekirei gave their all for him, yet he can't even offer the courtesy of staying by their side after they were defeated. How can he be so heartless?"

"I don't know," Minato shook his head, "But this makes things easier for us. Him being here would have just made the next step harder. Kuruse?"

"Yes?" Kuruse looked at him, awaiting his instructions.

"Did you manage to find and destroy the cameras around here?"

"Of course," Kuruse looked almost insulted that he would have to ask that, "I even made sure to make it look like I was simply missing Ichiya during our battle, rather than purposefully aiming at them."

"You're amazing as always," Minato smiled at her, causing Kuruse to preen.

"Does that mean you'll reward me by having an orgy with Kaho and I?"

"M-maybe," Minato coughed into his hand, then pulled out two slips of paper with a number of intricate lines and symbols that he couldn't make heads or tails of. "Anyway, you two remember how to use these, right?"

"Of course," Kaho grabbed the slips and handed one to Kuruse, "Just leave it to us."

"Thank you."

As Kaho and Kuruse walked over to the shut down Sekirei, Minato looked up at the sky. Everything was going according to Naruto's plan so far. Now all he needed to do was wait for someone to deliver the jinki to him.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A WINNER!"

Speak of the devil.

Looking up, Minato saw a helicopter soaring in from above. A ladder extended from the side, and hanging onto that ladder, wearing the biggest grin he'd ever seen, was none other than the enigmatic president of MBI, Minaka Hiroto.

"CONGRATULATIONS YOUNG MAN! NOW COME AND CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!"

The helicopter hovered over his head, and Minaka swung from the ladder, holding the jinki out to Minato, who took it without reservation.

"Rejoice, for you have now been granted a gift from the gods," Minaka crowed his praise like a showman playing up to the crowd. "The world as you know it, as everyone knows it, is changing. With this jinki, you now have the power to shape the course of destiny. Will you ascend to greater heights? Or will you fall? I can't wait to find out, hahahahaha-AHAHAHAHAHAH-BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Minato watched as the helicopter flew a madly laughing Minaka away.

"That was really weird," he muttered to himself. What a strange man that Minaka Hiroto was.

XoX

Theta base was a large subterranean hideout designed to look like a ritzy hotel. Naruto's idea for Theta, along with bases Omega and Alpha, was to have a place for Sekirei to live after they were freed from their unwilling winging. Miya thought it was a wonderful idea.

Her feet padded along soft red carpet as she walked through the well-lit hallway. Doors stood on either side of her, evenly spaced by several meter intervals. They were made of polished dark wood and appeared stately without being ostentatious. Each one was adorned by a golden plaque with a number on it; their only decoration. The plain white cream walls were barren, save the flowing squiggles and lines that had been painted upon their surface.

Like most hotels, Theta base possessed a lobby. Reminiscent of the lobbies she expected to see in five-star hotels, the grand marble floor was polished to a shine, allowing those who cared to look down a glimpse at the many seals, intricate and swirling symbols of arcane design, etched upon its surface. Both walls and ceiling contained similar designs. These seals acted as a barrier, she knew, to prevent anyone outside from discovering the Sekirei via the tracking chip implanted into the base of their necks. Theta base was covered in these seals.

She had prepared several rooms for the guests that would soon be arriving. Since they had all belonged to Higa, she decided to set up their rooms in the same hall. It would be good for them to have a familiar face around once they woke up.

As if she was able to summon them from merely her thoughts, the entrance, an elevator door that led into Theta base, opened and deposited several familiar figures.

"Akitsu, Kazehana, Tsukiumi," Miya greeted them all with a polite bow, "Welcome to Theta base. If you would follow me, I'll lead you to the rooms that I have prepared for our guests," she eyed the unresponsive bodies they were carrying around like sacks of flour. Tsukiumi and Kazehana carried two each, while Akitsu had four; two under her arms and two on her shoulders. Miya was impressed by the snow woman's sense of balance.

Kazehana and Tsukiumi looked at each other. Akitsu just followed Miya as she walked back into the hallway, her chains clinking.

"We didn't expect to see you here, Miya," Kazehana said as she caught up with her.

"Naruto was originally going to greet you three, however, he had something that he needed to take care of," Miya took a turn that led into another hallway, "I volunteered to greet you when you arrived."

"Do you know where my husband went?" Tsukiumi asked.

"He went to keep an eye on Musubi," Miya replied, "While he has confidence in her, that does not stop him from worrying, especially after he almost lost her during your last big mission."

No one said anything to that, and Miya eventually directed them to where the Sekirei they were carrying would be staying.

The rooms were well-furnished and luxurious without being flamboyant or gaudy. The red carpet complemented the dark wood used for the furniture. White walls with more seals greeted their eyes, and the ceiling appeared much the same. Each room held two beds, both twins, with plain white comforters and a basic pillow set.

"Please set them in these rooms," Miya directed the trio of Sekirei like a mother telling her children what to do. Kazehana told her as much, and the look she gave the woman had the wind user scurrying out of Theta base faster than the very wind she commanded.

XoX

Musubi/Yume did not regret her decision to stay and fight Karasuba.

That did not mean that she didn't wish the fight had never taken place to begin with.

Karasuba's blade sang a song of death as it sought her neck. Musubi leaned her body back, then struck the flat of the blade with her knuckles. The nodachi soared upwards and away, flying over her head in a horizontal swing. It also presented an opening, which she did not hesitate to take.

Two steps took her into Karasuba's guard. As a swordswoman, the Black Sekirei was disadvantaged when someone pressed in close. The woman's nodachi gave her incredible reach at the cost of making it difficult to block or attack when someone closed the distance-or it had back when she'd been the leader of the Disciplinary Squad.

Musubi's fist met the pommel of Karasuba's nodachi, which the swordswoman had used to block her punch. Displaced air erupted between them, buffeting their hair. The nodachi moved out of place, over Karasuba's head, as it was jerked back by the force of the hit. Silver hair whipping about her face, the swordswoman spun around, the blade twisting as she reversed her grip and thrust it behind her.

It was easily sidestepped. The attack had been obvious from the onset. Just as obvious was the follow up. As Karasuba's body spun like a top and her nodachi came in swinging from the opposite side, Musubi leapt over the attack, ascending high into the air before coming back down and unleashing a power punch that was blocked when fist met nodachi.

A large shockwave erupted between them, and Musubi was launched backwards. She flipped through the air and landed on the cement, skidding back for several feet, dust kicking up in her wake.

"You're still the same as always," Karasuba mused, "Your skills haven't rusted at all, though your movements seem a little awkward."

Musubi/Yume grimaced. As two souls merged into one, she was both Musubi and Yume, or rather, the accumulation of Musubi and Yume's combined traits and personalities.

Unfortunately, because she'd only merged within the past few hours, her body hadn't come to terms with that yet. The fighting style that Musubi preferred, straightforward and simple, didn't work for Yume. Yet the style that Yume preferred, speedy and elegant, didn't work with Musubi's body-type.

Before she had given her tama to Musubi, Yume had been a speed fighter who relied on overwhelming her opponents with speed and precise strikes that packed loads of power. By contrast, Musubi was a power fighter who simply tried hitting her opponent and cared little for deception and tactics. The two contrasting styles prevented her from fighting to the fullest. It was a problem, one that she planned to correct after this battle.

"It doesn't matter if my movements have become awkward," Musubi/Yume said, "With the power given to me by my Ashikabi and his love, I have strength beyond simple technique."

"Is that so?" The amused quirk to Karasuba's lips said that she didn't believe her. "Then why don't you show me this strength you speak of? And in return, I will show you that I have finally surpassed you!"

Musubi/Yume tensed as Karasuba's form blurred, after images seemingly appearing behind her. Godspeed Impulse. Karasuba's signature speed. It wasn't as fast as her own, of Yume's, back when she'd been in the Disciplinary Squad, but with Musubi's body, designed for power and not speed, it was more than enough.

The nodachi swung out too fast for her to dodge. The air shrieked as it was cut. Left with no other option, Musubi/Yume coated her arms with the energy from her tama, reinforcing her body, and took the hit.

It was like being smashed into by a jet breaking the sound barrier. Her body didn't even have time to feel pain before she was flung from the building like water shooting from a high-powered hose, whose power was being generated by a 14,000 horsepower engine going turbo.

She heard, more than felt, her body plowing through a building with the force an armor piercing artillery round. Everything passed her by in a blur. She could see nothing more than streaks of light and strange shapes that she vaguely recognized as people and objects. Then she was launched out through the other side, blowing a hole through the wall, and instead of staring at the interior of a building blurring past her, she saw towering frameworks of steel canvassed against a blue sky.

Her fall to the ground was harsh. When her back hit concrete, her lungs were deprived of all its oxygen and the ground cratered around her like she was a falling meteor. The damage done to her body, delayed by her mind being unable to catch up with what had just happened, suddenly felt the pain of her accumulated injuries.

It was very fortunate happenstance that Musubi had recently become well-acquainted with pain. Naruto was a merciless instructor when teaching her how to fight. He'd ensured that she would experience pain, that she would know it with a lover's intimacy. In his words, if one knew pain, knew how it felt, what it was like, then they could move past it and not let it affect them during a battle.

_I must find some way to thank Naruto-sama for training me… I wonder if Matsu has any ideas?_

An assessment of the damage done revealed that it wasn't as bad as it felt, the consequence of being a Sekirei, she supposed. Her arms had hairline fractures in them, and a long thin cut from Karasuba's nodachi ran along her skin, slowly leaking arterial fluids. Her back felt like someone had smashed it with a mallet, but it wasn't broken. The ringing in her ears likely came from a minor concussion, which coincided with the blurriness in her vision.

Musubi's body protested as she stood up. She ignored its complaining and stumbled out of the crater. Karasuba stood waiting for her once she got out.

She looked disappointed.

"You've grown weak, Yume," the fire seemed to have gone out of her, "Back when you were the leader of the Disciplinary Squad, you would have been more than capable of dodging that. What happened to you?"

"I have not grown weak," Musubi/Yume stated adamantly, "It is not a matter of weakness that you perceive. I am just as strong now as I ever was, stronger even, thanks to my Ashikabi."

Karasuba snorted.

"Then how do you explain what just happened?"

Musubi/Yume said nothing. She could explain, of course, the reason for her inability to adequately defend herself against Karasuba, but it would make little difference. To someone like the Black Sekirei, anything she said in this regard would be taken as an excuse, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to blame the woman for thinking that way.

"Ha… this is no fun," Karasuba's exasperated sigh rang across the street, "Here I was, all excited because I'd finally get to face off with my old rival, but she's not even worth the effort anymore." She set her nodachi on her shoulder. "I'm disappointed in you, Yume. You were strong once, so strong that defeating you consumed my every thought and haunted my dreams. Now you're just a pale imitation of your former self."

The insulting words flew, and all Musubi/Yume could do was stand there and take it, even though doing so bothered her.

"Perhaps I can help rectify that," Naruto said as his body seemed to flicker between the two. She had known that her Ashikabi was watching, had felt his presence by her side at all times. She was grateful that he chose not to interfere, but also disappointed because she'd put on such a bad showing. Even though he would not blame her, she did not want to appear weak in front of him.

Karasua also stared at Naruto. Musubi/Yume did not like the way she licked her lips.

"If it isn't Mr. God on Earth," she leered, "I've been wondering when you would show yourself before me again. You know I've been searching all over for you. I've been longing for a rematch."

"Is that so? Sorry to disappoint, but I have no intention of having a rematch with you."

"Really? Now that's just too bad, because I'm not letting you escape until I've made sure you thoroughly satisfy me!"

Karasuba's body shot forward quicker than most bullet trains, appearing before Naruto in a split second, her nodachi already prepared to slice him in half.

She was sent flying backwards not even a second later when Naruto punched her in the stomach. Musubi/Yume watched as MBI's Dog slammed against the ground, and then rolled along the black top with bone-jarring impacts. Throughout it all, Naruto just stood there, his fist outstretched until he inevitably brought it back to his side.

"There is no point in me fighting you," Naruto spoke quietly, yet somehow, his voice rang clearly enough for her and Karasuba to hear, "I have neither the will, desire, nor the claim to fight you. A battle between the two of us would be pointless, and the only thing it would serve is to prove how inferior you are to me."

Karasuba growled like a rabid beast at the insult.

"However, since you clearly crave battle with a strong opponent, how about a wager?"

"A wager?" Karasuba stopped growling and perked up. Perhaps it was because of her nickname, but Musubi/Yume suddenly imagined a bushy silver tail wagging behind the woman. It almost made her giggle.

"That's right," Naruto's nod was accompanied by a smirk, "What I propose is this. In one weeks time, I will train Yume back into fighting shape," Yume pouted at Naruto's back. He ignored her, "You and she will then fight again, one on one, with no outside interference. Should you win, I will personally battle you myself."

She could tell Karasuba was excited by the prospect. The Black Sekirei's eyes were lit with a disturbing glimmer, a lust for battle that she had never understood. Even so, the woman clearly didn't want to be seen as desperate, instead taking time to ponder the proposal before answering.

"That does sound intriguing," Karasuba admitted, "And I am curious to see if you truly can bring Yume back up to her full strength."

"She'll be even stronger than she was back when you two were in the Disciplinary Squad together," was Naruto's confident statement, "I can guarantee you that much."

"Ho? Very well, then," Karsuba didn't need to hear anymore before nodding her agreement, "In that case, I agree to your proposal and will look forward to fighting you both."

"You'll never get a chance to fight me," Naruto's confidence made Karasuba pause, "Yume will beat you."

"So confident in her abilities," Karasuba purred, "We'll see if you can back up your words in a week."

Karasuba left. Naruto turned to Musubi/Yume, who found herself unable to look him in the eye. She heard his footsteps close the distance, saw his shadow appear next to hers, yet she still refused to look.

"Look at me."

At least, she refused to look at him, until a pair of hands rested against her cheeks and tilted her head.

The look in Naruto's eyes, the warm light of concern glimmering within irises possessing the same color as the sky, made Musubi/Yume melt. It was not necessarily a new look. He'd given it several times within the past few days, ever since Musubi's near demise. But this was the first time that she, the woman born of Musubi and Yume, had received this expression.

"Are you alright?" were the first words he'd spoken to her since arriving. She smiled, though it lacked the usual enthusiasm her face so often displayed.

"Both my pride and my body have been injured, but I'll survive."

Naruto nodded, more to himself than to her.

"Your physical injuries won't be a problem," Naruto's smile was a touch wry, "There isn't much I can do about the one to your pride, except maybe offer my condolences."

She smiled at his attempt at brevity. He wasn't very good at it. His attempts were too biting, too sarcastic, but she appreciated the effort.

"You've merged, haven't you?"

The question shouldn't have startled her, but it did. She looked at Naruto to see him scrutinizing her, and felt herself blush at his penetrating gaze. What did he see when he looked at her now? She wondered. Did he see Musubi? Yume? Both? Neither? Did he approve, or did he find her wanting? She didn't know, and a part of her worried.

"I have," a reluctant admittance, "I am no longer Musubi, nor am I Yume." She looked down at her feet, feelings of anxiety making her unable to continue gazing at his face. "Does that… bother you?"

"That depends," a hand under her chin forced Yume to look at him again, "Do you still love me?"

"Yes," she whispered, "My feelings for you have not changed-no," she shook her head, "My feelings for you have grown. I have the love that both Musubi and Yume held for you. I love you twice as much now than I did when I was two separate people."

The hand under her chin slid along her jaw, moved behind her neck, and gently tugged her head until her lips were mere centimeters from Naruto's.

"If that is the case, then my feelings for you have also grown twice as strong."

As their lips met and her wings flared, she felt her anxiety melt like snow in the middle of a desert during summer. Really, she didn't know what she had been so worried about.

XoX

The day had passed. After all was said and done, Naruto and everyone else returned home, and Minato had returned about an hour later, jinki in hand.

A party had taken place after that, a jubilant celebration to congratulate themselves on a successfully carried out mission.

Naruto didn't know where Kazehana had managed to get so much sake, but he didn't ask, either. It was for the sake of his mental health. Miya, despite her stern disapproval of having so much alcohol in her boarding house, allowed the others their fun. Naruto was almost sure that she had gleaned dark amusement from watching a drunken Tsukiumi attempt to balance plates on spouts of water conjured from her hands and mouth.

In his youth, Naruto would have enjoyed joining in their celebrations. Such was not the case these days. He had spent some time with them all, laughing with Musubi, drinking sake with Kazehana, teasing Homura alongside Uzume who had also joined them, and even partaking in a balancing act with the uproariously drunk Tsukiumi. But after a while, he had quietly left them to their partying, wanting a moment of solitude.

He sat outside on the veranda, in his usual spot. In his hand was the jinki, the one that Minato had won and given to him upon his arrival at Maison Izumo.

The object in his hand, a sphere contained within a crystalline structure that caused light refractions, glowed with a faint light like the emanations of a dying star thousands of lightyears away. It didn't look like much, but if Matsu's words were to be believed, then this object held within it a power comparable to his own.

"Jinki," Naruto murmured out loud, "It's such a pretentious name, to call something a God Vessel. Still, I suppose that, given what I have learned about this, it's a fitting name." He turned his head. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Miya stood in the doorway, gazing down at him with a fond expression. While part of Naruto still tried shielding himself from the warmth brought about by the love in her eyes, another was learning to love it, to cherish it, and to return it.

"It was given that name because it came from the trees which were said to have been birthed by the gods on the Sekirei home planet," Miya walked up to him and daintily sat down beside him, "According to legend, eons before the first Sekirei was even born, the gods created this realm and its many stars and planets. When they created our planet, they planted trees that would serve as a symbol to their accomplishments. They left, but for the longest time, their trees remained."

"Did you know that these were seeds?" He asked, gesturing to the jinki.

"I did not know what they were," Miya confessed, "Though I have always had my hunches. My grandfather used to tell me stories about the Shinju. They were supposedly giant trees that rose into the heavens like monolithic symbols of the gods' incredible powers. They brought life and prosperity to all, and legends had it that those who ate the fruit that grows once every millenia would be given powers beyond their wildest imaginings."

Miya paused for a breath. Naruto used that time to scoot closer so he could wrap his arm around her waist, and let his hand rest on the curve of her hip.

"According to my grandfather, there were eight Shinju," Miya let her head rest on his shoulder as she continued, "And the descendants of the Sekirei, wishing to be granted the powers of a god, ate the fruit. However, in doing so, the fruit corrupted them, turning them into mockeries of what they once were. Their corruption led to them creating kingdoms, and these kingdoms soon became embroiled in war as each side fought the other. Even after the people who ate the fruit disappeared from the world, the war they left behind continued to be waged."

Miya looked up to give him a mirthless smile, one filled with an irony that he could understand perfectly.

"In the end, the Shinju were obliterated during the mad struggle for more power and control over the planet. All that was left were the seeds, which refused to grow within our no longer hospitable environment."

Naruto listened to her tale and wondered if there was a connection between the ten-tailed beast, the Juubi, and the Shinju.

He did not know much about his powers, their origins, their purpose. He knew nothing beyond what he'd gathered from his many millenias of life. There was no proof that their powers, his and the jinkis, were born from the same source. Yet there was a chance. Matsu had said that his power and the one contained within the jinki were matched closely enough that there was a chance they were the same, and it was that chance he clung to like a man clinging to a life raft in the middle of a tsunami. It was his only hope for a no longer lonely existence.

As he stared up at the sky, a woman that he was growing to love more with each passing day in his arms, Naruto wondered if his days wandering this world alone might finally come to an end.

XoX

"I need your help planning a wedding."

Naruto stared at the shocked faces of his Sekirei. Kazehana had sat up from where she lay sprawled on his bed to gawk at him; Homura nearly slammed her face into the wall when she tripped on a speck of dust; the clinking of chains was the only sign of surprise that Akitsu gave; and Matsu had fallen off the couch and was now giving him a look that defied description.

The only people who weren't expressing surprise was Miya, Musubi and Kusano. One of them already knew, the other had already suspected, and Kusano was just oblivious.

"I'm sorry, Naru-tan, but did you just say that you need our help planning a wedding," Matsu's glasses flashed as she adjusted them. There was no ominousness in her flash this time, just confusion.

"Yes."

"Uh huh," Matsu adjusted her glasses some more, seemingly using it as a means of controlling her fraying emotions. "And who, exactly, is getting married, if I may ask?"

"I am."

… A moment of silence.

"What do you mean you're getting married?!"

"Who are you getting married to?!"

"Lover-kun, don't tell me you've decided to become mired in a monogamous relationship?"

Naruto listened as questions poured from the mouths of his Sekirei. They were all blabbering at the exact same time, asking questions and making demands and just being loud. Only Miya, Musubi and Kusano didn't shout. Miya stood in the back and observed everything happening with an amused smile. Musubi was playing with Kusano, keeping the young Sekirei occupied and out of the adult conversation.

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone stopped shouting and turned to look Akitsu.

"You're marrying Tsukiumi, aren't you?"

More silence. Naruto studied the many faces of his Sekirei, then gave them all a nod.

"I am. Why else you do think I asked Miya to send her with Chiho and Uzume to get the groceries?"

"Now it all makes sense," Kazehana nodded to herself-and then pulled a bottle of sake from between her bosom. He wondered how she did that, but chose not to ask. "I had always wondered why you haven't made sweet, sweet love to her when you've already done so with all of us." She uncorked the sake and took a long swig. "Puag! You're planning on giving her a traditional wedding night."

"Right in one," Naruto favored her with a smile, "Out of all of you, Tsukiumi is the most traditional, and so I wanted our wedding night to be the same as if we were in a regular human relationship. Which is why we'll be having a traditional Japanese wedding today."

… More silence. Naruto stared at all of the gawking faces. Even Miya looked genuinely surprised to hear that the wedding was today. He gave them all his most brilliant smile, the kind he used to give after a successful prank was played.

"Surprise!"

"EEHHHH?!"

XoX

After everyone freaked out for a second time and Naruto calmed them down, preparations began. There was a lot that needed to get done since the wedding was today. Consequently, because Naruto had neglected to mention this fact to everyone, he received a pretty harsh scolding from his Sekirei. Miya had been especially adamant in meting out punishment.

"I believe now is the time to let everyone know that I've actually already decided on what parts you're all going to play."

"You should have told us about this sooner," arms crossed under her chest, Homura gave him a foul look, her exasperation showing in her harsh glare. "Honestly, Naruto, why are you always keeping things to yourself, especially something like this. Had you told us sooner, we could have helped you plan this all out."

"I'm sorry," Naruto actually did feel a little contrite, "I guess I'm just so used to doing things on my own that actually asking for help never occurred to me."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Naruto wondered if it was his fault. Perhaps he shouldn't have reminded them about his unfortunate immortality and what it cost him?

"There's no use crying over spilt milk," fortunately for everyone's peace of mind, Kazehana was more than willing to break this uncomfortable and stifling silence. "What's done is done, and all we can do now is help make sure Lover-kun's and Panty-Flasher-chan's wedding is a success."

"Kazehana-san is correct," Miya stood away from the group, nodding in concurrence, "Although I would have liked it if someone had decided to inform us about something this monumental before hand," she glared at Naruto, "There is nothing we can do about that now. The dye has been cast, as they say, and all we can do now is ensure that Naruto-san and Tsukiumi-san's coming nuptials are successful."

Naruto swallowed when he saw her face. That vein throbbing on her forehead like a volcano about to erupt boded nothing good.

"R-right, so, um, anyway," he coughed into his hand, "I've already got all of the tasks divvied up to make things easier. Akitsu, Kazehana and Miya, your job is going to be helping Tsukiumi pick out a kimono for the ceremony," he handed Miya a sheet of paper, "That address is where you'll be going to get the kimono. I've already had several made in her size, and also several made in your sizes as well, so feel free to pick out kimonos for yourselves, Homura, Musubi and Kusano as well."

"H-hold up!" Homura sounded displeased by something. "What do you mean pick up a kimono for me as well?" Her cheeks flushed. "A-are you telling me that I'm going to be… to… that I have to…"

"Yes," Naruto correctly interpreted the series of stutters that came out of Homura's mouth, "You are going to be wearing a kimono as well."

"B-but why?!"

"Because you'll look beautiful in one," Naruto's blunt words made Homura's mouth snap closed, "Now do me a favor, shut up and listen to me." Homura shut up. "Good. Now then, while Miya, Kazehana and Akitsu take Tsukiumi to get a kimono, the rest of us will be preparing the temple for the ceremony. Most of the tasks are already complete, all we really need to do is set up a few last minute decorations. After that, you girls will get dressed while Miya, Akitsu and Kazehana lead Tsukiumi to the temple."

"Sounds simple enough," Matsu's glasses flashed, "Uhuhuhu, will Naru-tan be needing my special help for the ceremony? Perhaps I can provide Tsu-tan with some much needed guidance on what to do for her wedding night-guag!"

"Bad Matsu," Miya scolded the redhead, who now lay on the floor after the landlady chucked a rock at her head. Naruto wondered where she got it, the rock that is, but then realized he was probably better off not knowing.

"Alright," Naruto clapped his hands, "Now that we're all clear on who's doing what, let's get started. Tsukiumi will be here soon, and I want everyone to be prepared to move out at a moments notice!"

"OORAH!" His Sekirei all cheered-even Miya.

Naruto facepalmed.

"I knew I shouldn't have let them play Halo."

XoX

When Tsukiumi returned with Chiho and Uzume, she and the others had dragged the water user back out again.

The early afternoon light shone through the windows of the store they resided in, the one Naruto had directed them to. Fabrics hung along the walls in racks near the back, and intricately woven kimonos like delicate tapestries were displayed in the front.

Miya stood off to the side, gazing at the changing stall with a curious smile.

When she and the others had arrived and given their names, the already friendly women who owned the shop gained several levels in vibrancy. Apparently, Naruto had paid her exorbitant amounts of money to create a large number of kimonos. A very large amount of kimonos.

Very, _very _large.

She and the others had then dragged a frustrating and annoyed Tsukiumi to the changing room the woman directed them to. There, the water-user had been stunned into silence when she was presented with nearly sixteen dozen kimonos and told to try them on. Her fellow sister Sekirei had then gone through the selection process, ignoring their fellow sister's words, and began forcing outfits on her.

That had been fifteen minutes ago.

"I still do not know why I need to do this," Tsukiumi's grumbling complaints came from behind the curtain.

"Because we thought shopping for kimonos would be fun," Kazehana replied, "And we figured you wouldn't object. After all, Lover-kun would probably love to see you in a kimono."

No objection was made. Miya smiled, imagining the red flush creeping on Tsukiumi's face.

"Do you really think so?" came the quiet question from the curtain's other side.

"Oh yes," Kazehana nodded, "I am certain that he'll love seeing you in a kimono."

"W-well, I-I suppose dressing in something other than my combat outfit every now and then would be nice," Tsukiumi's mumbled words, "B-but I'm only doing this because my husband might like it!"

Miya raised her hand and giggled at the words. Naruto was about to become Tsukiumi's husband in more than just words soon enough.

When Tsukiumi appeared before them, it was to see her dressed in a resplendent kimono that reminded Miya of a waterfall. Blue silk shimmered as she moved, changing colors depending on how the light hit it. Contrasting with her kimono, her long blond hair was also reminiscent of a waterfall, descending down her back and framing a face that would not look out of place on fairy tale princess.

Tsukiumi was blushing.

"W-well," she tried to sound haughty and failed, "H-how does it look? Will my husband like it?"

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone stared at Akitsu, whose intense stare made Tsukiumi squirm.

"I like it," she said at last.

"Hmm, this one does look rather good," Kazehana commented with a critical eye, "What do you think Miya?"

"It fits her well," Miya said at last, "Though I believe we should have her try on several more, just in case there is something among here that looks better."

And just like that, Miya and Kazehana grabbed several more kimonos and forced a squawking Tsukiumi back into the changing room.

XoX

The preparations were complete.

Naruto stood in front of an alter. He'd dressed for the occasion. His _nagajuban _(underkimono) held the same orange as a sunset. The midnight black _montsuki_ (formal kimono) he wore over it contrasted starkly with the orange underkimono. Both nagajuban and montsuki complemented his black and orange striped hakama pants, which was held up by an orange obi. Thrown over his shoulders was a dark orange _haori_ (traditional kimono jacket) with the Uzumaki clan crest, a swirling whirlpool, on the back.

He gazed around at the decorations made to the shrine. The stone path leading to the altar was lustrous. Freshly polished. It glistened in the light. Surrounding foliage had been decorated with firefly lights that glowed with bright luminescence in the waning hours of dawn. Banners had been strung across buildings and along poles staked into the ground. One-thousand lights of ephemeral construction, beings composed of chakra shaped like paper cranes, fluttered about, drifting on lazy zephyrs.

Standing on the alter with him were three other people. Temura Manami stood in a far more extravagant set of shrine priestess robes than she had when they first met. On the other side, standing across from him in the maid of honor position was Musubi, whose smile held a mixture of calm and exuberance. Beside him, acting as the best man, was none other than Minato Sahashi.

"Naruto-san?" Minato looked uncomfortable.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to know, are you sure that you're okay with me being your best man?"

An amused smile curved his lips.

"Who else would I ask to be my best man? Seo?" he gestured toward the Ashikabi in question. Seo looked like he wanted to rip his suit off. Hibiki and Hikari sat on either side of him, and gave him a shock whenever he tugged his collar. "He's a good guy, but not very reliable. Out of all the males I know, you're the one I trust the most. Besides, you proved yourself quite reliable with your last match."

"Ah," Minato scratched the back of his head, "Thanks."

It didn't take much longer before the procession arrived. Naruto heard Tsukiumi's complaints before she, Miya, Kazehana and Akitsu crested the stairs.

"I have had quite enough of your refusal to answer my questions," the water-user was saying as they reached the top, "Just where are you three taking… me…?"

The young woman trailed off when she saw the decorated Shinto temple. Her wide eyes trailed across the small space. She gazed upon the crowd of faces. There were not many people attending this wedding; her sister Sekirei, Seo and his Sekirei, and Minato and his two Sekirei, plus Temura. Despite the lack of people, the seating arrangements, two rows on either side of a stone path that led to altar upon which he stood, could not be mistaken for anything but a wedding ceremony.

Naruto did not believe in the human concept of marriage. Having been the figure who various religions of the world were birthed from, marrying under the name of God, or the gods, was pretty much a moot point.

Tsukiumi did believe in marriage, however, and thus his reason for the wedding.

He'd decided to go with a combination of traditional Japanese wedding and a western-style wedding. The irony of being married under the name of the Shinto gods did not escape him.

_My sons and daughters would find it amusing to know that I sought their blessings for this union._

The kimono Tsukiumi wore that evening was truly splendid-no, it was Tsukiumi herself who made it look so resplendent. Colored with the purity of snow, her _kakeshita_'s (wedding kimono) long, furisode style sleeves were voluminous and decorated with tiny wave motifs along the hem, visible not by a difference in color, but by the shimmering of the fabric. More waves became visible as Miya walked her down the stone path. The light would hit them, coruscating off their surface and revealing the intricate patterns woven into the fabric. Unlike most occasions when her hair was worn down, this time, Tsukiumi wore it in a high knot, which was held in place by a _tsunokakushi _(traditional wedding headwear)_._

As the still stunned Tsukiumi was led up to the altar by Miya, Akitsu and Kazehana split off and stood by their seats next to Homura and Matsu.

The realization of what was happening seemed to come slowly to Tsukiumi. It was interesting to see the way her eyes widened as she was walked to the altar, and even more interesting to see the way her faced burned when those same eyes landed on him.

When they reached the altar, Miya handed the dazed and embarrassed Tsukiumi to Naruto. He held out his hand to the water-user. For her part, Tsukiumi's face gained a new level of red as she slowly took it. She didn't say anything, but that did not surprise him. For all her assertiveness and claims about being his wife, she was surprisingly shy whenever they were actually intimate in some manner.

_Tsundere indeed._

They stood by side by side by the altar, and Temura smiled at them both.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the presence of Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto, and in the face of this company, to join together this man, Uzumaki Naruto-sama, and this Woman, Tsukiumi-sama, in holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate, instituted of the gods, signifying unto us the mystical union of two people whose bonds have grown beyond those of mere mortals, but become something more. If any man can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace."

No one spoke, of course. Uzume did try, Naruto noticed, but Chiho stamped on the brunette's foot, making the cloth wielder bite her lip to keep from yelling out.

Temura looked down at the book within her grasp, the edges frayed and worn with age, the pages crinkled and yellow. She nodded to herself, then began to speak again.

"Bonds are a most powerful thing. Bonds are both the most powerful and fragile aspect of this world, stronger than steel yet easily broken if abused. It is the bonds we share with those who love us and are loved in turn that give us strength, and should therefore be cherished and protected with all of your heart. The bond shared by Uzumaki Naruto-sama and Tsukiumi-sama go far beyond the bonds of most people on this planet. Born from love and strengthened through conflicts, these two have become more than just man and woman, more than simply husband and wife. Theirs is a bond that can be broken by neither death nor time, and shall remain forever strong."

Temura turned, then, and grabbed a _tamagushi_, a form of shinto offering made from a sakaki tree branch and decorated with shide strips of washi paper. She waved the tamagushi over the shrine altar behind her, set the offering down, then grabbed a red saucer, which she presented to Naruto.

He held it in both hands, remaining still as Temura poured sake into the saucer, which he drank from three times, before handing it over to Tsukiumi, whose hands shook as she received the cup and followed his example.

After sharing three cups of sake in the traditional wedding style of _san-san-kudo_, which dated back to when his son Susanoo married Kushinadahime, Temura held out a gleaming plate of steel upon which a velvet cushion with two ornately crafted rings sat.

She offered it to Naruto, who took one of the rings, glistening silver and embedded with gems in the shape of flowing water, which refracted as light as the glowing chakra constructions played off their surface. He turned to Tsukiumi who, even dazed, still had the presence to offer her right hand, allowing him to slide the ring onto her ring finger. It was then her turn to grab Naruto's ring, a plain silver band with seals inscribed into it, and slide it onto his finger. Afterward, he grabbed her hands in both of his. Tsuikimi suddenly found the hem of her kimono to be quite fascinating.

Temura turned to him.

"Naruto-sama, will you take Tsukiumi-sama to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Naruto swallowed a small lump in his throat as a sudden fear overtook him. Whether Temura knew them or not, her words brought up unpleasant memories and even more unpleasant possibilities. He ignored the voice in his head, the one that said, "_You mean as long as she lives."_

"Always," he said softly, hoping the tremor he felt in his voice had only been his imagination.

Temura turned to Tsukiumi.

"Tsukiumi-sama, will you take Naruto-sama to be your husband, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish his friendship and love him today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor him, laugh with him and cry with him? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"Y-yes!" Tsukiumi squeaked.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife," Temura proclaimed, "You may kiss the bride."

Naruto placed his hands on Tsukiumi's face just below the point where the soft contours of her jaw curved into an elegant, slender neck. His thumbs caressed her cheek, marveling at their velvety softness, the flawless pearlescent beauty. Her eyes stared into his, an uncertain tremor and demureness she rarely displayed showing within her aqua-colored irises. He leaned down, while she instinctively tilted her head up, their lips meeting in an inevitable kiss.

Pinions of light erupted from Tsukiumi's back. Wings a watery blue extended behind her, unfurling their full length and emitting particles of light that showered the area around them, only to break apart upon touching the ground.

Cheers and clapping erupted from everyone around them. Naruto thought he heard Uzume catcalling, but couldn't be sure. He also thought he heard Seo say something about how he should fondle Tsukiumi's tits. The sound of thunder and screams of pain that followed told Naruto that Seo had, indeed, said something lewd.

He put the shouts of his mind. The people around him faded into the background. The cheers became a muffled drone. Naruto focused on the woman whose lips he'd claimed, on the scent of fresh spring rain that assailed him, on the taste of her sweet lips, and the feel of her soft skin.

More than that, he focused on the bond between them. Where once the bond sounded like a gentle hum within the back of his mind, now it had become more akin to a thrumming rhythm that sang to his soul.

The kiss seemed to last an eternity, but in truth only lasted for a few seconds. When he pulled back, Tsukiumi was even more dazed than before. Her cheeks, heavily flushed, matched the half-lidded eyes that stared at him with an amalgam of emotions. She breathed in deeply, and he could see a bare hint of sweat, either from exertion or wearing a kimono in warm weather, trail down the side of her slender neck.

"Naruto," she breathed out, and he could sense her confusion addled mind trying to come to terms with what was happening. He smiled at her, and felt the emotions coming from Tsukiumi spike.

"Let's go. We have a wedding to finish," he said. Tsukiumi, unable to speak, simply nodded in a dazed manner and allowed him to pull her away from the altar.

XoX

The wedding ceremony came to an end.

After Naruto and Tsukiumi exchanged vows, they went out with his other Sekirei and their friends, and enjoyed a sight of dancing and singing.

Seo and his Sekirei, Hibiki and Hikaru, left first. His only reason for showing up had been the free booze, of which he'd partaken of just a little too much. After shocking him into a catatonic state, his Sekirei dragged his smoking, half-dead carcass away, while making several heartfelt apologies for his uncouth behavior.

After Seo was unceremoniously dragged out of the party, Naruto decided to retire with Tsukiumi. He'd used one of several limousines that he had bought years ago, driven by a clone disguised as an old man, and took Tsukiumi to an expensive hotel owned by a gang of Yakuza-the boss of whom was actually one of Naruto's many… employees.

"I-I can carry myself, you know," Tsukiumi's embarrassed muttering caused Naruto to chuckle.

"I know, but I enjoy carrying you," he looked down at the woman in his arms and smiled, "So let me carry you for a while longer, okay?"

"W-well, if you insist," Tsukiumi muttered as she buried her head in the crook of his neck, "Y-you are my husband, so I it's only right that you carry me."

"Exactly," Naruto chuckled.

He stood in an elevator, Tsukiumi in his arms. Soft music played in the background and dark velvet carpet sank underneath his feet. The elevator eventually reached their destination with a soft _ping,_ and opened up to reveal an exquisite room that wouldn't look out of place in a palace.

Naruto walked into the large interior space. The penthouse looked more like a miniature home than a hotel room. Large and with several rooms, the one they currently stood in was a living room with glass tables and expensive leather furnishing. One wall of the room was made entirely of glass. It overlooked Shinto Teito. The city, a towering jungle of buildings piercing the sky, lay spread out before them.

He ignored the extravagant decore in favor of traveling to the bedroom, where a large bed of crimson sheets and covered in delicate flower petals of varying color sat.

"Here we are," Naruto said as he carried Tsukiumi to the bed and set her down.

"Y-yes," Tsukiumi stuttered, fidgeting with her obi, "H-here we are."

"Are you nervous?"

"O-of course not!" Tsukiumi blustered. In direct contradiction to her words, the young woman tried sinking into her kimono. "W-why would I be nervous?"

"It's okay to be nervous," Naruto knelt down beside the woman and placed a hand on her knee, "Today's been a big day for you, and I didn't really give you any time to prepare for it. It must have been pretty shocking for you. Getting married like this, I mean."

"I suppose it is," Tsukiumi looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with him, "It is… hard to believe. I, well, I always called myself your wife, but we… I mean I never believed we would be getting married like this."

"Why is that?"

Tsukiumi sunk further into her embarrassment.

"B-because I am your Sekirei. Human marriage isn't something most Ashikabi would concern themselves with, since the bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei is absolute. I just sort of assumed it would be the same with us, since you haven't done this for any of your other Sekirei."

"Ah, but this isn't about my other Sekirei, is it?" Naruto's eyes glimmered with amusement. The hand on her knee slid the heavy fabric of her kimono away, revealing milky smooth skin. "This is about you. You have always called yourself my wife, and that is why we had this ceremony. I wanted to make your dreams a reality. I wanted us to actually be husband and wife, not just in name, but in title. You are now officially Uzumaki Tsukiumi, with all the rights that come with being my wife."

"Naruto…"

The look Tsukiumi gave him was filled with a love that she rarely displayed-at least not without a healthy dosage of embarrassment.

"I love you, Tsukiumi, my wife."

The blush returned a thousand fold.

"W-what do you love about me?" Tsukiumi asked with embarrassment.

"What don't I love about you?"

Naruto's grin vanished grabbed Tsukiumi's leg and lifted it up. The light blue tabi socks that she wore were slowly peeled off her feet when Naruto grabbed between his teeth.

"I love everything…"

If Tsukiumi's face had been able to get any redder, it probably would have, especially when he grabbed her left foot and placed a kiss on it.

"From your cute little feet…"

His lips moved from her feet to her calves.

"To your legs…"

They traversed soft skin, milky smooth, small pecks that left goosebumps in their wake. As he moved up, kissing her inner thigh, Naruto slowly peeled her kimono apart. Her obi came undone when Naruto's hands deftly untied it. Tsukiumi tried to cover up, but he wouldn't let her.

"To your beautiful flat stomach…"

Tsukiumi was pushed onto her back as Naruto's lips sought her stomach. A startled gasp of pleasure slipped from soft lips. Her muscles clenched and quivered wherever his mouth touched.

"To your perfect breasts."

_Snap._ The light blue bra she'd been wearing loosened and Naruto pulled it up to reveal her bare bosom. His head came down and his mouth took in one of her pretty pink nipples. Tsukiumi's erotic call echoed throughout the room, her nipple stiffening in his mouth as his tongue swirled around it.

"Your slender neck…"

He moved on, kissing and licking his way up her neck. He immediately zeroed in on her sweet spots, suckling on the flesh until he left a lovely hickey. Throughout it all, Tsukiumi quivered, moaned and writhed in embarrassed pleasure, her body flushing as he took his time paying attention to every inch and crevice of her glorious body.

"And your beautiful face…"

He kissed her chin.

"With those stunning blue eyes…"

He kissed her cheeks underneath each eye.

"That cute little nose…"

He kissed the tip of her nose.

"And those succulent lips that are just begging me to kiss them…"

Tsukiumi looked like she was going to say something. Her mouth opened, but no words were able to escape because his own mouth pressed down on hers.

A startled gasp swiftly turned into an erotic moan, a siren's call, lilting and lovely. Tsukiumi writhed underneath Naruto, his body pressing down on her, firm muscle meeting feminine flesh.

While his right hand held him up, keeping him from squishing her, his left hand began playing with her breasts. His his fingers caressed her nipples with feather light touches, the buds hardening under his gentle ministrations. Her body began to warm up, yet goosebumps appeared all the same.

His tongue slipped into her mouth and coaxed her into action. Tsukiumi's kisses were always very tentative, as if she was afraid of letting herself go. And so he guided her. His tongue moved around hers and allowed it entrance into his mouth, which gentle closed around the small pink appendage to suck on it.

"Hnn!"

Tsukiumi's body jerked in surprise. Her seductive moan led to his hand moving from her breasts and traversing her stomach. He took a moment to admire the smoothness of her skin, the tautness of her belly. Like most Sekirei, the only fat she had on her body was her breasts. It always amazed Naruto. This strange dichotomy that women had sought for years yet never fully attained, Tsukiumi possessed in spades. Full bosom and flat belly. After letting his hand roam over her stomach and play with her belly button, it moved on.

"Gh!"

Tsukiumi's hips jerked like a branco as his hand slipped between her thighs, which closed around him in surprise. He didn't let that bother him. His index finger grazed over the soft skin of her lips, before breaking through her folds. It was a surprisingly tight fit. Her walls clamped down on his finger and seemed to suck it in.

Her insides were warm. He curled the digit and grazed the inside of her passage, finding her sweet spot. The action surprised Tsukiumi so much that her hips literally left the bed as they were jerked upwards. He continued moving his finger inside of her, the movement becoming easier as her most sacred area became slick with her honey.

His thumb grazed against the top of her hood and began playing with her. The motions of her hips-nay, her entire body, intensified. Tsukiumi's siren's call grew louder in his mouth and sent reverberations through his body. Sweat broke out on her skin and Naruto did not hesitate to lick it off her neck. His Sekirei bit her lip, an attempt at muffling the moans that had been smothered during their kiss.

"Come on, Tsukiumi," Naruto's soft voice grazed her ear and caused her to shudder. The shuddering increased when he took that same ear in his mouth and began nibbling on it. "Let me hear that beautiful voice."

Tsukimi tried to hold it in, her cries of ecstasy, but when Naruto's thumb pressed harder against the small bundle of nerves it had been rubbing, those calls echoed around the room. A reverberating cry. A symphony of pleasure. Naruto let those calls fuel him, his desire for this woman, his desire to show her his love through physical intimacy.

Her end came soon after the moans started. He felt it when her entire body began quivering. Her thigh muscles and butt shook like they were undergoing muscle spasms. Her stomach clenched and her arms had come up to wrap tightly around him, pressing his head into her chest. His fingers were engulfed in a tight vice of soft velvet, and the flow of slick wetness increased and began poured out from around his finger, drenching his hand and the bedsheets underneath.

And then it was done. Tsukiumi collapsed onto the bed, her body going slack as if all the energy had rushed out of her with a single cry of euphoria. Naruto licked the sweat off her neck for a little while longer, enjoying both the sweet and salty taste of her skin, along with the shudders her body went through. When he pulled back up, a smile crossed his face.

Tsukiumi had never looked so spent, had never appeared to frazzled, had never seemed more beautiful. There was something enchanting about the way she appeared after her first orgasm. Her flushed cheeks were alluring in their innocence. Her eyes, glazed over orbs of bright blue, made him feel innately pleased with himself. Dark pink lips slightly bruised from the intensity of their kisses parted for breath, deep, heaving inhalations. He wanted to kiss those lips. He also wanted to kiss her breasts, which swayed and jiggled in the most enticing of ways as she sucked in lungfuls of air.

He did none of those things. Instead, after sucking his finger clean, he reached out with his hand and idly caressed her cheek with a loving touch, gently coaxing her back into conscious thought.

"H-husband," Tsukiumi mumbled, her slurred manner of speech suggesting she was dazed. He smiled down at her.

"How do you feel?"

"Feel?" Tsukiumi blinked, slowly coming back to herself. And with that self-awareness came embarrassment. She glanced at him demurely, before her eyes moved away. "I feel… good. You… what you did to me. It felt… nice."

"I'm glad," Naruto lowered his head to place a tender kiss on silken lips, "I plan on making you feel even better." He leaned back up and looked down at her. "Are you ready?"

Tsukiumi's entire body became red. She looked away, but nodded all the same.

"I-I am ready to become one with you," she mumbled with an endearingly bashful nature.

With her assent given, Naruto crawled between her legs. His hands grabbed onto her hips and pulled them up until her butt rested on his thighs. He lined himself up with her entrance, then looked at her for confirmation to continue. Tsukiumi nodded, closing her eyes as she prepared herself.

Naruto frowned. Then he moved forward until he leaned over her.

"Tsukiumi," he said, causing the woman's eyes to open and find his face mere inches from her own, "I love you."

The look in her eyes softened. Embarrassment melted and gave way to love. Layers of her typically tsundere attitude were peeled away like layers of a cake, revealing the compassionate and caring woman within.

"I love you, too," she said earnestly.

Naruto smiled at her, and then slowly pushed himself inside. If he thought his finger had problems getting inside, then that was nothing compared to this. She enclosed around him, her grip on him tighter than anything he'd ever felt. Even though he'd prepared her to accept him, he still had trouble pushing himself in.

"G-gu!"

He paused to look at Tsukiumi.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," Tsukiumi gasped in obvious pain, "I am… fine. I just… didn't expect it to feel so…"

"Painful?" Tsukiumi nodded, tears barely contained within watery eyes. "I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm a bit bigger than most. Let me see if I can't ease your pain."

Naruto coated himself in chakra, using it as a means to help ease her burden of accepting him. Slowly, he pushed himself in some more. Tsukiumi groaned in discomfort and whimpered when he broke her hymen. He also took note of how she did have a hymen, and soon determined that the reason some Sekirei didn't was due to training or perhaps even their adjusters doing something they shouldn't. It would be something to look into later.

Tsukiumi didn't cry, but he could sense her pain, and he did what he could to mitigate it; kissing her lips, her neck, and playing with her breasts to mask the pain she felt with pleasure. And then he was fully sheathed inside of her.

"I can feel you inside of me," Tsukiumi whispered, tears finally falling. "We're connected."

Naruto smiled at the woman beneath him.

"Yes, we are."

"Naruto… husband… make love to me, please?"

"Your wish is my command."

Naruto began making love to Tsukiumi. Slowly. Gently. He moved inside of her, pulling out and then pushing back in with glacial slowness. It was difficult to keep himself from pounding into her. Tsukiumi's tightness made not cumming before her a task in and of itself. He persevered, fighting against the urge to let himself go in order to please his wife.

Their bodies became slick from their exertions. Sweat mixed into a fine coat that caused an intense friction as their bodies rubbed together. Tsukiumi's scent pervaded his mind and addled Naruto's brain. The heat emitted from her body was bliss. He sought more of it, this heat, leaning down further until her breasts mashed against his chest, and her hardened nipples caressed his skin, slick with sweat.

"N-Naruto!" Tsukiumi gasped. Naruto grunted.

"A-are you close?"

"Y-yes! P-please! With me! Cum with me!"

Naruto grunted again. His arms wrapped around her waist. He sat up, taking her with him as he made to sit on his heels.

Tsukiumi's arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close. Her legs locked around his waist, heels hooking at the small of his back.

Firm, calloused hands grabbed a handful of Tsukiumi's shapely butt. The water-user moaned into his ear as he kneaded the pliant flesh and moved her hips along his length. She did what she could to help, but he could tell from the quivering of her body that she was nearly spent. And when her walls tightened around him, making it nearly impossible to move, he knew that she was done.

"OH GOD!"

Her body convulsed against his. Her legs tightened around him. Thighs quivered. Her butt shook and clenched. Her stomach muscles shook with undiluted passion. Arms around his neck became almost chokingly tight. The wetness around him increased, flowing over him and coating his thighs and crotch. With one final grunt, Naruto allowed himself to let go.

Tsukiumi slackened within his grip. Her arms unwound and slid off his shoulders. Her feet unhooked themselves and her legs became like wet noodles. Her head fell onto his shoulder. Deep, even breathing let him know that Tsukiumi had already fallen asleep.

Smiling to himself, Naruto maneuvered them on the bed, until he lay on his back and Tsukiumi lay on top of him. He held her close and ignored the mess that was made when he slipped out of her. The covers were soon pulled over them, and Naruto let one hand rest on her shoulder blades while the other began caressing her hair.

Within the darkness of the bedroom, Uzumaki Naruto closed his eyes.

"I love you, my beautiful wife," he said, before allowing himself to fall asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Boy, this chapter was a doozy, wasn't it? It's over 20,000 words, making it one of the longest chapters I've written in a while. Consider it my apology for making you all wait so long for this moment. I know a number of people wanted to see what Naruto had planned for Tsukiumi.<strong>

**Welp, I have to work, so I'm heading out. I hope you all have an excellent day.**


	42. Battle of Bonds

**Chapter 42**

**Battle of Bonds**

* * *

><p>When he and Tsukiumi returned from their wedding night, all the other Sekirei were able to see their sister's vibrant glowㅡand also the way she would occasionally sneak glances at Naruto and blush, but mostly her vibrant glow. They also didn't hesitate to comment on this metaphorical glow the blond-haired water-user seemed to have, which only made her blush that much more.<p>

"Oh my," Kazehana gave Tsukiumi a teasing leer as the blond woman sat down at the table for lunch, "it seems like you two had a good time. Was your wedding night everything you could ask for and more? Come on, Panty-Flasher. Give us some details."

"I-I do not see why I should tell you about my wedding night," Tsukiumi tried to hide her blush with crossed arms and a huff. She also turned her head away from Kazehana. "B-but if you must know, mine and my husband's wedding night was perfect. He was everything that I have come to expect from my Ashikabi."

Matsu's perverted old man giggles sounded out quietly around the table.

"She might huff and grumble about how her wedding night isn't any of our business, but Tsu-tan clearly has no trouble telling us about how it went."

Tsukiumi pointed a quivering finger at Matsu.

"Be quiet, you perverted miscreant!"

"Uhuhuhu…"

"Aren't you gonna protect your wife from her fellow harem members, bro?" Uzume asked as she elbowed Naruto in the side. The young-looking immortal cracked a single eye open and gazed at the busty cloth-user, then slowly closed his eye again.

"Tsukiumi is more than capable of taking care of herself," Naruto informed Uzume loudly enough for everyone to hear. "And I would never dishonor my wife by fighting her battles for her." His lips twitched. "My wife is a very strong woman. Something like a little teasing won't get to her."

"T-t-that's right!" Tsukiumi squeaked, her face turning a shade of crimson that had yet to be discovered by man. "I-I-I am more than capable of, of taking care of myself! Hmph!"

Kazehana chuckled.

"Just like a tsundere waifu."

The scowl Tsukiumi directed at Kazehana was truly something to behold. Too bad it didn't affect Kazehana the way she probably wanted it to.

"Who's a tsundere?!"

"Now, now," Miya spoke calmly as she walked into the room and placed a platter of finger foods on the table. "You all know the rules: no fighting in Maison Izumo. And especially no fighting at the dining room table. If you can't follow these basic rules, I'll have to punish you."

Even though there was no aura of DOOM this time, Kazehana and Tsukiumi gulped all the same.

As everyone began grabbing at the food, Musubi, or rather, the woman who was the combined souls of Musubi and Yume, turned to Naruto.

"Say, Naruto?"

Blue eyes opened again. Naruto gave his first Sekirei his undivided attention.

"Something up?"

"Yes," Musubi nodded, "I was wondering how you plan on training me . You told Karasuba that you would make me even stronger than I was back when I still lead the Disciplinary Squad, remember?"

"I do remember," Naruto offered her a smile, "and don't worry. I've got a plan to help you train." He paused for a moment, thinking. "I originally wasn't planning on using this method because I deemed it too dangerous, but I think our new situation warrants it."

"Too dangerous?" It was odd to see Musubi's face actually appear worried. "Is it really so dangerous?"

"Well, not dangerous so much as unstable," Naruto corrected. That didn't seem to reassure Musubi, so he elaborated. "As you know, I do a lot of work with seals, which are nearly limitless in their application. Some of the seals I've created are ones that mess around with time."

Homura nearly choked on her food.

"What do you mean you've been messing around with time?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"I mean just what I said," Naruto stated succinctly, "I have several seals that can distort, change and bend time to my will." He placed a hand on his chin, adopting a thinking pose. "It must have been, oh, five… six-hundred years ago? Somewhere around there. Anyway, a while back, I decided that I wanted to find a way to travel through time. I thought it would be nice if I could travel into any time I wanted. That way I could visit all of the people I lost."

Naruto ignored the general sense of despair his words brought. They would have to get used to that. None of his stories ever ended with a "happily ever after."

"So, yeah, I decided to create a seal that would let me travel through time. Unfortunately, even I cannot truly travel to another time. Not in the way I wanted to, at least. There are many laws that govern the timestream; rules and theories that humanity has yet to discover because they've never gone back in time like I have. These rules are absolute and cannot be broken under any circumstances. And when I say cannot, I don't mean should not. I mean you actually can't break them. The universal laws governing time won't let you."

Naruto tapped his chin several times as he looked toward the ceiling.

"I believe the universe put these laws in place in case someone ever tries tampering with forces they shouldn't. Specific principles that simply cannot be broken no matter how hard you try. The ability to travel through time, truly travel through time, to interact with the world of that time, to be a part of the world from that time, is impossible. I can go back to any time period I desire, but only as an outside observer. Never as a participant." His lips curled in a bitter smile. "I suppose having to observe some of the things I never wished to relive was my punishment for trying to change them in the first place."

Naruto thought about the numerous times he'd gone back to the past hoping to change it. How helpless he had been each time. A mere spectator. A silent observer who could only watch as travesties were committed, as loved ones died again. It was one of those hard-learned lessons, the knowledge that one cannot change the past no matter how much they wanted to, no matter how powerful they were, no matter how many universal laws one broke. It hurt, but he'd eventually accepted itㅡeven if doing so made him even more bitter than before.

"Naruto-sama."

Several hands on his back made Naruto realize his Sekirei had gathered around him. They crowded him, comforting him, the bonds between them open and sharing in his pain. He looked at them all, at the people who'd broken past his barriers, and smiled.

"Anyway," he shook his head, dispelling the depressing thoughts, and got back on topic, "While there are some laws on time that can't be changed even by someone like myself, there are other laws that can." His eyes began gleaming as they locked on Musubi. "I can't wait to show you where we'll be training. With it, you can get an entire years worth of training in a single day. It's the perfect place for you to get stronger."

Musubi matched his smile with a bright one of her own. It was different than her normal smiles. It was still brilliant, shining like a star in the dark velvet of night, but it contained a maturity that he just wasn't used to seeing from her. Still, he had to admit, he rather liked this smile.

"I can't wait," she told him.

XoX

"Where are we going, Naruto-sama?" Musubi asked as she and Naruto walked through the jungle section of the training ground. Birds sang their mating calls. Animals scurried along the ground, croaking and chirping and meowing. Thick, muggy air clung to her skin like a layer of oil, caking her shirt to her chest. The entire place felt like it had been transplanted directly from the Amazon rainforest.

"You'll see in just a minute," Naruto answered, causing her to pout.

Her pout didn't last long. Minutes later, they emerged from the jungle thicket and into a surprisingly open space; a circle with a radius of about ten meters in which no trees or plants existed, as if they disdained from this space. Even grass refused to grow there. In the center of this blank patch of dirt and gravel stood a door, just a plain white door with no extraordinary featuresㅡunless one counted the fact that it didn't have a building attached to it as extraordinary.

"What… is this?" Musubi asked uncertainly.

Naruto spun around and gave her a grin.

"This is the key to how you're going to get stronger," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. "Now, come on. Let me show you the inside."

Musubi didn't see how they could go inside something when there was nothing to go inside of. Nevertheless, she followed Naruto as he opened the door and walked through the doorwayㅡ

ㅡOnly to stop…

…and stare.

They were standing in a room. White tiles covered the floor, walls and ceiling. She could see hallways that branched off into other rooms, each one large and covered in the same white tiles. An open hallway on the opposite side of the room led to what looked like a really large balcony, though she only thought this because she couldn't see anymore tiles from that point onward. All it contained was whitespace; a vast, empty space in which nothing seemed to exist.

The room they stood in was a living room of some kind. A red sofa sat in the center with a glass coffee table in front of it. To her left, a bar made of black marble had several stools arrayed around it. She could see a kitchen, too. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling. Top of the line equipment was situated within; a fridge, a stove, a microwave, all the essentials.

Musubi was baffled.

"What… what is this?"

Naruto grinned and spread his arms wide in an all-encompassing gesture.

"This… is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

Silence. Several crows cawed in the distance. A few crickets began chirping, too.

Musubi's expression went from amazed to deadpan in seconds.

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" she asked dubiously.

"Yep!" crossing his arms, Naruto gave her a very proud grin. "I built this thing back in the late 90s after getting the idea from an anime I had seen at the time." He tilted his head, brows furrowing in thought. "Although, I can't really remember what that anime was called. How odd…"

He shook his head.

"Anyway, this training facility works by distorting time. I've basically put this entire space into its own separate dimension and adjusted the flow of time inside. One day outside of this chamber equals a single year inside." He placed his hands on his hips and grinned at her. "Which basically means we can get a years worth of training in here and only a day will pass outside."

Musubi stared at her Ashikabi some more. The expression on her face, a deadpanned look, slowly morphed. Lips curved into an excited smile and eyes began sparkling with a vivid luster. Hands clenched into fists as elation overtook her.

"This is incredible, Naruto-sama!" She grabbed his hands with her own and brought them up to her face. "With this place, I can become more than strong enough to defeat Karasuba, and then I can finally prove to her that love is the greatest force in the universe!"

Naruto felt a small trickle of sweat run down his left temple, but he quickly shook it off. He allowed her excitement to suffuse him with positive emotions.

"I know. Now, come on. I'll show you where everything is here, and then we'll start training."

XoX

Miya and Tsukiumi were washing the dishes.

Studying the blond woman out of the corner of her eyes, Miya could not keep from smiling at the sight that greeted her.

The water-user almost absently used her powers to wash the dishes. Water shot from her index finger. More powerful than if she were to use the sink, it blasted the food right off, allowing her to really scrub the surface of each plate. While she washed the dishes, Tsukiumi gently hummed to herself; a soft lullaby that Miya recognized as one of the songs Naruto occasionally hummed under his breath when he thought no one was watching.

"You seem happy," Miya said, startling Tsukiumi. The blond Sekirei looked at her, then looked away just as quickly, her cheeks becoming inflamed.

"W-well, of course!" Tsukiumi exclaimed as she tried to cover her embarrassment with bluster. "My husband and I have joined together in wedlock. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"Yes, I suppose that is true," Miya's smile widened just a bit, "it must be a wonderful thing to have finally received your wedding night. I do hope it was everything you dreamed it would be."

"I-it was," Tsukiumi mumbled, "Naruto, heㅡhe was very kind to me, and gentle, and Iㅡ" her blush deepened, her skin tone going from light pink to dark crimson "ㅡI had always wanted to have a traditional wedding, so…"

"He does seem awfully good at giving all of us exactly what we want in a relationship, doesn't he?" Miya mused. She understood why. Naruto had experience. Thousands of years worth of experience. He'd told her the stories, tales of his time on earth, of marriage and children. After living for so long, and having been in so many relationships, Naruto knew how to treat women. It was a part of him that she accepted, just like she accepted the apathetic part of him that disregarded human life.

"Of course he is," Tsukiumi declared proudly, her previous embarrassment forgotten. "He is my husband, after all. I would have never pick someone who doesn't know how to treat his Sekirei properly to be my husband."

"Indeed," Miya's mild chuckled matched the gleam in her eyes.

"Have you ever thought about marrying Naruto, Miya-san?" Tsukiumi suddenly asked. Miya was startled by the question, but didn't let it show on her face.

She pondered it, the question, turning it over in her head as one might a puzzle. Her musings didn't last long, though, as she'd already realized what kind of relationship she wanted with Naruto.

"I do not need a marriage ceremony to affirm my relationship with Naruto," Miya said at last. "While it is something that I know you wanted, I do not believe undergoing a ceremony will do anything to solidify the love and bond that Naruto and I share."

"I see," Tsukiumi was quiet for a moment, "it is just like you to say such a thing, Miya-san. I guess that is why you are the one we all listen to."

"Oh my," Miya would have placed her hands on her cheeks in faux-demureness, but since her hands were covered in soapy gloves, she desisted. "I'll become embarrassed if you flatter me like that." Tsukiumi had the audacity to snort. Miya returned to drying the dishes that her companion washed. "In all seriousness, I simply do not feel the need to affirm mine and Naruto's relationship like that. The bond he and I share is more powerful than a human concept or a legal document on paper. I know that Naruto loves me, and he knows that I love him. That is all that matters."

"Yes," Tsukiumi murmured softly, seemingly awed by her response, "I suppose it does."

XoX

What Naruto called training was not training in the most literal sense of the word. Naruto did not teach her any techniques. He did not help her with her form, didn't correct any flaws in her fighting, or even offer feedback on her style.

What they did was fight.

She and Naruto fought within that space. Day in and day out, all they did was fight. A constant struggle. An almost never ending battle. They would fight and fight and fight, until Musubi couldn't fight anymore. Then Naruto would heal her, allow her to rest, and the process would begin all over again.

Some people, and maybe even her fellow Sekirei, would probably consider the training she underwent harsh. Naruto was a merciless instructor. He didn't pull his punches, didn't coddle her. Every attack was designed to maim. Every strike felt like she was being hit by a wrecking ball. Bones were broken. Ribcages were crushed. Every battle pushed Musubi to the brink of her physical limitations, and then forced her to break those limitations, lest she suffer more.

While others would be appalled by the extreme training, Musubi loved it. Each time she and Naruto battled, she learned just a little more, became just a little better. Every time they fought, her tactics became refined, her abilities sharper, her hand-to-hand combat more polished. Slowly but surely, she could feel herself growing stronger. Muscles hardened. Reflexes dulled by the naive mind of Musubi sharpened to a razor's edge. Her boobs did decrease a little in size, but she considered that a small price to pay for her increased fighting prowess.

Sometimes, their rest periods would be broken up by moments where she and her Ashikabi made love. Musubi would admit that each time was both intense and interesting. It seemed her body had acquired several more erogenous zones thanks to Yume, and Naruto had taken great pleasure in finding each one and using it to send her over the edge.

It was one of these particular moments of passion that she and Naruto had just finished sharing. They were sitting in the tub filled with hot water. Steam rose all around them, a thick mist that clung to their skin and mixed with their sweat. Her Ashikabi had just finished making love to her, and Musubi felt exhausted but pleased, like she just wanted to curl up with her Naruto-sama and fall asleep.

Too bad they were in the tub and she could drown if she actually did fall asleep.

She sat on top of him, her thighs straddling his waist, her right cheek resting against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her, warm and comforting, they reminded her of a heated blanket, except infinitely more pleasant. The gentle rhythm of his beating heart lulled her. She almost felt like she could just drift to sleep.

"This is nice, but I feel a little guilty," Musubi mumbled as she kissed his chest. Naruto's rubbing of her bum made her almost moan.

"Why is that?" Naruto's voice was unusually deep, as if he'd just woken up. Matsu had once jokingly referred to it as his "after sex" voice.

"Because I'm getting you all to myself for an entire year," she admitted. "I know that it's only a day to them, but to me, I'm spending an entire year with you. That makes me feel kind of bad."

Naruto was silent for a moment.

"I guess I can understand where you're coming from. It doesn't seem very fair, does it? But it won't matter much in the long run. Not if my research into the jinki pans out."

"Immortality," Musubi mused. Before now, back when her mind was just Musubi, the concept would have eluded her. Now she understood its implications. "Do you think it's possible that the jinkis can grant us an immortal life?"

"I… I'm not sure," Naruto breathed out. She could sense that he was worried. "The theory proposed by Matsu suggests that granting immortality is possible, but that's only if her theories are correct. If not…" he trailed off for a moment. "If not, then I'm not sure what I'll do. I can't lose you and the others, not now. I refuse to lose my loved ones again."

There was desperation in his voice. She could feel his worries through the bond, could sense how he was tormenting himself over this. Naruto had already lost too much in her opinion. To go thousands of years watching the people you love die was terrible. No one should have to go through that.

"I'm sure you'll find away," she assured him, pushing herself off his chest to look him in the eyes. "You're too stubborn to give up."

"Yeah…"

Sensing her Ashikabi's discontented thoughts, Musubi leaned forward and placed her mouth over his. Naruto didn't resist. He kissed her back, his actions hungry, passionate, and even a little needy, as if he needed affirmation that she was still with him. Musubi matched his hunger with love, his passion with compassion, and his need with reassurance. When they broke away, she wrapped him in a hug and let her love for him flow through their bond.

"It would be nice if we truly could spend an eternity with you," Musubi said, pressing her face into his neck.

"You think so?"

"Oh yes," Musubi nodded as she inhaled his scent, "nothing would bring me greater joy than spending an eternity with you and my sisters. To stay with you forever, truly forever. You know that when we Sekirei bond to an Ashikabi, we always tell our Ashikabi that we will be with them forever and ever, but the truth is, we are all too aware of our own mortality. Even we survive the Sekirei Plan, there is no such thing as forever at the end of this game."

Naruto's grip around her tightened. Musubi smiled, pleased yet sad. Her Ashikabi had come along way from the confused immortal with a scarred past, but just because his wounds had finally begun to heal didn't mean no scars remainedㅡand he had many scars. She could feel them like a great chasm within his heart. It made her chest ache.

"I have faith that you will find a way to make sure that we can have that forever and ever," Musubi told him, suffusing all of her confidence in him into her words. "If there is anyone who can do it, then it is you."

"Musubi…"

Musubi smiled as she moved her hips. She heard him hiss as she rubbed herself against him. Her smile widened when a pair of masculine hands grabbed her hips. The smile left as she opened her mouth to let out a low, deep moan.

"Naruto!"

"I love you," Naruto told her as his hands lifted her up, then brought her back down. Musubi tried to focus on the words, but it was hard. She could barely focus on anything aside from the pleasure coursing through her body.

"And Iㅡah! I love you, Naruㅡah! Naruto-sama!"

Through their bond, Musubi suffused her confidence in him. Through her actions, she showed her love for him. Through both, she let her desire to remain with him forever be known.

They didn't get out of that tub for several more hours.

XoX

Kazehana sat on the porch. Surprisingly, she didn't have a bottle of sake on hand. She thought about getting some, but decided against it. While she still enjoyed alcohol, it didn't really do as much for her now as it once did. She blamed Naruto.

"That man," she smiled as she looked at the late afternoon sky, "he really does know how to sweep a woman off her feet."

Her gaze trailed across the backyard. Kusano and Uzume were playing a game of tag. The little girl was running away from the busty cloth-user, who laughed and made grabbing motions at the girl. Watching them from underneath the shade of a tree was Chiho. The no longer sickly girl had a gentle smile on her face.

The clinking of chains alerted her to Akitsu. The snow-maiden was helping Miya with the laundry. She eyed the woman, whose pale skin glowed with a healthy light in the sun. While her facial expression hadn't changed all that much, Kazehana could tell the woman was happy. That glow could only come from a woman in love.

Ah, love. What an amazing thing.

More noise reached her ears. Footsteps. They came from behind her.

Kazehana turned her head to see Homura. The once male now turned female was pacing. Her long strides carried her back and forth across one section of the veranda. Her furrowed brows denoted tension, and the way she worried her lip told Kazehana that she was bothered by something. Judging from the looks she kept shooting toward the door, Kazehana had a pretty good idea of what that something was.

"Worried about Lover-kun?"

Homura stopped pacing. She looked at her… and then quickly looked away. Kazehana saw the woman's cheeks turn a light pink.

"N-no," Homura tried to scowl, "of course not. Why would I miss that idiot?"

"I didn't ask if you missed him," Kazehana pointed out. She almost felt like grinning. "I asked if you were worried."

"O-oh…" Homura's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. Really, she was just too cute. "I-it's not that I'm worried, per say. I know that Naruto and Musubi are just training, and I know there isn't much that can go wrong." Homura scowled. "I also know that Naruto is reckless and has a tendency to go overboard."

Kazehana nodded her agreement. Naruto tried to act cold and cunning, but the truth was that everything he did ran more along the lines of reckless and impulsive. He wasn't very good at manipulating others. He couldn't really make plans far in advance without help. He had no talent for subtlety, even though he kept a lot of secrets. Really, the only reason no one had learned about him being immortal already was because of his seals, which she knew he used to enslave humans in high positions of various governments.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Kazehana tried to assure Homura, who didn't look very reassured.

"But Musubi also goes overboard as well," the silver-haired fire-user was insistent. "Who knows what kind of destruction they might get up to together. I'm honestly shocked that we haven't already felt several earthquakes, and they've been training since yesterday afternoon. Lord only knows what they're doing now."

"Hmm," Kazehana hummed. An amused thought that sprung to mind made her lips curl upwards. "You know what I think? I think you're just jealous that Musubi is spending an entire day with Lover-kun instead of you."

"W-what?!" Homura gasped, then flushed, and then scowled. "Th-that isn't it at all! I'm just worried because we have no idea what kind of trouble those two are getting up to. For all we know, they could be destroying half of Shinto Teito right now!"

"Who's destroying half of Shinto Teito?" asked a familiar masculine voice.

Homura stiffened at the same time that Kazehana turned to look at Naruto. Her Ashikabi stood in the doorway leading into the living room. He looked the same as always. Nothing about him had changed. His companion, however, looked a lot different than she remembered.

No longer wearing her shrine maiden clothing, Musubi instead wore something that resembled the Disciplinary Squad's outfit. Her all black one-piece suit fit her like a glove, conforming to her generously proportioned body, showing off shapely hips, her flat stomach and large breasts. Fingerless gloved adorned feminine hands. Combat boots covered her feet, black, with several velcros running across them.

Longer hair also fell down Musubi's shoulder. Her brown locks had grown out. Long bangs framed her face, and her hair now went down to her lower back, long and thick, their ends slightly curled. The biggest change was not her hair, however. It was…

"Have your boobs gotten a little smaller?" Kazehana asked.

Musubi looked down at her chest. She blinked several times. Then she looked back up at Kazehana.

"They have gotten a little smaller," she raised a hand to her chin and tapped her lips with her index finger. "I think it's because of Yume. She had smaller breasts than Musubi, so I think the Yume part of me is trying to equalize itself by shrinking my boobs."

"Is that so," Kazehana hummed. "How interesting."

Homura simply facepalmed.

XoX

The group had gathered at Theta base.

Naruto stood in the room where the shut-down Sekirei were resting on soft beds. His Sekirei, along with Uzume and Chiho, were with him.

"Do you believe this will work, Naruto?" Miya asked the question that everyone present wished to know.

"It should," Matsu answered for him. She wasn't wearing her glasses. "Naruto-sama and I have done several tests already, using his own chakra as a medium to activated the jinki and control it. We used myself as a test subject, and through our observations and studies, discovered that he can manipulate everything from the Sekirei crest to their physiology. There are only a few limitations that we've discovered. Reactivating them will be a simple matter."

Naruto walked up to the first bed, holding the one that he recognized as Kaie, a young woman who used whips to fight. He held a jinki over her body, the letter seven boldly placed on the gem containing the object. Taking a deep breath, he slowly channeled his chakra into the artifact known as a god vessel.

He could feel it responding to his chakra, resonating with him, almost like it was a part of him. The jinki started to glow. Soft white light emitting from within the containment field scattered as it struck the crystalline case, creating a multitude of colors that nearly blinded those in the room.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. He could feel the jinki pulling on his chakra like a car engine sucking the life out of a battery. The connection was soon complete, an empathic link between him and the jinki. He knew what it was, knew what it could do. Infinite power. Limitless possibilities. Yes, with this he could definitely grant his Sekirei immortality. He just needed to discover the method.

With the connection established, Naruto directed the jinki's power toward Kaie. He willed it to restore her Sekirei Crest, to restart her brain and other vital organs, to awaken her from the state of suspended animation that she had been placed it. Slowly, as if waking up from a deep sleep, Kaie's eyes opened.

"AAAHHHHH!"

And then began freaking out.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Musubi! Miya! Restrain her before she hurts herself!"

His two Sekirei rushed forward. Musubi pinned the woman's arms down while Miya grabbed hold of her legs. Despite this, Kaie continued to struggle, continued to freak out. She thrashed in the bed, fought against the two binding her. She wasn't stronger than either of them, but her panic gave her more strength than she normally possessed, allowing her to put up one hell of a fight.

"Where is this place?! Remember! Why can't I remember?! What is… no! What's going on?! Higa! HIGA!"

Naruto grimaced as he focused on the jinki, as he tried willing Kaie to calm down through it. Unfortunately, it seemed that influence emotions wasn't possible. He could do nothing for her psyche, only her physiology.

Kaie went into a series of muscles spasms. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Foam gurgled out of her mouth, spilling down her cheeks and jaw and neck, soaking into the blanket. Her body jerked left and right, hips bucking like a wild branco, limbs trying to contort in strange and painful ways. Realizing that she would hurt herself if this kept up, Naruto used the jinki to shut her back down.

The Sekirei's body went slack, arms and legs going limp, her head lolling gently, eyes closing. Miya and Musubi let go of the woman and stood back up. Homura turned to look at Naruto.

"What the hell just happened?!" she snarled at him.

"Do not take that tone with my husband," Tsukiumi scolded the fire-user. She then turned to Naruto and pointed at him in an imperious gesture, like a queen who was about to make a demand from one her subjects. "Husband, what just happened?"

"I'm not sure," Naruto admitted, biting his lower lip. "It could be a number of things." He paused, considering what he'd just seen. After replaying the events with Kaie in his head, he turned to the hacker amongst them. "Matsu! Come on. We need to gather some equipment and run some tests."

"We're going to try and determine what went wrong?" Matsu guessed. Naruto nodded.

"That is it exactly. Now, let's go."

XoX

Naruto and Matsu sat in her room. With her back pressed against his chest, sitting between his legs, the redhead stared at the screens before her. Each monitor displayed something different. Some were recordings of what happened when Naruto tried reactivating a Sekirei. Others looked like a series of random squiggles, denoting Sekirei brainwave patterns.

"I think I've discovered what's causing the Sekirei to freak out," Matsu finally said. Naruto looked at her intently.

"And that is?"

"Take a look at the brain patterns right here," Matsu pointed at the monitor. Naruto frowned as he followed her finger. "You see this part right here? Notice how, the moment you reactivated a Sekirei, this part of them spikes while this part drops?"

As she spoke, Naruto watched one of the brainwaves, which coincided with the Sekirei his monitor version was reactivating panick upon being reactivated, go haywire. Certain areas spiked and dropped at erratic rates. Other areas flatlined. Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of it. Fortunately, Matsu could.

"See here where the spike is happening?" she pointed at a part of the brainwaves that was moving erratically up and down. "That part right there deals with the Sekirei Crest. I suspect the reason the Sekirei began freaking out is because of how the crest works. Once a Sekirei is winged, the crest acts as a gateway between an Ashikabi and their Sekirei, creating an empathic connection that allows the Sekirei to sense the Ashikabi and visa versa. When Kaie was reactivated, her crest sought out the connection it had to Higa, which no longer exists. This lack of empathic bond is what caused Kaie to panic."

"I think I understand," Naruto murmured. "The bond between their Ashikabi means everything to a Sekirei. When Kaie woke up and realized the bond was gone, her mind went into shock."

"That's it exactly."

"In that case, we need to find a way to reactivated the Sekirei without sending their minds into a panic." He frowned. "Is there a way to trick the Sekirei into believing the bond is still intact?"

Matsu shook her head.

"Not that I know of, but then, we're entering pretty new territory here." She paused and leaned back against his chest. "It might be possible to activate a Sekirei another way, though. When you tried reactivating Kaie, you did so by activating her crest, which initiated a sort of rebooting process. However, that didn't work because the bond had disappeared, leaving what should have been a connection between two people as a sort of black hole. But, what if you reactivated the Sekirei without activating the crest?"

Naruto's lips turned downwards into a thoughtful frown.

"Would that work?"

Matsu's shrug said more than words alone could.

"I don't know, but if you don't at least try, we'll never find out anyway."

XoX

Matsu's theory turned out to be correct. After returning to Theta base, Naruto reactivated each Sekirei without activating their crest. When the Sekirei woke up, they were confused, naturally, but didn't freak outㅡat least not until they saw him. Then they freaked out a lot. Fortunately, that only lasted until his Sekirei calmed them down… and made him leave the room.

Naruto stood outside of the door, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He felt a little put out that none of the Sekirei he'd rescued wanted to even come near him, but couldn't exactly blame them either. He had killed a lot of people, after all, and with all the crap Minaka had been spouting, plus the footage of him demolishing Benitsubasa, they really did have a right to be wary.

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened and an amused Kazehana poked her head out.

"You can come in now, Lover-kun. We've just finished explaining that you have no desire to eat their flesh, flay them alive, or string them up by their entrails."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Should I be worried that you had to reassure them of all that in the first place?"

Kazehana's eloquent shrug answered his question.

"You're a frightening figure in our world. It's only natural that they would be terrified of you."

"Whatever." Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Are they going to freak out when I come in?"

"No, we took care of that. Come on in."

Kazehana opened the door further and stepped aside, allowing Naruto to walk in. He almost squeaked when she pinched his butt. She winked at him when he sent her a glare. Deciding to ignore the woman, he turned back to the Sekirei in the room and found the ones he hadn't winged staring at him in shock.

It took him a moment to realize the reason they were staring him was because Kazehana pinched his ass. He guessed they hadn't expected someone to actually do something like that to him. Or maybe they just didn't expect someone to do something like that and not be punished for it. At least that act seemed to have dispelled fear they had of him, even if he knew it was only temporary.

He would have to find some way to thank Kazehana later on.

"Kazehana has told me that Matsu and the others have already given you a basic rundown into what happened and why you're here, so I won't bother explaining it," Naruto started. "Instead, I'm going to let you girls know what your options are. The way I see it, you have three options. First: you can remain here as guests. If you choose this option, then you'll be able to come and go as you please. I've severed the bond between you and Higa as well, so now you'll be able to find your real Ashikabi. Second: You can leave. If you leave, I will not be able to offer my protection, however, you'll be free to do whatever the hell you want."

Higa's former Sekirei all looked at him in shock. He wondered: was it the offer he was presenting them, or the knowledge he was giving them, that shocked them so?

"Are you telling us that you'll let us leave?" Kaie asked incredulously. Some of the other girls shot her a slack-jawed look, then peered at him with frightened gazes. It was almost like they expected him to attack the girl or something.

"I don't see why not," Naruto shrugged. "You're no longer Higa's Sekirei, which means you're no longer my enemies. And it's not like the information you have about me will do any good. Minaka has already outed me with that video recording of his, so learning that I can resurrect Sekirei won't change people's opinions, nor is it something they can use against me. That being said, if you decide to strike it out on your own, then I won't be responsible for what happens to you. Understand?"

Kaie nodded and settled back down, her mien thoughtful.

"What's the third option?" one of the other Sekirei asked.

"The third option is that you work for me," Naruto informed them, ignoring the gapes he received in response. "If you work for me, it will be a lot like if you were to live here, except that you will also be called upon to help defend your fellow Sekirei. My plan is to free all of the Sekirei who were winged without their consent. However, if I do this, people will find out, whether from rumor or Minaka himself. In order to ensure the Sekireis' safety while they search for their Ashikabi, I need people who can protect them. As former Sekirei of Higa's, you have more skill than the average Sekirei, and can therefore protect them better."

The Sekirei all looked at each other.

"You… want to protect the Sekirei?" one of them asked tentatively, and with more than a little shock.

Naruto gave her a serious look.

"I do not care about much in this world, however, I love my Sekirei. They want to free their sisters and let them find love, and I want them to be happy. It only makes sense that I do everything in my power to make them happy. Wouldn't you agree?"

His own Sekirei glanced at him. Naruto tried to ignore the smouldering looks he received. He knew that, upon returning home, he would not be getting much sleep tonight.

HIga's former Sekirei all looked at each other. One by one, he saw their expression harden, saw determination shine in their eyes, and knew what their decision would be.

As one, they turned to him.

"We'll help you," Kaie seemed to have become their spokesperson.

"Good," Naruto nodded, "In that case, you girls are free to remain here. I have several operations that I'm planning right now. We're going to free Sekirei from the clutches of several Ashikabi who've forcibly given them wings without their consent. They'll be coming in periodically during the week."

"What are we going to do?"

Naruto gave Kaie a smile.

"Just be here to greet them and help them get settled in for now."

Kaie nodded and Naruto felt the tension in his back ease. The hardest part was out of the way. Now he just needed to work out the logistics and inform them about all the minor details. It should be simple enough.

XoX

Takami's problems started when her phone began vibrating all over her nightstand.

It took her several seconds to find her phone. With her face shoved into her pillow, her hand fumbled blindly around her nightstand, searching for the offending object. It did eventually find the phone, latching onto it in an ironclad grip that caused the plastic casing to creak ominously. She then accepted the call and held the phone to her ear, all without her head leaving the pillow.

"Whoever is calling me at five in the morning better have a damn good reason for doing so. If not, then whoever is calling me may find themselves being forced to scrub the mens' bathroom with a toothbrush for the next six months."

There was some hesitation from the other end. Good. They should be afraid. Didn't they realize what time it was?

"Ma'am… we've, uh, we've got a slight problem," a stuttering voice came from the other end.

"A problem, huh?" Takami muttered wearily. She felt like sighing. "Well, spit it out, then. What's this problem."

"It's, uh, the Sekirei, ma'am. We, w-well, we aren't sure what's happening, but it looks like several Sekirei who were registered as deactivated have suddenly become active again."

Takami needed a moment to process that. When the moment passed, she found that she still couldn't process the words. Therefore, she did what any good scientist would do: demand more information.

"Explain."

She climbed out of her bed. While it pained her to do so, she really did need to be coherent for this, and lying face down on her pillow was not going to do her any favors.

"It's… you know how Higa killed himself?"

"Of course I do," Takami rolled her eyes, "I watched that battle, same as everyone else. Now get to the point."

"Well, all of his Sekirei deactivated when he died."

"Naturally, a Sekirei can't live without their Ashikabi."

"Right, well, just this morning, several of our security cameras spotted the Sekirei that Higa had stationed at his headquarters walking around the city. However, upon checking our network, we have uncovered no records of these Sekirei being reactivated. We also can't find them with any of our tracking devices."

Takami took a deep breathㅡmostly because she didn't want to yell at the man who was delivering bad news, even though all she wanted to do was strangle him for doing delivering. It wasn't his fault, she told herself. He was just the unfortunate fool who'd been forced to tell her this. It helped her to keep from yelling, but only just.

"So, you are telling me that not only have Higa's Sekirei been reactivated somehow, but also that they are walking around the city and we cannot track them, except through security cameras? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well…" the man hedged.

"Out with it!"

"It's not just Higa's Sekirei, ma'am," the person on the other end hastened to add. "As of last night, sixteen Sekirei were defeated without warning. We didn't tell you because we didn't think much of it at first, but those same Sekirei who were defeated were seen walking around this morning with Higa's former Sekirei. We can't make heads or tails of what's happening, so we felt it best to call you."

Takami needed to sit down. Her legs wobbled before she landed back on her bed. She fumbled around on her nightstand for a box of cigarettes and a lighter. Sticking one of the cancer sticks in her mouth, she lit it up and took several seconds to simply inhale smoke and calm down. When she felt sufficiently in control of her fraying mind, she began thinking about this logically.

It didn't take her long to realize there was only one person who could be causing her this headache. After all, only one person in the entire world could cause her a headache of this magnitude. Oddly enough, that person was not Minaka.

"Keep monitoring the situation. I want you to have someone constantly monitoring those security cameras. Track those Sekirei and see what they are up to. Fail me, and I'll give you latrine duty for the next year," Takami said, then hung up, not leaving the young man with any time to answer.

She then dialed up another phone number, one that she hadn't used for a while because of their last argument. She held the phone to her ear and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?"

"Homura… listen, I know we haven't seen eye to eye lately, but I need your help."

XoX

Homura found Naruto sitting at the desk in his room, writing. She didn't know what he was writing, and she honestly didn't care. Knowing him, it could be any number of things, from memoirs to seals that caused catastrophes when activated to porn.

He was alone, which she found odd. These days, Naruto was almost always with one of them. Only after giving a cursory glance around the room did she realize why. Kusano, who'd probably been spending time with him, lay asleep on the bed, softly snoring away.

"Hanya-hanya… mumumu…"

Homura shook her head at the odd snores (were those even snores?), and turned back to her Ashikabi.

"Naruto?"

Her Ashikabi stopped writing. The silence this action caused was almost startling to Homura. Naruto put his calligraphy pen down and spun his chair around to face her.

"Homura," his kind smile made her cheeks feel hot. Despite that, when he offered his hand, she didn't resist in taking it. The blond man pulled her down onto his lap. It was only after she had settled down on top of him, with his arms secured around her waist, that he spoke again. "I take it Takami wants something?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that Takami wanted something from me," Homura sighed.

Naruto's grin didn't ease her mind in the slightest.

"I'm your Ashikabi. Of course I know when something is troubling you."

"That doesn't explain how you knew it was Takami," Homura said dryly.

She almost squeaked in surprise when Naruto pulled her closer.

"There are only a few people who can cause you to feel apprehension," Naruto's hot breath washed over her ear. She squirmed, wondering if he was doing it on purpose. "Minaka and Takami. Of the two, Minaka incites more rage than apprehension, and he would also never call you. Takami, on the other hand, has already called you several times, and I know that the last time you and she spoke, you two got into an argument."

Homura grimaced. Due to how much more relaxed he acted around them, it was sometimes easy to forget that Naruto was actually really intelligent. Naturally, someone with a mind as sharp as his would connect the dots easily enough.

"What did Takami say that has you feeling so troubled?" Naruto asked, his hands beginning to rub up and down her thighs. Homura tried not to moan.

"She… she wants to meet you again," Homura breathed. That breathing hitched when Naruto's hand traveled toward her inner thigh.

"Did she say why?"

"N-no," Homura stuttered, her mind trying to focus on something other than the pleasure she was experiencing at Naruto's skilled hands. "However, I… I think I knowㅡcan you stop doing that?!"

"Sorry," Naruto stopped rubbing her mound over her clothes, "I can't help it."

Homura would have contested his words, but she had a feeling that Naruto would start up again just to screw with her. Instead, she focused on what she'd come here to talk about.

"I think it's because of all the Sekirei you've been freeing from their Ashikabis. It's not surprising that she would realize it was you, to be honest. It shouldn't be possible for anyone to free a Sekirei once they're winged. Even more impossible is reactivating a Sekirei once they've been beaten. You've done both. I'm honestly surprised Takami didn't contact me sooner."

"Hmm," Naruto set his head on her shoulder. Homura stared at him from her peripheral.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll meet with her," Naruto said after a moment, and Homura nearly shuddered at the smile growing on his face. "After all, it would be rude not to see someone who actually wants to meet with me."

XoX

Naruto smiled as he sat in a small booth in a nondescript cafe. Beside him sat Kazehana and Miya. The wind-user was resting her head on his shoulder. Miya, on the other hand, enjoyed his attention. He fed her small spoonfuls of ice cream, a triple fudge sundae, which she surprisingly enjoyed.

"I didn't know you had a sweet tooth," Naruto commented idly.

"It's not something most people know about," Kazehana told him. "Even in the first Discipline Squad, only myself and Matsu knew about itㅡand that's just because we caught her sneaking out of the kitchen with a cheesecake one nightㅡurk!"

"Kazehana," Miya's dark voice sounded out like an eldritch horror of the abyss. Purple miasma oozed off her frame, writhing like sickly tentacles. "I believe I told you not to air my dirty laundry."

Naruto watched as Kazehana shrank in her seat, then tried shrinking into her dress. It was amusing because her dress could only be loosely called such. With how tightly it conformed to her, how little fabric it was composed of, and the impressive gap that went all the way down to her navel, hiding in that outfit was impossible.

He then noticed that several other people, at least six, had passed out at their tables. From the sharp scent of urine filling the air, at least one of them had also lost control of their bladder.

"You may want to ease off the aura of DOOM, Miya," Naruto suggested, scooping up another spoonful of ice cream and offering it to the beautiful landlady. "People are probably gonna start dropping dead if you don't."

Miya snapped out of her hanya modeㅡthankfully before the hanya could manifestㅡand looked around. Upon seeing the many groaning, drooling bodies lying on the floor and against the tables, she adopted a mildly embarrassed expression.

"Oh my." Miya placed her hands on her cheeks. "I completely forgot that we were in public."

Somehow, Naruto didn't think she'd forgotten that. Maybe it had something to do with the look at her face, that mischievous smile, or the way her her left eye, which had opened, sparkled like an amethyst. He just knew that she hadn't forgotten they were in public. She did that on purpose.

Who knew Miya could be such a devious vixen?

The chime of a bell caused them to turn their heads. Takami strolled into the cafe, which had emptied out at some point after Miya let go of her aura of DOOM. The woman turned her head left, then right, and then her eyes landed on them. Naruto noticed how they tightened upon seeing who was with him. It almost made him smile.

"Naruto," Takami's greeting sounded more like a grunt.

"Takami," the smile Naruto gave in return was completely fake, "it's good to see you. I hope you've been doing well."

Takami's scowl would have been considered fierce by most. Naruto wasn't bothered by it.

"Don't fuck with me, Uzumaki."

"Language," Miya tutted at Takami like a mother would her child. "Honestly, Takami-san, you really should think about toning down your cursing. A woman of your stature shouldn't have such a vulgar tongue."

"Uh oh," Kazehana commented idly, "looks like Miya The Mother Hen has come out."

Miya sent her a sharp glance.

"Did you say something, Kazehana?"

"N-no."

"I thought not."

"So why don't we get down to business," Naruto said to Takami, "after all, you went through all the trouble of calling Homura to get this meeting, so whatever you want to talk about must be important."

"I want to know what you're planning?"

Naruto actually blinked at this.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't screw with me, Uzumaki!" Takami slammed her hands on the table. "I know you're planning something! I want you to tell me what it is!"

Naruto gently placed his left hand on Miya's thigh. The soft hissing of steel sliding back into its sheath was heard only by him.

"I don't like the way you're speaking to my Ashikabi," Kazehana told the white-haired woman. The frown on her face, so out of place on the normally laid back woman, spoke volumes of the dislike she had for Takami.

"I have to agree with Kazehana," Miya said solemnly, "I respect you as an adjuster and your desire to contain Minaka's lunacy as much as possible, but I will not stand for you making demands of my Ashikabi. Please mind your words in the future, Takami-san."

Takami took several deep breaths. Slowly, very slowly, she sat back in her seat.

"I… apologize…" the words came out strained, like she was gagging on them.

"It's fine," Naruto shrugged carelessly, "I guess I can't blame you for thinking I've got some plot in the works. However, the truth is there's no plan here. I'm not freeing Sekirei from Ashikabis for any nefarious purpose."

"You will have to excuse me if I find that hard to believe," Takami said sullenly. The razer-like glance Naruto sent caused her to intake a sudden and sharp breath.

"This may come as a shock to you, Takami, but I do not care for the people of this world. Many of you are beneath my notice. If the entire planet was wiped out tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a tear." Naruto leaned back in his seat, his hands seeking out Miya's and Kazehana's, finding them and gripping them tightly. He smiled softly when they returned his grip. "That being said, I love my Sekirei, and I want them to be happy. The reason I am freeing these Sekirei from the control of their Ashikabis is because my Sekirei want their sisters to find love and not be forced into it because your boyfriend enjoys toying with the lives of others."

"Boyfriend?" Takami blinked.

"Is that not what Minaka is?"

It was most interesting, the shade of red Takami's face turned. He didn't know if it was from anger or something else, but it amused him nonetheless.

"That madman isn't my boyfriend," she spat, "Where the hell did you get such a twisted idea in your head?!"

"He's not? My bad," Naruto's shrug said he didn't care one way or the other, "I assumed you and he were in a relationship, since you sired two children with him."

Takami twitched. Then she slumped in her seat, seemingly exhausted.

"I won't even ask how you found out about that," she said slowly, her gaze drifting to his face. "So you're not plotting anything?"

"No."

"And you're doing this to help the Sekirei?"

"I'm doing this to make my Sekirei happy," Naruto corrected, "helping the other Sekirei is merely a means to an end for me."

"I see," Takami closed her eyes. Naruto watched her, looking at the fluttering of irises behind eyelids. He could tell she was reaching some kind of decision about something.

Takami reached into her jacket and pulled out a small disc, which she set on the table and pushed toward him.

"That disc has some information you might be interested in," she told Naruto as he grabbed the disc and placed it in a pocket. Her glare hardened seconds later. "Know that I am only giving that to you because Miya and my children trust you."

"I figured as much."

"Now then, I believe it's time I left." Takami slid out of her seat. "You'll have to pardon me if I hope we never meet again."

"Not at all," Naruto said. Takami eyed him for a moment longer, nodded, and then walked out of the cafe.

"I think that went well," Kazehana said after a moment of silence.

"I'm still not one-hundred percent sure what happened," Naruto frowned as he thought about the disc now resting in one of his pockets.

"I think this is her way of approving what you're doing without saying she approves," Miya told him. "Takami has always been a very hard woman, and she doesn't particularly like you because of the trouble you've caused. However, between siding with you and siding with Minaka, I believe she feels siding with you is the best chance she has of ending the Sekirei Plan with as little violence as possible."

Naruto thought about Miya's words for a moment, then shrugged.

"I'll take your word for it. You know her better than I do, after all."

"That's right." Miya smiled at him. "And now that we've gotten this out of the way, I'd like to finish my ice cream."

"Sure thing," Naruto shared her smile as he scooped up another spoonful of ice cream and began feeding Miya again.

XoX

It was time.

Musubi stood by her Ashikabi's side. With them were the other members of Naruto's flock. All of them had come to witness the battle between her and Karasuba, to support her. She was grateful for their presence, which she felt would give her even more strength for the fight to come.

The chosen spot for their battle was a small park several miles out of the main Teito area. It was one of the many places that had been abandoned after Naruto's rampage. What had once been a place where dozens of children would roam and play around was now a deserted space. The playset was depressingly empty. The swings creaked ominously as a wind caused them to move. It depressed Musubi to see a park where children should be happily playing turn into such a derelict place.

"Are you nervous?" Naruto asked her. Musubi looked at her Ashikabi, then smiled and shook her head.

"No. I have no reason to be worried. With all of the training we've done, and with my love for you and my sisters giving me strength, there's no way I can lose to Karasuba."

"Jiii!" Kusano pumped an enthusiastic hand into the air. "Mu-chan can't lose!"

"That's right," Musubi ruffled Kusano's hair, "I won't lose."

"Such bold words," a familiar voice spoke up from the other side of the park. Everyone's head turned to see a grinning Karasuba walking into the park via the gate. "I'll enjoy making you eat those words."

Despite Karasuba's blunt statement, Musubi merely smiled.

"We'll see."

"I take it you two are ready, then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto-sama."

"I've been ready for this moment before you two were even bonded."

"Right then."

Without preamble, Naruto tapped his foot against the ground. The earth began to rumble. The ground vibrated, the vibrations picking up in intensity as the seconds passed. One. Two. Three seconds passed. The earth was shaken loose. It soon began to rise, the small park that would become a battleground. It lifted into the air, rising above the fences, above the buildings, above everything. Only after it had ascended above MBI's clock tower did Naruto stop feeding this new platform chakra.

Homura pressed a hand to her face.

"I'm not gonna be surprised by what Naruto can do. I'm not gonna be surprised that he can raise the earth to several hundred meters above the tallest buildings in Shinto Teito."

Kazehana glanced at Homura, her eyes twinkling merrily.

"Are you trying to convince us that you're not surprised, or yourself?"

"I'm hoping that if I say it enough times, it will become true," Homura's voice came out muffled between her fingers.

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone turned to Akitsu, who looked around, her eyes blinking.

"… We're high up."

A vein throbbed on Tsukiumi's forehead.

"Are you just now realizing that?"

"Ah… no?"

"Don't answer my question with another question!"

"Ah… sorry."

Naruto ignored the byplay of his Sekirei and slammed his hands into the ground. Instead of the earth rumbling, the ground lit up. An intricate network. A vast series of shapes and symbols. Naruto's chakra forged line after line of seals, which soon covered the entire ground. Seconds later, those same seals crawled into the air as if they were crawling up the surface of a wall. They continued moving higher and higher, curling inwards, connecting together, until the seals formed a dome.

"Now this is interesting," Karasuba murmured to herself as she stared at the intricate network of symbols and lines surrounding them.

"Naruto-kun?" Musubi looked at her Ashikabi, who offered her a smile.

"The seals will allow you to go all out," Naruto informed her. "They not only act as a barrier that keeps people from getting in, or even seeing in, but they also act as a protective field. No matter how much of a beating this place takes, the seals will keep the damage from becoming permanent."

"I see," Musubi's bright smile caused the world to light up, "Thank you, Naruto-sama."

"Heh," Naruto returned her look with a small grin, "Anytime."

XoX

Musubi stared at Karasuba from across the field. She could feel the bloodlust and desire for combat radiating off the other woman as surely as she could see the maddened gleam in Karasuba's eyes. The woman with silver hair smiled at her, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. Steel colored eyes traveled across her figure, before landing on her hair.

"You grew your hair out."

"Naruto-sama said he likes my long hair."

"Ho? Is that so?" Karasuba's chuckle was mild, but laced with poison. "That's just like you, Yume. Always doing everything for your Ashikabi. That's why you're so weak."

"You're wrong," Musubi raised her gloved hands as her body shifted into a traditional southpaw stance. "Doing things for your Ashikabi doesn't make you weak. It's your Ashikabi who makes you stronger, and I'll prove it to you right here, right now."

"Then show me." A hiss of steel. Karasuba's sword slid from its sheath. "Show me this power you speak so highly of!"

The silver-haired woman vanished, or so it appeared to those unused to such speed. Naruto had been faster than Karasuba when they were training. Musubi tracked the woman as she darted across the space between them. Her eyes narrowed when a sword descended upon her.

Moving like the wind, Musubi avoided the swing, sidestepping and allowing it to soar past her. This didn't deter Karasuba, who slashed her sword into the ground and then quickly reversed its direction, swinging it diagonally at Musubi. That, too, was dodged when Musubi spun out of its path, while at the same time launching a straight jab at Karasuba's face. The grinning silver-haired woman avoided the punch by dodging to the sideㅡor so she thought.

Karasuba's eyes didn't even have time to widen before something hard suddenly struck her right cheek. Much like when someone was hit by a semi-truck going sixty-five on the freeway, Karasuba was sent soaring backwards as an intense pain stung her cheek. Her feet skidded along the grassy field, kicking up clods of grass and dirt, digging a trench through the soil. Her body turned, bending as she dug her heels in, contorting until her torso was nearly parallel with the ground.

"That was a good hit," Karasuba spoke into the silence. "I'm impressed, truly. It reminds me of all those times you and I used to fight back when you were still in the Discipline Squad."

Like something out of a horror movie, Karasuba's body realigned itself, her torso coming back up from its nearly impossible angle. The deranged grin on her face, combined with the nasty bruise on her right cheek, only served to enhance the look of insanity.

"However, I'm not going to go down so easily! Now that I know what you're capable of, I no longer have to hold back! So come on, Yume! Show me what you can do! Show me that strength you keep speaking of!"

Karasuba's attack began again with renewed zeal. Musubi met the woman's charge head on, refusing to back down in a contest of speed or strength. Their battle picked up in ferocity. Shockwaves erupted between them as steal clashed against fist. Despite how Karasuba's sword should have cut straight through Musubi's hands like a hot knife slicing into the warm butter, the fist-fighter somehow managed to negate the swords cutting properties.

"So I see you've finally managed to learn how to harden your skin enough that my blade can't cut you," Karasuba said. Her eyes trailed along the edge of her blade, which she pressed against Musubi's arm to no effect.

"Unlike Yume, Musubi was a powerhouse," Musubi told Karasuba. "She had strength beyond anything I've ever seen. And that strength has given me the ability to harden my energy into a thin layer around my body, encasing me in a protective shell. This is the strength that Musubi gained through the love of her Ashikabi!"

"Love? Ha! Love doesn't give you strength! It's just a weakness, and I'll prove it to you right! NOW!"

With a loud grunt of exertion, Karasuba shoved at Musubi. The shrine maiden was thrown off her feet and into the air. Karasuba chased after her, leaping into the air and spinning like a dradle on steroids. Her blade sliced at Musubi's unprotected stomach. At least, that's what appeared to have happened, until Musubi vanished like a wavering ghost.

"Tch!" Karasuba clicked her teeth as she landed on the ground. "After image!"

"HYAA!"

Musubi descended from the air, her foot outstretched in a powerful drop kick. The loud bang! that resounded across the park as a result of Karasuba blocking the kick with her sword was reminiscent of TNT exploding. The ground around the silver-haired Sekirei's feet cracked, then upheaved as all the kinetic energy from Musubi's attack went through Karasuba and into the ground.

Karasuba's knees buckled under the power being directed at her by Musubi. Gritting her teeth, the woman strained against her foes strength. Musubi pushed her leg down some more, then used her own momentum to push herself off Karasuba's blade. Her body flipped over and she landed on the ground. At the same time, Karasuba launched herself at Musubi again.

The shockwave that emitted from the resulting clash tore apart the landscape.

XoX

"W-when did Musubi get so powerful?" Tsukiumi asked in shock, her eyes riveted on the battle happening before her.

"Musubi's always had the potential to be this powerful," Naruto informed Tsukiumi with a smile. "It's only now that she and Yume have merged souls that her power has been fully unleashed."

Almost as if his words were prophetic, Musubi blocked several of Karasuba's swings. Each time she did, several blasts of impossibly powerful air caused the world around them to explode. The ground cracked, nearby objects broke, their hair was uplifted in a frenzy of maelstromic activity. Every single time fist met sword, more of the area was destroyed.

"Oh dear," Miya eyed the ground as the two Sekirei pulverized it, "it looks like they're going to destroy this place. I'm not sure if this was a suitable battlefield, Naruto."

"Don't worry," Naruto assured her, "I planned ahead. This place has been littered with seals." He pointed at the ground. "Look."

His Sekirei looked and finally saw what he was talking about. Whenever Karasuba and Musubi damaged the surrounding area, the seals that he had activated before the fight started flared. Fissures closed. Cracks Sealed up. Craters became filled. Surrounding plants and even the playset that had been nearly destroyed during the initial assault looked pristine once more.

"I hadn't realized your seals could repair stuff, too," Homura commented.

"It can't," Naruto admitted, "if it could, then I could have used seals to heal people as well as objects. That's not some kind of repair seal, it's another time manipulation seal."

Homura grimaced.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but how does that work?"

"The principle behind this seal is actually quite simple," while the battle between Musubi and Karasuba continued, Naruto pulled a stand and whiteboard from… somewhere. He then placed the whiteboard on the stand, pulled out a marker, and began to draw. "The way this seal works is by reversing the flow of time after the object its been embedded into has accumulated a certain amount of damage. Of course, each time the seal is used, it consumes my chakra, so its a give and take kind of seal. It also only lasts for as long as I continue pouring chakra into it."

Kazehana cast him a sidelong glance.

"And why doesn't this seal work on people, Lover-kun?"

"Because of the laws that govern the universe," Naruto stated as if the answer should have been obvious. "Remember those laws I talked about? The ones that cannot be broken or even bent? This is one of those laws. Time cannot be reversed for a sentient creature. I've tried it before; the results were not pretty."

No one had anything to say to that.

XoX

The battle had picked up in intensity.

Musubi's eyes flashed as she followed Karasuba's dash. She ignored the string of after images and focused only on her opponent. When the silver-haired sword-wielder was in range and attacking, she slipped around the sword that attempted to impale her, spun around 180 degrees, and launched a kick at the other Sekirei.

Despite her textbook attack, Karasuba proved more than up to the task of dodging. She leaped back, thereby avoiding the intense blast of air that was launched from Musubi's foot when the shrine maiden struck. The attack did cause a lot of dust and grass to be kicked in the air, however, which masked Musubi from sight.

Using Karasuba's hampered vision to her advantage, Musubi leapt into the air and readied her fists, which lit up like a miniature sun.

"HYYAA!"

Musubi slammed her fist into Karasuba. Or, she tried to. The woman proved apt at dodging. Instead of hitting the swordswoman, her attack hit the ground, exploding with the force of an active volcano. The entire area cratered. Ground split apart like fabric coming undone at the seams. Fissures ran along the ground, miniature chasms that extended beyond the crater itself. The seals flared underneath her feet, and Musubi leapt out of the crater she created seconds before the ground repaired itself.

"That's some Ashikabi you've got," Karsuba commented during the lull in their battle. "Being able to create those weird squiggles that repairs any damage done to the surroundings is dead useful. I think I might even be a little jealous. I wish my Ashikabi were as useful as yours."

"Naruto isn't my Ashikabi because I find him useful," Musubi frowned, "he's my Ashikabi because my heart called out to him. Even if he couldn't do the amazing things he does, I would never regret bonding myself to him."

"So you say, but I think we know the truth." Karasuba's grin made Musubi narrow her eyes. "Be honest with yourself, Yume. The only reason you wanted to be Naruto's Sekirei is because of how useful he is, because of what he can do for you. Human beings are only good if they're useful. Humans who aren't useful are simply trash that hasn't been thrown out yet."

"That's not true at all," Musubi clenched her hands into fists. "Humans aren't trash, and I'm not with Naruto-sama because of his power! I'm with him because I love him! Because he is the one that I am destined to be with forever and ever!"

"Ooh, touched a nerve there, did I?" Karasuba's lips curled in a predatory fashion. "Are you trying to convince me of that? Or are you hoping that by saying it out loud, you can convince yourself?"

"I see that words won't get through to you," Musubi muttered. "Fine then. If my words aren't enough to bring you around to my way of thinking, than my fists will!"

"That's the spirit!" Karasuba crowed as she readied her blade once more. "Let's see whose ideology is more sound! That crap you spout about love, or my realistic approach to life!"

The two charged forward, clashing in the center. Like the sonic boom of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, the shockwave that erupted between the two was nearly deafening.

XoX

"Husband," Tsukiumi glanced at Naruto out of the corner of her eye, "I have been wondering, why are you allowing this battle to take place?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto didn't take his eyes from the fight as he addressed Tsukiumi.

"I mean that you are more powerful than Karasuba could ever hope to be," Tsukiumi explained. "If you wanted to, I know that you could easily crush that woman, so why are you allowing her to fight Musubi?"

"Ah…"

A pause. Everyone turned to look at Akitsu.

"… Musubi's battle."

"Akitsu is right," Naruto nodded at the woman, "this isn't my fight. It's Musubi's." He turned his gaze back to his first Sekirei. "Before Musubi ever met me, she made a promise that she and Karasuba would do battle against each other. Musubi believes that love is the ultimate power in this world, and she wants to prove it to Karasuba. That is why I'm not intervening. This is a battle of ideologies more than anything else."

"Mu-chan is fighting really hard," Kusano said from behind Naruto, her hands firmly gripping his pant legs.

"I see," Tsukiumi said, then went silent.

Miya gave her Ashikabi a curious glance.

"Do you believe the same thing as Musubi? That love is the ultimate power in this world?"

"No," Naruto shook his head, "I do not. If love was the ultimate power in this world, if it truly trumped everything, then none of my loved ones would have died." His Sekirei sobered up at that. Naruto turned to Miya and presented her with a sad smile. "Still, sometimes I wish I could believe the same thing Musubi does." He turned back to the battle. "Perhaps that is another reason I am allowing this battle."

"What reason?" asked Kazehana. The smile Naruto sent her was one of bitterness laced with hope.

"That Musubi can shatter my own believes on love and prove them false."

XoX

Her body was sore. Cuts littered her clothing and skin. Blood dripped from her brow and numerous other tiny nicks from close calls. Not that Karasuba looked any better. Contusions covered the swordswoman's face. Ugly black and purple bruises that had swollen to the size of baseballs. One in particular had swollen her left eye shut. Blood dripped down her broken nose, and Musubi knew that her torso had taken several good hits.

Musubi had no idea how long this fight had lasted. It felt like days, but she knew that couldn't be the case. She and Karasuba had been almost evenly matched throughout most of the fight, with neither one gaining the upperhand for any length of time.

I guess that means I really do need to use my ace in the hole, she frowned, I had been hoping that I wouldn't have to use it.

"Ha… ha... " Karasuba's breathing was heavy, haggard. Yet, despite this, the woman was smiling what had to be the most genuine smile Musubi had ever seen from her. "I'll admit… this has been fun… Yume… but it's time I ended this."

"I couldn't agree more," Musubi said as she took a wide horse stance, "and that's why I'll use the technique that I was hoping I would never have to use."

"Oh?" Karasuba's smile widened into a grin. Her sword flashed in the light, a glaring beam as she held it out before her. "So, you've been holding out on me, have you? Alright then. Show me this technique, Yume! Show it to me so that I can break it and prove myself to be stronger than you once and for all!"

"Very well."

Musubi took a deep breath as she gathered her tama's energy. She could feel it flowing through her. A vast wellspring of power. The combined might of her own energy and those of her Ashikabi's, mixing together in a never ending whirlpool. She grabbed hold of this power, latched onto it, directed it to her fists, which became suffused with energy. Black and white vapor wafted from her fists.

"By the fists of my contract, my Ashikabi's perils will be shattered! Yin Yang Aether Blast!"

Musubi thrust her fists forward. Energy fired off the ends, one beam of white and one of black. The two beams, conical-shaped blasts of pure power, mixed, congealed, twisting together almost artfully in a dance of destruction. Karasuba met this blast head on. She swung her sword with a ferocious shout. A roar more akin to an angry dragon than a Sekirei. The beam of energy slammed into the blade, pushing her back, making her feet slide along the ground. She gritted her teeth. Muscles strained. Blood pumped through her body so quickly and in such quantities that her skin turned red.

With one final roar, Karasuba cut the beam in half with her sword. The beam went in separate directions, veering off from each other and striking the barrier where they detonated. A large explosion rocked the platform. It felt like the entire structure was being shaken to its foundations. The platform held, amazingly, but Musubi suspected it was merely thanks to Naruto's seals.

Having spent the last bit of her energy blocking that attack, Karasuba went down to a knee. Her sword was stuck into the ground to keep her upright. Her breathing had become labored. Harsh, heavy pants reminiscent of a dog that had been running for several days without end. Sweat dripped from her brow, stinging her eyes. Perhaps that's why she missed Musubi appearing before her.

"Kuma Ken!"

There was absolutely no chance for her to dodge Musubi's next attack. Karasuba received the full power of Musubi's punch. Although it was diminished because of how much energy she had used in her last attack, her Kuma Ken packed more than enough power to brutalize Karasuba. The fist packed with energy slammed into the woman's face, sending the Black Sekirei flying backwards. Karasuba tore straight through the swingset, crashed through several trees, and only stopped after her body smacked into the barrier with the heavy crunch! of breaking bones. She then fell to the ground, her body unmoving, save for her breathing.

She did not get back up.

Musubi sighed upon realizing that the battle was over. Her body slumped as her injuries caught up to her. She was tired, hurt, sore, and knew that she would not be feeling too good tomorrow morning. Despite that, she smiled.

"MUSUBI!"

Musubi turned just in time to be swept up in a mass of bodies. All of Naruto's Sekirei came over to congratulate her.

"Mu-chan! Mu-chan!" Kusano cheered and laughed as Musubi lifted her into a hug.

"Heh, way to go, Musubi-chan," Kazehana winked at her.

"I must admit, that was a very skillful win," Miya's kind smile greeted her, "You've gotten much stronger."

"Hmph! Of course she has!" Tsukiumi crossed her arms over her chest. "As expected of my rival!" She then pointed a finger at Musubi. "But do not think this means you've beaten me! I'll train and become way stronger!"

"I have to admit, I was pretty worried a few times there," Homura scratched the nape of her neck, "but it seems I worried over nothing." She glanced at the unconscious form of Karasuba. "Still, who'd have thought that someone other than Miya would be capable of defeating Karasuba."

"That was nicely done, Mu-tan," Matsu congratulated. "Now we'll need to throw a party in celebration of your victory! I was thinking we could all give Naru-tan a lapdance andㅡow, ow, ow!"

"Please do not say such crude things in front of a child, Matsu-san," Miya's smile filled everyone there with terror. "If you continue, I will have to punish you."

"Oway," Matsu said as her left cheek was stretched. "I pwomise. Can you wet go of my cheek now?"

"Very well."

Miya let go of Matsu's cheek. The redheaded pervert winced and rubbed her now wet cheek.

"That really hurt."

"You deserved it," Uzume said, then grinned at Musubi. "Heh, way to go, Musubi. You really showed her."

"I agree," Chiho said, smiling kindly at the brunette. "Congratulations on your victory."

Musubi enjoyed the praise everyone gave her. It felt good. Not the praise itself, but the warm feelings that came with them.

"Musubi."

Musubi turned to see Naruto smiling at her. It was a gentle smile, one filled with tenderness and love. It made Musubi's insides warm. She gave him her most brilliant smile.

"Did you see that, Naruto-sama? I beat her!"

"That you did," Naruto's smile widened, "nicely done… and thank you."

Musubi paused at the odd tone in his voice, that strange inflection of gratitude. Another moment passed before she smiled at him once more.

"You're welcome."

"So what are we gonna do with her?" Homura hitched a thumb at the still unconscious Karasuba. Naruto and Miya shared a look. The blond grinned while the landlady shook her head.

"I have an idea," Naruto told them. Everyone shuddered when they saw the gleam in his eyes. Some of them even began to feel pity for Karasuba, as that smile could not mean anything good.

XoX

Later that night, a party took place.

Naruto sat at the table in between Akitsu and Musubi, both of whom were actually fairly drunk. Their cheeks were pink and they smelled of alcohol. Both were swaying in place quite a bit, too.

Surprisingly enough, Akitsu was the more talkative drunk of the two.

"Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu spoke the same way she always did, monotone. He was surprised she didn't have a slur, considering she'd consumed at least an entire bottle of sake by herself.

"Yes, Akitsu?"

"Have I ever told you about the reason I wear chains?"

"Yes, you have. Six times in fact."

"The reason I wear chains," Akitsu completely ignored him and continued talking, "is because there might come a day where you and I are in the mood for freaky sex in a public location, like a bathroom, or a train, or the movie theater. This is a precaution, you understand? What would happen if we wanted kinky sex in such a place, and I didn't have chains?"

"I have no idea," Naruto muttered dryly. He refused to tell her that he could make chains out of his own chakra. There was just no need to go down that road.

"Exactly." Akitsu's sagely nod looked more like the drunken bobbing of a lama on drugs. "You wouldn't know what to do. That's why I wear chains. That way, we'll be prepared if we ever decide to have kinky sex in public."

Naruto refused to facepalm.

"Fascinating."

A little ways off, a drunken Tsukiumi was doing her balancing act. Naruto had to admit, it was very impressive. She had water shooting from all of her fingers and thumbs. The water was not only being used to balance several plates, but also rotate those plates inversely to the plate next to it. To top it off, she was shooting water from her mouth like a fountain, which also had a plate balancing on the top of it. Standing next to her was an equally drunk Homura, who was doing a fire juggling act, much to Kusano's delight.

It took a while for Naruto to slip away from the drunken Akitsu's notice. She was surprisingly perceptive when wasted. He had to wait until she passed out before quietly slipping out onto the veranda.

The chilly night air hit him. He barely noticed the goosebumps breaking out on his skin, however, and merely looked up at the night sky. The stars, normally so bright, were almost completely eclipsed by Kouten, the giant Sekirei vessel that floated in orbit above them.

"Naruto-sama?" Musubi's voice sounded out behind him. He turned his head and presented the woman with a smile.

"Musubi, not going to continue partying with the others?"

Musubi shook her head as she sat next to him. She swayed slightly, but didn't react to the alcohol more than that. The alcohol must have already flushed from her system. She had a very high tolerance to the stuff, it seemed. He guessed it had something to do with her being a fist type.

"I don't really feel like partying anymore right now," she confessed. "Besides, I would much rather spend time with you."

Naruto responded to her words by pulling the woman close. Musubi reacted to his actions, turning so she could place her legs over his lap and rest her head on his shoulders. They stayed like that for quite a while, just sitting there, enjoying the solitude.

"I wanted to thank you," Musubi said softly.

"Why?"

"For many reasons. For loving me. For being my Ashikabi. For always treating me right. At the moment, though, I wanted to thank you for training me. While I would like to claim love saw me through the day, I know that without your training, I would not have beaten Karasuba, so thank you."

"You never have to thank me for something like that," Naruto told her, "I love you. I'm more than happy to help you out whenever you need it."

"I know. I still wanted to say it, though."

"You're welcome, then."

They remained there, sitting in silence for several moments. Musubi's natural warmth and scent, a strange blend of vanilla and apples, made him feel drowsy. He was tempted to just fall asleep right then and there.

Matsu's approach kept her from doing such. He sensed the redhead coming before he heard her footsteps.

"Ashikabi-sama," the fact that she was not using her pet name for him told Naruto that, whatever she wanted to speak to him about, it was probably serious.

He turned around and saw Matsu standing behind him. The glasses she normally wore were off, and the expression she gave him was that of someone who'd just discovered something grave.

"Something wrong Matsu?"

"There might be," Matsu told him, her tone more serious than he'd heard it in a while. "I just found out where the deactivated Sekirei are."

Musubi perked up.

"That's good news, isn't it?"

"They're on Kouten," Matsu intoned.

"Ah," Musubi winced, "That's not good news."

Matsu nodded in agreement.

"No. No, it is not."

"What should we do about this?" Musubi asked.

"For now?" Naruto questioned rhetorically. "Nothing. There isn't anything we can do right now, and I'm loath to sour the mood. We'll deal with this tomorrow."

Despite his words, Naruto would admit that he had a strange feeling in his gut, like indigestion, only worse. The last phase of stage three was coming to an end, and he had a feeling that Minaka was going to make him the grand finale.

It was sure to be quite the spectacle.

XoX

**Omake**

Takami had a lot on her mind as she drove to work that morning. It was the day after the earth had rise into a platform that towered over the MBI tower. A day after that strange dome had appeared. She didn't know exactly what happened, though knew who was involved.

"Damn that Naruto," she grumbled, "Just what the hell is he playing at?"

Naruto had been a headache ever since he was introduced into the Sekirei Plan. He caused chaos everywhere he went. He was like a storm, destroying all of her attempts at keeping the Sekirei Plan from becoming a bloodless affair.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the crowd surrounding the MBI clocktower until she was forced to stop her car.

"What the hell?" Takami glared out of her car window when she saw dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people crowding the street. She honked several times, and a few people actually turned their heads, but most ignored her in favor of staring at something.

Her right eye twitching, Takami exited her vehicle and stomped up to the first person she saw.

"What the hell is going on here?! Why are you people blocking my way?"

The person she demanded answers from didn't cower, despite the anger in her tone. Instead, they pointed at the MBI building. Grumbling, Takami's gaze followed the fingerㅡ

ㅡand then gawked when she saw what everyone else saw.

Karasuba had been suspended against the building. Her arms and legs were spread wide, and some kind of stretchy cord was tied to her wrists and ankles, extending all the way around the building. She was also butt ass naked. With her front pressed against the wall, Takami could easily see the big, bold print on her ass cheeks. The left one said "Musubi's," while the right had "Bitch" imprinted on them.

The sound of Takami's palm meeting her face sounded several decibals louder than it should have.

"Damn that Naruto. I just know this is his fault somehow."

* * *

><p><strong>Someone mentioned in a previous review how they're losing interest because this story feels like it's climax has already happened. I believe I have already mentioned that the climax did, indeed, happen awhile ago. The past few chapters are nothing more than me tying up loose ends and rewarding you guys with some sweet romantic moments between Naruto and his Sekirei. I do this as a way of thank you all for putting up with Emo-Naruto for 30+ chapters. I imagine it must have been grueling to deal with, and I'm very grateful for everyone who's continued following this story.<strong>

**And I have some news! First off: this story only has ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! That's right. The next chapter will be the end of Ashikabi no Shinobi. I hope you're all looking forward to it. Second: the second book of the American Kitsune series, dubbed A Fox's Tail, has just been published. Down below is my books blurb, which I hope sounds interesting. Anyone interested in getting a copy can follow the links on either my profile page, my blog, the American Kitsune facebook page, or my twitter account. You can also go onto Amazon and simply search the book section for A Fox's Tail. Once again, I would like to thank everyone who's supported me while I write. It means more to me than words will ever be able to express.**

**Thank you.**

Life has finally settled down for Kevin Swift. Sure, he's still dealing with Lilian's zany antics, but that's alright, he's actually starting to enjoy the gorgeous Kitsune's continued presence. Too bad he's in denial. Unfortunately for him, life likes to throw fastballs when you least expect it to, and his life is about to get ecchi―I-I mean, ugly.

A tsundere dressed in gothic lolita fashion…

A boy whose hair is bigger than his brain…

A new enemy that makes Chris Fleischer look like a fifty pound weakling…

Trying to admit his feelings for a certain tomboy…

Not to mention Lilian herself. Yeah, Kevin's got problems, and life can only get more strenuous from here on out. Oh well. At least he hasn't been turned into a Harem Protagonist.


	43. Revelations

**Before we begin, I would just like to thank everyone who read this story. Contrary to popular belief, I am well-aware of the many flaws, plot holes and contradictions this story has. At some point, I'm actually thinking of going back and fixing this up to make it better. For now, though, I would just like to let you all know that I truly appreciate you hanging through with me and reading this story to the very end. Thank you! ^_^**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 43<strong>

**Revelations**

Naruto and his Sekirei were training, an intense sparring session that would have made most people think he was crazy.

It was, after all, a seven-on-one battle.

Leaping backwards, Naruto avoided the giant wind-fire combination attack that struck the ground, exploding with incredible force. The displaced air sizzled and burned as it struck his face, buffeting his hair. Several rocks tried pelting him, but he used his own control over wind to destroy them before they could reach him, slicing them apart with miniscule blades that were invisible to regular eyes.

"**Musubi Heel Drop!"**

Raising his left arm, Naruto blocked the descending leg that came from above with his forearm. He pillowed the attack, then shoved the offending limb away. Musubi, who'd leapt over the explosion, using it to mask her approach, pouted as she was thrown off. She landed several feet away.

"**Water Celebration**!"

Naruto almost snorted when the imperious shout proceeded the name of Tsukiumi's attack. He'd been trying to convince her not to shout the name of her attacks before attacking, but she was adamant about doing so, something about her honor as a Sekirei. Musubi agreed, though her reason was because she thought shouting the name of her attack before attacking was cool.

The blast of water was split in half by the wind blade Naruto sent into it. As water sprayed around him, creating a plethora of color as the artificial sunlight refracted off the many droplets, Musubi came back in and re-initiated their taijutsu melee once more.

Musubi had grown a lot. Her form was sharper, her movements more precise. She'd decided to go with a minimalistic approach to combat, preferring to probe someone's defenses before striking them hard enough to splatter their insides along the ground. It was a style that suited her well, combining Musubi's strength with Yume's reaction time and reflexes.

It would do little good against him.

Musubi threw her next combination, a string of swift jabs designed to find a weakness in his defense. Naruto switched from an orthodox stance to southpaw, presented a small hole in his side, and then grabbed her offending leg when she launched a kick at his torso.

Picking her up by the leg, he spun around and tossed her away, just in time to create a standard broadsword out of thin air and block a string of powerful strikes from Miya. Her blade appeared in his vision, mere flashes of light that traced a number of arcing paths through the air. Faster than the eyes could follow, each strike sought to penetrate his flesh.

Naruto blocked the strikes. His blade moved quickly and, though not much of a swordsman, his reflexes allowed him to keep the pace. Sparks flared into existence with every clash of their blades, each one a brilliant sparkle, like a miniature star, that descended to the ground before dying. In a moment of reflection, Naruto thought about how sparks could easily represent human life; burning fiercely before being snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

In the middle of their clash, Miya suddenly leapt back. The move startled Naruto and caused him to stumble right into a tornado of icy wind that consumed his entire body, leaving it all but invisible to those on the outside.

Just then, a bell rang from speakers floating in the air like blimps.

"Do you think we got him?" Kazehana asked as the other Sekirei gathered around to watch the ice-wind combination attack tear apart the ground.

"I hope so," Homura huffed, absentmindedly wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I'm not sure how much more fight I have left in me."

"That won't be enough to beat Naruto," Musubi declared.

"Indeed." Flinging her blond hair over her shoulder, Tsukiumi agreed with her best friend. "My husband is far too powerful for such a measly attack to defeat him."

"That's definitely true," a voice said behind them all. The Sekirei stiffened. "An attack of that caliber might have gotten me a couple thousand years ago, but these days…" they could almost hear the shrug in his tone. "… not so much."

Turning, the group of Sekirei found Naruto standing in front of them, looking as pristine as ever. His form was so immaculate that not even a stitch of clothing was out of place.

"Still, you did a pretty good job of keeping me on the ropes," he added upon seeing their disheartened expressions. It amused him that even Miya looked put out. "Had I been anyone else, that would have surely done me in."

"Ah…"

A pause. Naruto looked at Akitsu, who appeared to be rather melancholy.

"… No reward?"

Before the sparring match had started, Naruto promised his Sekirei a reward if they could land a solid hit on him. He didn't say what it would be, only that they would love it. As a caveat, however, they only had ten minutes to land an attack, and those ten minutes had expired a few seconds ago when the bell rang.

"Hmm…" Naruto scratched the bottom of his chin. "Unfortunately, since you guys didn't hit me, I can't offer you a reward." He chuckled when his Sekirei groaned. "That being said, maybe I should do something nice at least, since you all worked so hard…"

Naruto smiled amusedly when his Sekirei perked up. Before they could say anything, however, another voice spoke up.

"Ashikabi-sama!"

The group turned to see Matsu climbing down the ladder as swiftly as she could, her movements hurried and frantic. She rushed over to the group, her hair in disarray and her glasses askew, as if she'd just thrown them on.

"Ashikabi-sama." Matsu not calling him "Naru-tan" immediately put Naruto and the other Sekirei on alert. "You need to get upstairs and turn on the TV. It's Minaka! He's calling you out!"

XoX

Naruto entered the living room and quickly turned on the TV. He didn't even need to change channels to find Minaka's speech. It seemed he had decided to commandeer all the television stations for this.

"Greetings, people of Shinto Teito!" His voice, loud and booming, reminded Naruto of a circus ringleader. "And greetings, my most esteemed Ashikabi and Sekirei! I am pleased to announce that the third stage of the Sekirei Plan is almost complete, and the grand finale of this phase is going to be something for ages!"

"Minaka…" Homura scowled at the image on the screen. "I wonder what that man has planned now."

"Whatever it is, it's clearly nothing good," Tsukiumi said. Miya nodded her agreement.

"Indeed."

Naruto said nothing. His eyes remained locked on the screen.

"The last event of the third stage is one that will involve all of you. Each and every Ashikabi and Sekirei will take part in this most auspicious event! Starting tomorrow morning, your task will be to find and eliminate this man from the game!" On the left-hand corner of the screen, an image of Naruto appeared. "Anyone who can defeat this man will be allowed to go free! That is right, if you can beat Uzumaki Naruto and his Sekirei, you will no longer have to participate in this game, and you and your Sekirei will be able to live in comfort for the rest of your lives!"

"Damn that man." Homura's ferocious snarl was matched only by the heat wafting off her frame. Smoke rose from her shoulders. "What kind of game does he think he's-owch!" She rubbed her head. "What was that for, Miya?"

"If you burn down Maison Izumo, I would be most upset." Miya cracked a single amethyst eye open to look at Homura. "So, please refrain from letting yourself get out of control in here."

"R-right. Okay, Miya."

"Good."

"For the one known as Uzumaki Naruto," Minaka continued unimpeded. "If you can reach Kamikura Island by noon tomorrow, then you will have passed the third stage and shall move on to the next, fourth, and final stage of the Sekirei Plan!" Minaka's grin had grown so wide it split his face in half. His glasses, a dark black that continued hiding his eyes from view, shone with an ominous gleam that seemed to reflect the inner madness of his soul. "I wish you luck, Naruto-kun! You're going to need it!"

As abruptly as the announcement had been made, Minaka disappeared from the screen, allowing the station to return to its previous program.

All of his Sekirei turned to him.

"What are we going to do, Lover-kun?" Kazehana asked. The others listened on baited breath, all of them wondering the same thing.

Naruto met their inquiring gazes with a confident grin.

"We're going to beat this stage, get to Kamikura island, and then…" Naruto slammed his right fist into his left palm. "… we're going to destroy the Sekirei Plan and Minaka along with it!"

XoX

It was later that night. Everyone had gone to sleep-everyone except Naruto. He did not sleep in the most traditional way that night. Instead of falling into a deep slumber, he allowed his mind to journey down into his subconscious, into the fragmented delusion where a seal containing a beast of immense power once resided.

"How long has it been since I've been down here," Naruto wondered out loud, "it's changed a lot since I last saw it."

What had once been a large sewer with corridors of darkness without end, branching into multiple sections, a series of conjoined twists and turns, now there was something straight out of Tim Burton's mind at its worst.

The corridors, while still corridors, expanded and shrunk at irregular intervals. Time and space sometimes seemed to distort, too, with certain parts of the long path seeming to last forever, while others he moved through in almost the same time it took to blink an eye. Sometimes, Naruto would find himself walking upside down, and then as suddenly as the shift happened, he'd be walking right side up again. Colors would change every few seconds, a plethora of head-spinning neon hues that would have caused anyone else a massive migraine.

Naruto ignored the weirdness and kept moving. He was on a mission.

It didn't take long to reach the place where a massive cage once stood. It was just a large space now, an empty cavern that contained nothing, for there was nothing left to contain. The being once known as Kurama had long since melded with him, just as the other eight Bijuu had. That did not, however, mean that he was alone within that space.

"**It's been a long time since I last saw you, brother."**

A grinning visage so very much like his own greeted Naruto. The being before him looked almost identical to him, from his hair to to the tattered clothes that hung from his emasculated frame. He could have been mistaken for Naruto's twin brother. The only difference between them was the eyes. While Naruto's were blue, this person had red eyes-red eyes with slitted pupils and black sclera. He looked like a being of darkness, a denizen of evil.

Naruto knew otherwise.

"You look like shit."

The being grinned.

"**I feel like shit,"** he admitted. Naruto stared at the being for a little while longer… then closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"**Che."** His other half scoffed. **"The hell are you apologizing for?"**

"I don't know."

"**You don't… ha… that's just like you." **The being rubbed the back of his neck in a very Naruto-esque manner. **"Look, I don't want you to think I did this for you or anything. The reason I allowed myself to be split off was because I didn't want to stop existing. When your mind shattered, it would have been the end of us, of me, so I had no choice but to break myself off and continue acting in your stead."** A pause. Naruto's other half tilted his head to the side. **"Although, I will admit that I didn't expect it to take so long for you to get your act together. I honestly thought you would recover much sooner than you did."**

"Then you have more faith in me than I do," Naruto said, "I never expected to get my act together."

"**I think you did. I think you knew that, eventually, you would have to begin living again. Deep down, you knew that. Still, one-thousand years is a long time to keep something whole. I'm tired, brother. Even with all the power at our command, keeping your mind intact has not been an easy task."**

"I know. Thank you."

"**Don't thank me. Like I said, this was simply self-preservation."** The other being, the second half of Naruto, smirked. **"So, are you ready?"**

Naruto returned the smirk with one of his own, an expression that mirrored his dark half almost perfectly.

"Yes, I think I am."

"**Good. Because I was tired of having to keep your carcass going."**

The second Naruto, the dark reflection of himself, vanished, dispersing into tiny particles, which disappeared without a trace. The real Naruto closed his eyes and smiled. He was whole again.

"**Welcome back… brother."**

XoX

The next morning, Naruto and his Sekirei left Maison Izumo with nothing but the clothes on their back. They traveled light, jumping over buildings, the morning sun at their backs. Uzume and Chiho weren't present. They had wanted to go with them, but Naruto had determined that it would be better if it was just him and his Sekirei traveling into whatever dangers awaited.

_It wouldn't be right involving them in this._ Naruto smiled to himself. _Besides, getting to Kamikura Island shouldn't be too hard._

"Ashikabi-sama has a pretty strange look on his face right now." Matsu leaned her head against his. He gripped her thighs while her arms held him tightly around the neck. "What are you thinking about?"

Naruto and his Sekirei leapt off another building and onto the next one. Clinging to Musubi's back like a tiny koala as they leapt across the rooftops, Kusano pouted and glared cutely at Matsu.

"I'm just thinking about our goal." A frown. "We need to reach the pier on the opposite side of the city by noon today. Meanwhile, other Sekirei and Ashikabi pairs are going to be trying to stop us from reaching our goal." The frown deepened. "I swore to Miya that I wouldn't let anymore Sekirei die, which means we need to avoid a conflict with them at all costs. I'm not the best at holding back."

"Ah." Matsu nodded her head. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem. But, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You're not alone, you know. You have us here. While I'm not really a fighter, the others are more than capable of fending off any possible Sekirei attacks. All of them are far stronger than the average Sekirei thanks to your insane training."

"Yeah, that's true."

Naruto and the others were rushing to the other side of a building when it happened.

"By the halberd of my contract, my Ashikabi's woes shall be pierced!"

A loud voice resounded across the cityscape, a chant, familiar yet different.

Naruto and his Sekirei scattered just as a brightly glowing halberd struck the roof like a bomb. The entire roof exploded in a shower of fragments. Naruto and his Sekirei landed on the ground and watched as the building suddenly began collapsing. The windows blew out, shattering like crystalline teardrops splashing against the ground. Walls cracked as a concussive shock wave slammed into them from the inside. The very foundation seemed to rattle and shake as fissures appeared along the ground underneath the building, causing the entire structure to crumble like a house of cards.

"You missed," a voice said from above. Naruto looked up to see two people standing on top of an adjacent building. One of them held a giant halberd nearly twice as tall as she was.

He recognized them, both of them. They were in the MBI profile database.

The one wielding the halberd had gray eyes, and her brown hair hung down her back, tied together by a silver ribbon, while her bangs fell about her face in a wild manner. Her red top left her back uncovered, and she wore red gloves and stockings. He knew her: Sekirei number seventy-three, Namiji.

Standing next to Namiji was a woman whose body was the color of chocolate. She had a lithe build complimented by her all black clothing and waist-length raven hair. Her bikini top showed off her flat stomach, and a hooded shawl was thrown over her shoulders. A buckled sarong and leather knee high boots completed her outfit. A curved dagger was tossed into the air, spun like a top, only to be caught in her hand again.

"I didn't miss," Namiji told the dark-skinned woman, who Naruto recognized as Sekirei number fifty-seven, Yahan. "They simply dodged."

"Missed. Dodged. It all amounts to the same thing. You didn't hit them."

"Tch!"

Naruto frowned as he tried to figure out their next move. Should they fight? Should they flee? He knew they could win in a battle, but he didn't know how long their battle would take, especially since he planned on not participating in any Sekirei battles to avoid accidentally killing them.

"What should do, Naruto?" Miya asked, her hand going to her katana. "Would you like me to take care of them."

Before Naruto could answer, lightning descended from the sky and struck the building Yahan and Namiji stood on. The two leapt off the building seconds before it exploded like a bomb had gone off inside. As smoke and dust rose from the rubble of what had once been a modest-sized structure made of red brick, a voice spoke up.

"Why don't you leave them to us?"

Seo walked out from an alley, hands in his pocket, a nonchalant look on his face. Striding forward on either side of him, like predators looking for their next meal, were Hibiki and Hikari.

"Seo?" Naruto blinked. Seo grinned.

"We've got this," he said, "just leave these two to us and do what you have to. I'd like this game to end."

"Alright." Naruto wasn't going to argue. "I'll leave them to you. Thanks."

"Crap! They're getting away!"

Namiji and Yahan tried to follow after Naruto and his flock as they took to the roofs, but failed when more lightning shot at them.

"Hey! Don't take your eyes off your opponents!" Hibiki shouted at the pair. "They're not the ones you need to worry about anymore."

"Hibiki is right." Hikari stepped forward, her hands sparking with electricity. "We're your opponents now."

XoX

Naruto wondered if they were being tracked somehow.

It was the only way so many people could have found them in such a short amount of time. Maybe Minaka was feeding them information on his whereabouts, or perhaps he'd somehow auto installed a tracker in all of their phones for the sole purpose of finding him. It wouldn't surprise him one bit if that was the case. It would be just like that man to do something like this.

And now they were surrounded.

Eyeing the many people encroaching upon them warily, Naruto frowned and thought of his options. Dealing with this many people wasn't a problem. He could crush them if he so desired. He could turn their bodies inside out before they even knew what hit him… but he wouldn't. He'd promised Miya he would stop hurting the Sekirei, which, by extension, meant their Ashikabis also couldn't be hurt.

Naruto had done a lot of horrible things in his life, but the one thing he'd never done was go back on a promise, and he didn't intend to start doing that now. Not with one of the women he loved.

_I'm beginning to regret making that promise._

"What are we waiting for?" one of the Ashikabi, a plane man with brown hair, asked of the others surrounding Naruto and his Sekirei. "The Game Master said we could be free of this game if we defeated this man and his Sekirei!"

"Let's do it!"

"Yeah!"

"I don't want to take part in this game anymore!"

"I don't want to be separated from my Sekirei!"

"Let's get him!"

As the group of humans and Sekirei rushed them, Naruto and his own group prepared to fight them off.

They needn't have bothered.

"**World End Garden!"**

A wave of corrosion spread through the Ashikabi-slash-Sekirei ranks. Several Sekirei were quick on the uptake and leapt away before the wave of corroding death reached them. Others weren't so lucky, and those ones dropped to the ground like flies. The corroding attack, World End Garden, stopped several feet away from Naruto and his Sekirei, forming a ring around them.

"When the world has grown dark and its people are lost to madness," a voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, its proclamation bold and brash.

"… W-when the light leaves the heart of the people," a much more timid voice said.

"We will be there to right the wrongs!"

"W-we will, um, fix the world… and stuff."

"Mou, Shiina, that was lame. You need to put more emotion into your speeches. E-mo-tion!"

"I-I am terribly sorry, Mistress Yukari."

"Ha… it's fine, we'll just practice again later."

"I recognize that annoying voice." Tsukuimi narrowed her eyes.

"Ah! It's Yukari-san, isn't it?" Musubi looked around, her head turning left and right. "I wonder where she is."

"She's on the building several feet away," Miya answered. Everyone turned to look up and saw Yukari and Shiina standing exactly where the landlady told them, on a building across the street. She looked down at the group, hands on her hips and a grin on her face.

"Hey, hot stuff! You guys look like you could use some help."

"Yukari," Naruto greeted, feeling a touch relieved. "We could definitely use some help. Thank you."

"Heh." Yukari blushed and rubbed her nose. "No worries. I figured it was time onii-chan and I returned the favor for all the help you've given us."

"Onii-chan?" Naruto didn't have enough time to ponder those words before another voice spoke up.

"This is the dance of my pledge, slash the calamities that befall my Ashikabi! **Sekirei Sacred Dance, verse two: Dance of a Thousand Blossoms!**"

Kaho descended from the sky like a falling meteor. She landed in the midst of a group of Sekirei who'd escaped the World End Garden, her blade a flashwork of speed and precision. Each strike was aimed at specific parts of the body, designed to take each Sekirei out with minimal damage. A strike to the knees. A hit to the chest. One Sekirei even received a powerful smack to the back of the head from the naginata.

"By the Tridents of my pledge, pierce the darkness that surrounds by Ashikabi! **One-thousand Falling Tridents!**"

Those few Sekirei who'd survived Kaho's onslaught became the victim of dozens of spears that fell from the sky. Each one was carefully aimed. There were no killing blows landed, but several Sekirei ended up having their clothes ripped off. Unlike Musubi, who only began understanding modesty after merging with Yume, these Sekirei knew it well, for they covered themselves up once their clothes were sliced to ribbons.

"Iyahn!" they cried in unison. Several Ashikabi passed out from sudden blood loss at the sight of too much feminine flesh.

"It looks like you could use a hand," Minato said as he walked around the corner of a building. Kuruse walked with him, giggling when she caught sight of all the naked Sekirei.

"Minato?" A blink. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious." Minato actually appeared mildly amused by Naruto's nonplussed expression. "We're here to help."

"Oh." Naruto actually needed a moment to gather his wits about him. "Thank you."

"No problem." Minato turned to look at the Sekirei who were still in fighting condition. "Now you'd better get going. Leave these people to us."

"Right." Naruto nodded. "Thanks again."

"Don't mention it."

XoX

Kamikura island looked like a giant ball of barren rock.

Naruto walked along the surface, which was reminiscent of a rocky desert landscape. It almost surprised him at how little flora seemed to exist. Plants were few and far between, and what little did grow barely clung to life, their forms like withered husks.

"So this is the place where most of the Sekirei were born, huh." Naruto eyed his surroundings a few more seconds. "Doesn't look like a very pleasant place to grow up."

"It wasn't." Miya and the others walked by his side, the landlady giving their surroundings a scan as well. "However, most of the Sekirei weren't actually born on this island. Only the first two dozen or so were birthed here. The rest of the eggs were taken to MBI's labs in Shinto Teito once Minaka got the company up and running."

"Ah."

As everyone gathered around, Naruto began wondering where they were supposed to go. Would Minaka eventually come to greet them, or was he waiting for them at the final destination. His silent inquiry was soon answered when he saw a large floating sign with a bright green arrow appear over a tall hill.

"Not very subtle, is he?" Naruto muttered, then sighed. "Alright, let's follow the signs and finish this. I'd like to be home in time for dinner."

Following the signs was a chore, Naruto soon realized after cresting the first hill and seeing another sign floating several meters away. Upon reaching that sign, another one cropped up, then another and another. Over and over again the signs continued appearing before them, until he and his Sekirei were walking through a very narrow ravine.

"Miya-san?" Matsu had taken her glasses off, and she and Miya exchanged knowing glances.

"Yes, this is definitely the path needed to reach our ship."

"Hmm, this place does bring back some memories." Kazehana looked up at the cliff faces surrounding them. "And not all of them are good."

Turning around a corner, the group was greeted with something unnatural to the surrounding landscape. The large metal structure looked similar to a giant bulb. Its frame, rusted with age and who-knew-how many centuries of being subject to salt, gleamed dully in the sun. Naruto could make out the wear and tear on its hull; dents from where it crashed, or where boulders might have crushed it, scratches and knicks covering the surface like lacerations. Buried as it was halfway into the island, the entire thing reminded Naruto of a metallic corpse.

"So this is the spaceship you came in?" Naruto asked, eyeing the vessel curiously.

"Yes," Miya answered for all of them, "we came to earth on that vessel."

"Hmm." Naruto knew that he'd never laid eyes on this alien spaceship before, however, in that moment, a part of him felt a strange sense of familiarity. He didn't know why, but he felt like he should know what this spaceship was, or at least, a small part of him did. "Well, let's go inside. The ship is open, which is an invitation to enter if I've ever seen one."

Naruto quickly determined that the ship was running on minimal power when he and the others entered. None of the lights were on. Everything was dark, nearly pitch black. He could only see maybe five feet in front of him before the darkness engulfed everything.

The darkness only lasted for a few seconds, however, before a light thrum filled the air, a strange humming noise like servomotors being given life. Lights soon turned on, illuminating the path before him. The hallway they stood in curved around on both sides. From what Naruto could determine, it looked like the entire thing might actually curve around the whole ship in a circle.

"Hello, Naruto-kun!" came an obnoxiously familiar voice. Naruto noticed that speakers had been embedded into the walls of the ship. "I'm so pleased to see you've made it. Not that I expected any less from the only earthbound god left on this planet. Still, I do admit, I was a little worried that you would be held up and not make it in time."

"Che." Homura glared at nothing. "If he was so worried, maybe he shouldn't have thought about sicing all those Sekirei on us."

"However, now that you are here, this game can truly begin," Minaka continued. "And here are the rules. There are nine portals within this ship. Eight are located equidistant of each other along the central ring. Your Sekirei must reach those eight locations with a jinki in hand. You do have all eight jinki, right? If not, then you're going to be in trouble. While your Sekirei reach those eight points, you must travel to the center of this station, where another portal shall be awaiting you. I look forward to seeing you, Naruto-kun. Mwahahahahaha!"

As Minaka's voice cut out, Naruto turned to his Sekirei.

"What do you think we should do? Go along with his plan or say screw it and just head to the main portal in the center?"

"Knowing Minaka, he will have planned for the possibility of us all traveling to the central portal," Miya said. "I do not even believe he is on this ship. He most likely set up these portals to force us into doing what he wants in order to reach him. Most likely, he is on Kouten, waiting for you to show up."

"Damn that Minaka," Homura growled, "this is why I hate that bastard."

"He does seem to be quite the annoying pest." Tsukiumi crossed her arms and frowned. "I do not approve of his schemes."

"It doesn't matter." Musubi's eyes blazed with an inner fire. "Whatever schemes he has made, we'll crush them with our fists!"

"Or slice them to pieces," Miya agreed.

"Or set them on fire." Homura nodded.

"Ah…"

A pause. As one, the group turned to look at Akitsu.

"… I'll freeze them."

"We're decided then." Naruto slammed his right fist into his left palm. "We'll play by Minaka's rules and show him that, in the end, it won't matter what plans he's conceived."

"Right!"

XoX

"I don't like this place."

Kusano would admit that she was frightened. She, like the other Sekirei, had been forced to separate from her onii-chan. Her bare feet padded along the cold metallic floor. The entire place was eerily devoid of life, which made it seem even creepier than it otherwise would have.

"Muu, I wish I was with onii-chan."

Kusano knew that she had to be strong, but it was hard. She wanted to be with onii-chan. She already missed him. However, she also knew that she needed to do this. Onii-chan was counting on her.

It didn't take long for her to reach the door containing the portal for her. It was a large door made of metal, gleaming brightly in the overhead lights. Written on the surface in crude kanhi was her name, which she knew because her onii-chan had been teaching her to read and write.

Stepping up to the door, which slid aside to reveal the interior, Kusano stepped through the door.

XoX

Miya frowned as she entered the room where the portal stood. Darkness encroached upon her vision like an insipid terror designed to inspire a primal fear in people. Unbothered by this strange space of blackness, Miya moved forward, her stride carrying her deeper into the unlit interior.

As if her presence had been the trigger, the lights came up. All along the sides they appeared, winking into existence one by one, illuminating the interior. The light sources revealed the room to her, a circular space with a squashed dome-shaped ceiling. Tubes shot out from the walls like intestinal tracts from a sliced open carcass. In the center of this room was a circle, small and protruding from the floor like a single stair. The glowing green light emitting from it was strange, and not something she had seen in this ship before. A recent addition, then.

"I suppose I should step on the circle," Miya mused to herself.

She stepped into the circle, which grew brighter, as if reacting to her presence. The glowing increased in intensity, until Miya was all but blinded by the light. Closing her eyes, Miya was forced to rely on her other senses. She felt a momentary sense of weightlessness before the floor under her feet changed in elasticity, becoming softer, more malleable. The light soon died down and Miya opened her eyes.

The room had changed, or maybe she had simply changed rooms. Hadn't Minaka said this was a portal? The new place she had appeared in was much larger than the other room. Glancing up revealed a ceiling hanging high over her head. She moved, the ground underneath her feet giving slightly, her foot leaving an imprint, as if it was gymnastics mat.

It took her several moments to realize that she wasn't alone. She barely felt the presence until it was upon her, and only the hardened reflexes of a war veteran prepared her for the sudden spike of killing intent.

Her sword left its sheath and blocked a strike meant to bisect her. The weapon scraping against her katana was another katana, one that was startlingly familiar.

Miya's amethyst eyes widened as she stared into what seemed like a mirror.

"You're…"

XoX

Musubi leapt backwards as a fist slammed into the ground where she had been standing. Surprisingly enough, the ground did not crater and break. It merely bounced. The strange substance that made up the floor appeared resistant to devastating physical damage.

Her opponent stood up. Brown hair in a ponytail swayed as she moved. Light brown eyes so similar to Musubi's own stared back at her from a face that was identical to hers. It was like looking into a mirror.

"Who are you?!" Musubi's demand went unanswered. The woman who wore her face charged her, attacking her with a relentless and reckless ferocity, forcing the shrine maiden to backpedal, lest she end up getting her face punched in.

Something was going on here. Who was this woman who looked so much like her?

As her imposter sent a barrage of punches her way, Musubi determined that she would get to the bottom of this.

XoX

Naruto was greeted by Minaka when he stepped out of the portal. The man stood in the middle of what he vaguely recognized as an arena, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a colosseum. The conical shape surrounding them on all sides, hemming them in like a giant blockade, made this place's purpose more than obvious. And while there were no places to sit, Naruto could see dozens, maybe even hundreds of pods arrayed around the room.

"Well, hello there, Naruto-kun. It's nice to finally meet you face to face." Minaka's wide grin looked even more mad in person. "You don't know how long I have waited for this meeting."

"Apparently not." Naruto stepped off the portal and onto the floor. His feet sank somewhat, letting him know that he was standing on some kind of padding reminiscent of a wrestling ring. The sudden distribution in weight didn't seem to bother Minaka, who merely stood in place, still grinning. "Though it sounds as if you've known about me for a long time now."

"Oh, I have," Minaka said, his smile widening. "I've known about you for a very long time, decades even. It is a rather fascinating tale, if I do say so myself. Would you like to hear it?"

Naruto considered the question before answer with a shrug.

"Sure, why not. I've come all this way to confront you, might as well learn your motivation for all this."

"Indeed." Minaka pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "This story starts around fifty-two years ago, when a young woman named Kagami Hiroto met an enigmatic young man and fell in love. She was attending a university in England at the time. According to the intelligence I have gathered, she was an excellent student, at the top of her class and enrolled in several honors programs."

"Unfortunately, halfway through her time at the university, she fell in love with one of her teachers. One thing led to another and he ended up impregnating her. He then disappeared and Kagami, heartbroken and unable to carry on with her life, died on the operating table after giving birth to a darling baby boy. Can you guess who that boy was?"

Naruto almost rolled his eyes. "You?"

"Correct!" Minaka cheered. "And how about the man she fell in love with? Can you guess his name?"

Naruto had a pretty good idea of who Minaka was talking about.

"Not really, no."

Minaka tripped over a speck of dirt. Naruto mutely watched the other man's face meet the floor with a resounding smack, his lips twitching amusedly. The white-haired man shot back to his feet and pouted at him.

"That was mean, Naruto-kun."

"You say that like I should care," Naruto shot back, "and shouldn't you be calling me daddy or something?"

Minaka threw his head back and laughed.

"That's what I love about you, Naruto-kun. You're so blazé, so uncaring. I just all but confessed that you're my father and you don't even bat an eyelash!"

Naruto didn't see what the big deal with that was.

"You say that like it's something that should shock me. I've had hundreds, thousands, of illicit relationships in my life. I highly doubt you're the only child I have currently running around in this world right now, though you're certainly proving to be the most troublesome."

"Oh, but I am your only child." Minaka chuckled. His deranged grin had become even more maddening, laced as it was with a Mad Hatter sort of insanity. "I've made sure of that. I couldn't very well have other people like me, other demigods wandering this world. They were a hindrance to my ultimate plan."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't even bat an eyelash at Minaka admitting to having killed the other children he had unknowingly sired, though a part of him did feel guilty.

"And what is your ultimate plan?"

"I'm so glad you asked." Minaka spread his arms wide, his gesture all-encompassing. "You see, Naruto-kun, I want to become a god like you. It's been a dream of mine for many years now, ever since I discovered who you were and my relationship to you."

"So, what? You want to follow in your pop's footsteps or something?" Naruto scratched the underside of his chin. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't even know how I became immortal, and I've been trying to figure that out for thousands of years."

"How you became immortal is irrelevant." Minaka absentmindedly waved a hand, as if warding off a bug. "I already know how to attain godhood."

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me, then."

Minaka's smile was devilish.

"Oh, that's easy. I just plan on using the jinki to drain all of the sekirei of their life force and transfer it to me." For the first time since this strange meeting started, Naruto felt a jolt of fear. "That's right, Naruto-kun. Right now, your Sekirei should be finishing up their tests, defeating the bio-engineered clones and placing the jinkis inside of specifically made pods that I created. Once that happens, all of the Sekirei who have been defeated so far will be drained of their life essence, which will then transfer to me, giving me the power I need to contest you for the right of ascending to godhood."

Tyrannical fists of a madman raised to the ceiling. Naruto finally noticed the tubes attached to the man's arms, sticking from his flesh like power lines. The sickening grin on Minaka's lips made him grit his teeth in revulsion.

"I'll ascend into godhood just like you! No, I'll surpass you! I'll become a true god and ascend to the very heavens! Mwahahahahaha!"

Naruto watched as his apparent son (even though calling MInaka his son just sounded wrong somehow) laughed like a loon.

"Why is almost every son I have irrevocably insane?" Naruto asked no one in particular as he slowly palmed his face.

XoX

Homura's face was set into a ferocious snarl as she slammed her hand into the giant fireball her foe had tossed at her. The explosion that followed rocked the room she was in, displacing the air in a wave of heat that would have burnt anyone else to a crisp. She simply brute forced her way through the shockwave of heat and fire, bursting out of the other side like some kind of demon rising up from hell.

Fire flared to life on her hands, and she didn't hesitate to toss those fireballs at the foe who'd stolen her face. They soared at the creature, whatever it was, who, most unfortunately, had the same control over fire that she did. The woman with her face swatted the attacks away like they were flies.

Frowning as her latest attempt at defeating this creature failed, Homura tried to calm down and think this through logically. Clearly, doing what she was doing wouldn't work here, so she needed to do something different. This thing, female, had the exact same powers that she did, but were those powers as strong as hers, or was it only a half-assed copy?

There was only one way to find out.

Sending another ball of fire at the thing with her face, Homura watched as it was knocked away. Grabbing hold of the fireball through her connection to it, she controlled its flow and made it stop, then quickly reverse, traveling back toward the as-of-yet unaware person. They weren't unaware for long, though, as they seemingly sensed the heat behind them and spun around to knock the fireball away once more.

Homura made it change direction. The conflagration zoomed up, over her enemy. It stopped suddenly, hovering above the strange person's head, then it began to shift. The fire lengthened, then grew thinner, its form stretching until its appearance was that of a really long cylinder. The end that pointed down sharpened to a point, a deadly spearhead that soon descended upon the seemingly hapless figure.

"Tch!"

Clicking her tongue as the figure leapt away from her flame spear, Homura absently canceled the attack before it could burn straight through the ground. She then conjured whips into her hands, which she quickly put to use, lashing out at the figure, who moved and swerved, doing their best to dodge the fire whips.

_Why is she dodging when she blocked all my attacks before?_ Homura narrowed her eyes. _Could it be…?_

Deciding to test the theory that had formed in her mind, Homura sent another fireball at her enemy, watching as it was swatted out of the air like a fly. Afterwards she sent a spear at the figure, her eyes narrowing when she saw how her enemy dodged the spear.

_So she can only block basic fire attacks…_

That meant her abilities with fire weren't very powerful. She could make fireballs, and she could block fireballs, but she couldn't block anything else.

Homura stared at the person wearing her face, at the blank eyes that stared back at her. Seeing her face look that expressionless pissed her off.

"Let's see how you handle this!"

The woman barely had time to blink before the entire ground beneath her became red hot. Somehow, the woman managed to evade, leaping into the air seconds before the fire could truly burn her-not that it did her any good.

"**Sword of Flame!**"

Bursting from the ground with flames at her feet propelling her forward, Homura slammed into her body-double and slashed at the woman with her sword. A silent scream was released, her counterpart's mouth opening even though no noise came out. While Homura landed lightly on her feet, the imposter woman did not. She hit the ground with a boneless thud and a sickening crack.

As Homura stood up to her full height, a strange crackling emerged, before a voice that she loathed with all her being sounded out from all around her.

"Hello, Homura-chan! It seems you're in top form this day. That was some very impressive flame work. Bravo!"

"Minaka!" Homura roared, her blazing furious eyes glaring around her. "Show yourself, you damn coward!"

"Now, now, you know I can't do that. At least, not before you do something for me first…"

Homura's eyes narrowed.

XoX

"Water Celebration!"

Tsukiumi watched in annoyance as her attack was blocked by an attack of the exact same kind. The woman who negated her attack wore her face, her clothing, and looked identical to her in every way possible. It was like staring into a mirror. The only difference between them was the other woman's eyes. They were dead. Her entire face was dead, like she was an emotionless doll, or maybe even a walking corpse.

It really pissed Tsukiumi off.

Growling, Tsukiumi held out her hand, water gathering, coalescing into a single form. A sword, double-bladed and straight-edged. The broadsword was large, reminiscent of ones used by medieval knights.

She swung the sword at her foe, who dodged instead of making a sword of her own. Tsukiumi growled as she chased after the wily woman with the blank face.

"Come back here, cretin!"

The woman proved to be incredibly limber, bending and contorting her body around all of Tsukiumi's attacks. No matter the angle or timing used, none of the water-user's flashy strikes met their mark. It was most annoying.

Her blade slashed at the woman in a horizontal arc. Proving that she was far more flexible than anybody had a right to be, the woman with Tsukiumi's face bent her torso backwards until she was parallel with the ground. The blade soared above her, missing. Then she came back up and sent a blast of water at Tsukiumi, who cut it in half.

"I am getting sick and tired of you!" Tsukiumi scowled at the woman. "You think you can steal my moves and face? Think again! **Eight-Headed Snake!**"

Streamers of water appeared, gathering all around Tsukiumi, a violent torrent which soon coalesced into a single entity. Eight serpentine heads glared down at the woman with venomous yellow eyes. Long bodies composed of moving liquid of the lightest blue undulated as the heads moved, writhing and twisting and contorting around each other.

A moment of stillness pervaded the area until, without warning, one of the heads lunged. The woman who looked like Tsukiumi but was not Tsukiumi leapt backwards to evade. Instead of slamming into the ground, the serpent head changed directions on a dime and chased after her.

The other heads followed. They surrounded the female on all sides, hemming her in and attacking in tandem. She tried slipping through their attacks, her body bending like a contortionist, however, it was no use. Maybe if only two or three heads had attacked her, she would have stood a chance, but with all eight surrounding her on all sides, she was pretty much a sitting duck. The serpent heads didn't even give her room to slip away.

There was no scream of pain when all eight heads bit into her. Blood leaked from numerous punctures marks and still she didn't scream. Her body twitched and spasmed, muscles going into shock as pain overloaded nerve endings and still she didn't scream. Even her face remained blank as her flesh was pierced by the eight-headed serpent's many teeth.

Tsukiumi watched the woman twitch in the serpent's grasp. Watched as muscles shook and spasmed with pain, as the woman's face remained carefully blank, not even opening her mouth to scream. It was that blankness which made it difficult to know when the woman was defeated. Only the way her body went limp, like soggy ramen, told Tsukiumi that her foe had been finished.

As the eight-headed serpent dispersed, the woman's body dropped to the floor. Tsukiumi walked up to the defeated female, who lay there in an expanding pool of blood. Eyes still open in the same expression as before. She wasn't breathing.

"What manner of witchcraft is this?" Tsukiumi wondered out loud. "Why does this woman bear my face?" It was a question without an answer. There was simply no way she could know something like this, and she highly doubted anyone would be telling her anytime soon.

"I see you've defeated your opponent," a voice crackled from all around her, "congratulations, Tsukiumi. You have proven yourself worthy of ascending to the next level."

"Minaka." Tsukiumi frowned, her lips becoming a thin line as her eyes narrowed. "What was that thing with my face? Where are you? Show yourself, coward!"

Minaka just laughed.

"Now, now. You know I cannot do something like that. At least, not yet. If you want to meet me face to face, then you must do something for me first."

"And that is?"

"It's…"

XoX

Miya frowned at the young woman lying on the ground. Purple hair lay sprawled about her head like an extra sheet of silk. She was sprawled at an awkward angle, her legs bent at the knees, feet near her head as her torso contorted to form a u-shape out of her body. Her eyes were closed from Miya having closed them, but had they been open, the landlady would have seen dull eyes nearly identical to her own, save for the blankness within them.

"This woman… a clone?"

"That is correct," a voice boomed around her, "very astute, Asama Miya. Not that I would expect any less from the wife of Asama Takehito. Oops, I meant, former wife. My bad."

Miya's eyes narrowed.

"Minaka," her voice was calm, cool, and collected. "I had not realized your technology had advanced that far." Her lips curled downwards. "How did you create the technology needed to make clones? As far as I am aware, the Sekirei ship from which you pioneered our technology did not have a cloning station."

"I'm depressed, Asama Miya. Did you really think that someone of my intelligence wouldn't be capable of producing my own technological achievements without the aid of alien technology? While it was difficult creating a cloning device, it was not outside of my abilities. Though I will admit that the powers these clones have isn't up to par with the originals. Perhaps if I had a little more time to make them work, things would have been different, but we work with the time we have."

"I don't suppose you would be willing to reveal yourself to me, would you?"

"You are correct. The real me is currently having a wonderful time with your boyfriend, so I can't show myself to you right now."

Miya narrowed her eyes. Minaka was with Naruto? Then how was he talking to her? She highly doubted Naruto would let him talk to someone else while in his presence. She highly doubted Naruto would even let the man speak at all while in his presence.

Something strange was going on here.

"Now then," Minaka continued, "in order for you to proceed to the next stage of the game, there is something I need you to do."

Opening her eyes, Miya watched as a panel of the floor slid aside. Steam hissed out from the hole seconds before something emerged from within it: a large cylindrical device of some kind. It gleamed silver in the sparsely lit room, its metallic surface smooth, save for the few lines she could see running over it like the circuits of a computer. Several tubes came down from the ceiling, attaching themselves to the top of the protruding object. A glass panel in the center of the cylinder slid open, revealing a small indentation that would perfectly fit the object she'd brought with her.

"Put the jinki into the device and you will be taken to the next stage of the game."

"You can't honestly expect me to hand the jinki over to you, can you?" Miya questioned rhetorically. "I know you know what these are, what they can do. What makes you think I would do as you sayi?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. How about because you won't be able to go anywhere if you don't? I don't know if you've realized it yet, but the space you are in isn't on earth. You are currently floating several thousand kilometers above the earth's atmosphere in an arena of my design. Should you choose not to do as I say, then I will simply open the arena to space, and I know that even a Sekirei cannot survive in a vacuum for very long."

Miya almost swore. So that was his game? Had Naruto known this would happen? No, probably not. If he had, Naruto wouldn't have gone along with it… or maybe he would have. She still didn't know what went through her Ashikabi's mind sometimes. Either way, it seemed she was trapped. There was only one option left open to her.

She placed the jinki inside the cylinder, watching as the glass panel slid closed with a near silent hiss.

"Very good." Minaka's tone was distinctly mocking. "And now it is time for me to make my mark on the world. You've been an excellent help, my dear, but I am afraid I have no more use for you. Goodbye."

Miya's eyes widened as the ceiling suddenly split apart like a blooming flower, revealing the inky blackness of space. She stabbed her sword into the ground as all of the air was sucked out, but it mattered little. While she might have been strong enough to maintain her grip on the sword, the sword was unable to remain stuck within the floor. It didn't take long before the sword slipped out of the floor like an eel being grasped by human hands.

Without time to so much as yell, Asama Miya was sucked into the vacuum of space.

XoX

Naruto felt his Sekireis' panic. He didn't know what they were panicking about, and in truth, he didn't care. Whatever was causing them to feel this way was easily solved when Naruto reverse summoned them to his location.

They appeared before him, landing on the floor in a groaning pile of feminine flesh and heaving rasps. Their faces were red, as if they'd overexerted themselves fighting off hordes of enemies. Some of them had broken out into a cold sweat and others were on the verge of panic. The worst of them was Kusano, who was sobbing.

He quickly scooped the little girl in his arms and began rubbing her back consolingly, sending his love for her through their bond. It didn't take long for the little girl to settle down.

"Onii-chan…"

"Shh, it's okay. Everything's okay now."

So busy was he calming down Kusano that he didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

The room began to light up, or rather, the pods that Naruto had first noticed upon entering started to glow. They were more clear now, with the glow engulfing them. They looked like bulbs, a flower that had yet to blossom. A tube stuck out of each bulb, connecting them all together, and a glass viewing lense sat near the top, revealing familiar faces inside.

The faces of those Sekirei who'd been defeated.

_So that was his plan._ Naruto almost sighed.

The tubes connected to the bulbs soon glowed a light blue. They created a trail, a winding path that descended towards a specific point on the floor below; the spot where Minaka was standing.

"Yes! This is it!" Minaka crowed. "The beginning of my ascension to godhood!"

Naruto vacantly realized there were dozens of tubes connected to Minaka's body. Tiny tubes akin to IV drips. The blue energy, which he could only assume came from the Sekirei's tama, flowed up those tubes, which were connected to the large circle that surrounded the white-haired man, allowing the vibrant blue power to flow into his arms.

"Yes, this power. This is the power that I need to become a god!"

Minaka grinned at Naruto.

"I really must thank you and your Sekirei… father. Without your help, I would have never been able to do this. Now that I've absorbed the essence of all these Sekirei, I can begin the next phase of my ascension."

"Did Minaka just call you father?" Homura asked, her wide eyes traveling back and forth between the two.

"There's a funny story about that," Naruto replied absently, "remind me to tell you about it later."

"No, not later." Homura glared. "I want to know about this now. Why is he calling you father. Don't tell me…" she trailed off, her eyes widening. "You man whore! I can't believe you gave birth to THAT!"

Minaka pouted as Homura pointed at him.

"I am not a that," he said petulantly, "why must you always hate on me?"

Homura did not deign Minaka with an answer. She was busy scolding Naruto.

"How could you?! All of the problems we're now facing is all your fault! If you hadn't given birth to that little monster-"

"Hey!"

"-then we wouldn't be in this predicament now! Ugh!" Homura grabbed at her hair, nearly yanking several silvery strands out under her fierce grip. "I cannot believe this! My own Ashikabi is the father of the man I hate more than anything in the world! Is this karma? Does Murphy enjoy screwing with me?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Everyone stared at Homura, whose chest and shoulders heaved as her baleful stare penetrated Naruto.

"Feel better?" Naruto asked.

"A little," Homura admitted.

"I'm glad. Now, perhaps you and the others can move away while I give my wayward son a spanking."

"Don't think you're off the hook," Homura warned, "I'm still mad at you."

Naruto gave Homura a small half-smile.

"I'm sure I can come up with a way to make you forgive me."

"Don't count on it," Homura mumbled.

Naruto smiled at Miya as she walked up to him.

"Would you mind taking Kusano?"

"Of course." Miya returned the smile easily enough. Unfortunately, Kusano seemed to know what was going to happen, for her hold around his neck tightened.

"Kusano."

"No," the Green Girl said. "I'm staying with onii-chan."

Naruto sighed, while Miya just gave him an indulgent smile. Several meters away, Minaka pouted.

"I feel like I've been forgotten." The white-haired man crouched on the ground and drew circles along the floor. "Why is everyone ignoring me? I'm the Game Master here… I'm the one who's on the verge of becoming a god… they should pay more attention to me…"

"Ku-chan, I can't beat the bad guy if you're clinging to me like this."

"Don't care. Ku-chan doesn't want to leave onii-chan."

"Now, Ku-chan," Miya tried her hand at convincing the Green Girl. "You know that Naruto needs to fight the bad man, don't you? He can't do that with you hanging off him. Why don't you come over here with me?"

"No!"

Miya's eyes twitched and Naruto noticed the angry vein throbbing on her forehead.

"Now, Kusano-"

"No!"

The throbbing increased.

"Would you like to spend some time with me?" Musubi held her arms out to Kusano who, after a seconds contemplation, nodded and allowed the brunette shrine maiden to hold her. Miya looked most put out.

"How come Kusano allows Musubi to hold her but not me?"

Naruto's helpless shrug didn't make Miya feel any better.

"Because she has a way with kids and you've petrified her with your Hanya masks one too many times?"

Neither did his words.

"Be quiet, you," Miya grumbled.

"I'm still here, you know," Minaka said, standing forgotten by his lonesome. Having been pretty much ignored for the past five minutes now, he'd decided to remove the tubes attached to his body since they'd already served their purpose. The holes created from them had also healed up.

"So you are," Naruto said coolie, before turning to Homura. "I know you wanted to be the one who killed him, but since it appears this is a family dispute, would it be alright if I fought him in your honor?"

"D-don't make it sound like I'm some kind of maiden and you're fighting for my hand in marriage or something," Homura stuttered.

"Why would I do that?" Naruto tilted his head, playing dumb. "You're my Sekirei. Technically speaking, we're already married."

Homura sputtered even more.

"W-w-w-whatever!" She tried to cover her blush with a scowl. "Just hurry up and fight him already!"

The group of Sekirei moved off to the side, leaving Naruto alone with Minaka.

Crossing his arms, the immortal shinobi gave the man a look. He couldn't really see the similarities between them, but that didn't mean much. His genes were a mostly recessive, a consequence of his immortality, he suspected. Minaka probably took after his mother.

"Is this the part where we battle for the fate of the world?" Minaka asked, his amused grin telling Naruto everything he needed to know about this man's mindset.

"Not really," Naruto replied easily enough, "this is the part where I kill you because I've decided it's time we ended this charade."

Minaka lifted a hand to his face.

"That arrogance of yours is going to be your downfall."

He reached for his glasses and slowly pulled them off…

… revealing purple eyes characterised by a ripple-like pattern that spread over the entire eyeball.

"The rinnegan…" Naruto closed his eyes. "I see… so you have it." The eyes opened again. "Tell me, how did you activate those eyes? None of my other children have ever been able to activate the rinnegan before."

"It's a rather interesting story, actually." No longer wearing his glasses, and with his rinnegan visible, Minaka looked even more insane than usual. "You see, I was born with these eyes. I've had them my entire life."

Naruto frowned. That didn't sound right. The rinnegan almost always took a catalyst to activate. Actually, he shouldn't have even been able to activate those eyes at all. There were steps one needed to take. Naruto had only been able to circumvent them because he was the juubi given human form. Minaka didn't have that advantage.

"It was quite problematic for me at first, these eyes." Minaka held a hand to his face, as if he wanted to touch his eyes. "Everyone I met considered me a freak. The lady at the orphanage I lived in would often lock me away in the attic when people came over looking for children to adopt. According to them, my eyes were abnormal and would drive people away."

"Of course, the biggest problems came from within, not from without. These eyes of mine were capable of seeing far more than they should. I had knowledge of abilities that I shouldn't have known about. I possessed powers that other people would have found disconcerting if they had discovered them. So I kept it all hidden. My eyes, my powers, everything. My eyes made me a freak, and so I knew that I couldn't let anyone see them, ever."

"It wasn't until I met a strange old man who told me about these eyes, their purpose and what they represent, that I began to realize the truth. I had been selected for godhood. I had been chosen to become a new god, a man who would ascend to heights of power and wisdom no one else had ever achieved. There was just one thing standing in my way."

"Your body," Naruto deduced.

"Exactly!" Minaka crowed. "My body! My weak, frail, human body! Even with all this power that I now have at my disposal, I can't do anything about it in this frail body. That's why I'm going to be enacting the next phase of my plan!" Minaka's rinnegan eyes glowed with insanity. "I need a new body to inhabit." He pointed a finger at Naruto. "And that is why I have decided to steal your body!"

… Silence. Naruto could almost swear he heard crows cawing in the distance, which was weird because he was pretty sure they were in space. Space crows?

"You want to steal my body?"

Minaka nodded, his head eerily reminding Naruto of a bobblehead doll.

"My body? You want my body?"

"I believe I just said that."

… A little more silence.

"That's kind of creepy." Naruto covered his body with his hands. "You know I'm your father, right? Don't you think it's wrong that you want your father's body?"

"Why would that be wrong?" Minaka seemed oblivious to the innuendo. His head tilted like a curious child. "Your body is the only one that can withstand the full power of the jinki. If I had your body, I would be able to fuse the jinki into it and achieve true godhood."

Naruto perked up.

"You know how to fuse the jinki into a body?"

"Of course." Minaka's chest swelled with pride. "I've done extensive research on the jinki and have come up with a way to fuse them into a vessel. I simply needed to find the most appropriate vessel for their power-you."

"Can they also be fused into a Sekirei?"

Minaka looked nonplussed by the question. However, much like a true scientist, he pondered it. "I suppose the jinki could be fused with a Sekirei. My machine would have to be recalibrated to match the genetic structure of the Sekirei in question, but it is perfectly possible. The theory is sound, at least."

Naruto nodded, not showing Minaka the surge of relief he felt. "That's all I needed to know." Grinning much like he used to when he was younger, Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Now… let's get down to business. You say you want this body, however, I'm not willing to give it up. If you want it, then you're going to have to fight me for it."

Naruto's rinnegan activated, his eyes bleeding purple, concentric rings appearing around both pupil and sclera. Unlike Minaka's rinnegan, Naruto's had nine tomoe swirling around inside, rotating hypnotically.

"And I'm going to tell you right now that it's several thousand years too soon for you to beat me."

XoX

_50 years later…_

Naruto's rise from slumber was slow and hazy. It had been happening far more often these days, his inability to just kick start his day. He blamed it on the increased stamina of his Sekirei. Ever since infusing them with the jinkis, their powers had skyrocketed. Consequently, so had their stamina-and their sex drive, apparently.

That morning, Naruto woke up to long blond hair filling his vision and the warm, soft and very naked body of Kusano nestled comfortably on top of him. He could tell it was her because she wasn't as voluptuous as Tsukiumi.

The girl shifted against him, mumbling something in her sleep. Naruto released a soft hiss as her stiff nipples created friction on his chest, and her moist passage rubbed against his already rock-hard erection.

He remembered yesterday had been Kusano birthday, which explained why she was the only one in his bed this morning. While most nights generally involved two or more of his Sekirei, Naruto always made it a point to share individual time with them, especially on days as important as birthdays.

Naruto's hands slowly moved from their place on Kusano's lower back, inching their way down until he was cupping her butt cheeks in his hand. They were small and soft and firm, fitting perfectly within his rough, calloused hands. He slowly began to knead his Sekirei's firm derriere with the expertise of a baker.

Kusano moaned against his chest, and her hips began to move, gyrating against his crotch in time with the motions of his hands. Her own hands, which had been lying still on his chest, began scratching at him.

"Kusano."

Kusano tilted her head up. Vibrant green eyes peered at him from beneath a curtain of messy blond hair. She blinked several times, as if trying to get the sleep out of them, and then offered him a smile once she fully processed what she was seeing.

"Onii-chan…" Kusano moaned happily as he rubbed his entire length along her lips. It was an unusual thing, that she called him "onii-chan." Kusano had long since grown out of the phase where she called him that, often just calling him "Naruto" or "Naruto-sama," depending on the situation. She only ever called him "onii-chan" when they were having sex. Apparently, she thought the idea of screwing her onii-chan was hot. Naruto had to admit, the whole taboo thing about sleeping with his imouto also kind of turned him on.

The Green Girl placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself up, long blond hair falling around her like a curtain of shimmering silk, the ends coming to rest on his flesh, tickling his chest. Offering him a sleepy smile, Kusano leaned down and kissed him, even as her body absently lined up with him and allowed Naruto to become fully sheathed inside of her.

"Good morning, Kusano," he mumbled softly, his hands firmly grasping her shapely buttocks and helping her produce a steady rhythm. "Happy birthday."

"Mmm…" Kusano moaned and arched her back in a very feline-like manner, her eyes closing as she moved her hips up and down. "It's my birthday." One green eye opened, containing within it a wickedly seductive gleam. "Does that mean you're my present?"

"I can be." Naruto smiled as she felt her squeeze him from all sides. Kusano was probably the tightest of all his Sekirei. He barely fit inside of her. It was almost painful. "Though you won't get to open me since I haven't wrapped myself up."

"That's okay. I'd prefer getting onto the main event."

Kusano leaned back even further, placing her hands behind her back and thrusting her chest out in an inviting display.

Unlike his other Sekirei, Kusano was very small. While all of Naruto's other Sekirei were infused with a jinki between their mid-twenties to early thirties, Kusano had decided to be fused after she hit sixteen, her reason being that Naruto had stopped aging at sixteen. Because of this her body was lithe, her breasts were just a pair of small hills on her chest. This didn't detract from her looks in the slightest, though, and Naruto took great pleasure in lifting himself up and taking one of her perky nipples into his mouth.

"O-onii-chan!" Kusano's ecstatic cry was followed by her arms wrapping around his head. Her hips also started moving at a more frantic pace, and her walls clamped down on him even more.

"You're close, aren't you?" Naruto said, more a statement than a question.

"Y-yes!" Kusano gasped when Naruto brought her down with more force, hitting one of the places inside of her that caused her body to shudder in bliss. "A-are you-ahn!-are you close, t-too, onii-ah! Onii-chaaahHNN!"

Naruto felt Kusano's walls clamp around him like a vice, to the point where he could no longer move. An increase in wetness made it a little less painful, but only a little. Still, he held Kusano in his arms as she rode out a wave of pleasure, and then listened as she cried again when he shot his seed into her and caused another orgasm.

They fell back onto the bed, their sweat mixing together to create a slick coat. Naruto could feel their combined release running down his legs, but he paid it no mind as he lovingly stroked Kusano's twitching back.

"Kusano," Naruto called.

Kusano shuddered and kissed his chest. "I love you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. "I love you, too."

XoX

Miya sparred with Musubi, trying to figure out when Tsukiumi had taken over her role as the family's chef. It must have been ten… no, twenty years ago that Tsukiumi became determined to start cooking all of their meals.

"_As Naruto's wife, it is my duty to prepare meals for my husband!"_

Yes, those had been her words… at least until Kazehana started poking fun of the girl and made her go tsundere on them.

The past fifty years had been rather nice, she had to admit. After Naruto thrashed Minaka in a battle that couldn't really be called a battle, he'd freed all of the Sekirei, then abolished the Japanese government and declared that the nation of Japan would be one for Ashikabi and Sekirei.

The United Nations had not been pleased. Miya still remembered when someone had tried launching an attack at them, a large, wide-scale nuclear assault aimed at the largest population centers. Naruto had destroyed the missiles before they could even reach Japan. He had then destroyed Britain, sinking the entire island nation with what amounted to a finger flick, and then made a live announcement on international TV stating that any attempts at harming Japan would end with him destroying their country.

Needless to say, Japan was pretty much left alone after that… minus a few attempts at infiltration, which always ended with Naruto sending the infiltrator's head back to whatever nation they came from.

Sitting over on the sidelines, Akitsu, Homura, Matsu and Kazehana watched the spar. Like her, Musubi and Tsukiumi, they hadn't aged a day since the jinki had been infused within their bodies.

They watched the fight with rapt attention, their eyes traveling back and forth as Miya and Musubi raced across the backyard, sword meeting reinforced fists in a dance of grace and elegance. The clanging of weapons rang out in a cacophony of noise that went ignored by their neighbors. Only other Ashikabi and Sekirei lived near them, and they had grown used to the constant sounds of sparring.

As the spar continued, a noise, footsteps, alerted everyone to the impending arrival of Naruto and Kusano.

"Well, look who finally decided to get out of bed." Kazehana's eyes glimmered mirthfully as she raised a small saucer of sake to the pair. "It's already noon, you know? We were beginning to think you two would never come out."

Kusano placed her hands on her hips and grinned.

"As the youngest among us, it is my solemn duty to hog most of Naruto's time."

"Ah…"

Not even fifty years could keep Akitsu from growing out of her traditional pause.

"… lots of sex."

"Solemn duty, my ass," Homura grumbled, "You just didn't want to let him go until he'd thoroughly satisfied you, ya succubus."

Kusano's unrepentant grin made Homura shake her head.

"Good morning, Naruto-sama!" Musubi waltzed up to Naruto and gave him a kiss. Naruto returned the kiss, but soon found himself being kissed by everyone else present. Miya was the last, having walked up to him at a more sedate pace than Musubi.

"Naruto." Miya smiled as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his. She took a moment to enjoy the simple action which had yet to get old, even after fifty years. She eventually pulled back to reveal mirthful eyes. "I see you and Kusano enjoyed yourselves last night."

She was, of course, referring to the many bite marks on his neck.

"Haha, well…" Naruto gave a helpless shrug. "What can I say? Kusano's a handful."

"I'm a minx," Kusano supplied helpfully.

"That you are," Naruto agreed. So did the others.

"Uhuhu, don't I know it." Matsu's glasses gleamed in the light. "Why, I remember the last time you, me and Kusano had ourself a regular three-way. It was-owch!"

"Please do not talk about your sexcapades so openly," Miya said almost absentmindedly while Matsu rubbed the new lump on her head.

It was at this time that Tsukiumi emerged from inside Maison Izumo. Like the others she, too, had not changed at all. Her long blond hair flowed down her head like waves gently caressing the shore of her fair skinned and beautiful face. Eyes of a bright blue reminded everyone of a cerulean ocean. Even her clothes were the same. The only thing that had changed about her was her demeanor. Not quite as tsun as she used to be, Tsukiumi had become almost all dere.

"Husband." She greeted Naruto with the smile of a loving wife. "I hope you and Kusano slept well."

Sleep was not exactly what they had been doing.

"We did," Naruto said, kissing Tsukiumi on the cheek, and then on the lips. "I'm guessing lunch is ready?"

"It is," Tsukiumi said before herding them all into the living room. "Today, I've decided to make calzones."

The group sat down, and Naruto noticed immediately that they were missing several people.

"Where's Chiho, Uzume and Akiho?"

"They've decided to take a trip to the new aquarium that opened up," Miya answered. "You probably didn't know that because you and Kusano left early during the celebrations last night."

"Ah." Naruto paused to take a bit of his calzone. "She does know that we're leaving today, right?"

"I'm sure she does," Miya assured him.

"Uzume isn't the kind of person who would forget something like this," Musubi added, then paused. "And if she does, Chiho will definitely remind her."

"Speaking of leaving," Homura started, "are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, the only reason no one has attacked Japan is because everyone's afraid of you."

"It will be fine." Naruto waved Homura's concerns off. "The fourth incarnation of the Discipline Squad should be more than capable of protecting the Sekirei and their descendants from intrusion."

"I guess." Homura didn't look convinced.

"Isn't the Discipline Squad headed by Karasuba's daughter?" Miya asked, frowning.

"Yes," Musubi was the one who answered, "Kikyo is the new head of the Discipline Squad." Musubi's face scrunched up in thought. "I think Karasuba actually turned over the position six… no, seven years ago."

"I feel sorry for the poor sap Karasuba re-winged herself to," Homura said.

Naruto chuckled. "Now, now, Minato has done an excellent job of curbing Karasuba's more violent tendencies.

"Hmmm," Miya hummed, but didn't seem to care either way. Naruto knew that she and Karasuba still didn't get along, despite the former Dog of MBI being a lot more mellow than she used to be.

Of course, Karasuba was also much older now. She, like everyone outside of him and his Sekirei, lived inside of the time stream. Although, unlike most humans, Sekirei age rather well, so she didn't look that old comparatively speaking.

"Kikyo is a good leader," Kazehana said as she daintily cut her calzone. "She's awfully good with a blade, and because she's a wind specialist, she can extend her reach even further." The wind-user sent Miya a sly glance. "I hear she's even trying to replicate your ability to slice warships in half with a single sword swing."

"I wish her luck with that," Miya said diplomatically.

As the conversation washed over him, Naruto smiled, feeling a sort of content that he'd never felt until meeting his Sekirei. It was a feeling that he'd grown to love, and one that he hoped would last forever.

XoX

"So… this is it, huh? You guys are really leaving?"

Naruto and his Sekirei had gathered on a remote island off the coast of Japan. It was a man-made island, though considering Naruto made it with his chakra, perhaps man-made was not the correct term for it. With him and his Sekirei was Uzume and Chiho, their daughter Ahiko, and Minato and his Sekirei. Seo was peculiarly missing and Yukari was… well, ever since she discovered that Naruto was her grandfather, things had been really awkward between them-for her at least.

"Yeah," Naruto said in answer to Uzume's question. "It's best if we leave now. I don't think any of us want to stay and watch as our friends get older and leave this world."

Uzume's hair, streaked with several strands of silver, remained in the same off-the-side ponytail it always had. She also wore the same clothes. Aside from the gray in her hair, she didn't look that old. Chiho, on the other hand, looked quite a bit older, being only human.

"Heh, I guess." Uzume sniffled before engulfing him in a hug, which soon turned into a group hug when Chiho and Musubi joined in. "I'm gonna miss you, bro."

Naruto took a slow, calm breath to ignore the sharp jab in his chest. He'd grown to like Uzume and Chiho a lot. They had been a part of his family for these many years, and if he'd been able to, he would have granted them both immortality. Unfortunately, there were only eight jinki, and between them and his Sekirei, well, there wasn't much of a contest.

As the hug broke away, Minato was there to shake Naruto's hand. Much like Chiho, he looked much older than his Sekirei. His hair had turned completely white, just like his mother's, yet he held himself with a confidence and surety that belied his old age. Naruto thought it was due to how he'd taken over what was left of MBI and Higa's pharmaceutical company. The newly christened Wagtail Incorporated was doing awfully well, and currently ranked as the number one company in advanced healing technology and medicine. It was actually Minato who'd discovered the cure for cancer.

"Well," Naruto smiled at the group, "I guess this is it."

"Yeah," Minato said.

An awkward silence ensued, and suddenly, Naruto realized that he really had grown to like these people. He could already feel the slight stab of pain in his chest, the stark realization that this would be the last time he saw these people.

Naruto swallowed.

"Well, goodbye."

Naruto turned around rather abruptly and began walking toward the large structure before him. It wasn't a building or anything of the sort. Built to look like a giant flower bulb, its metallic surface shone vibrantly as sunlight reflected off its surface. The spaceship he had spent twenty-five years building looked like something out of a really bad manga.

Footsteps behind him told Naruto that his Sekirei were following him.

The doorway slid open with a near silent hiss as he reached it, and Naruto was greeted with an interior that, in all honesty, didn't look like a spaceship at all.

Wood panel flooring and walls made to look like sliding paper doors greeted them. In fact, the interior looked almost like a carbon copy of the inside of Maison Izumo. The only difference lay in the size and layout. This ship was far bigger than their boarding house

Naruto and the others walked passed the many doors, journeying through several halls, before they reached an elevator that took them to the ship's cockpit.

As they stepped into the expanded space, Naruto moved toward the captain's chair, a cool looking chair that sat in the center and ran on a hydraulics system that allowed it to spin around. The others are also took up their positions. Matsu swiftly moved to the navigation console near the back, while Tsukiumi and Musubi took the pilot and co-pilot seats respectively. Kusano sat down at the communication console along with Kazehana. Akitsu and Miya stood on either side of Naruto.

This was it.

"All hands, prepare for lift off," Naruto commanded.

"Preparing for lift off." Matsu flipped several switches. "They're all green across the board. Engines one, two, three, four, five, and six are online."

"Lift off."

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" asked Miya.

"Of course." Naruto grinned. "I've always thought about traveling to outer space, but never really had the motivation before now."

"Ah…"

A pause. Akitsu tilted her head.

"… lift off?"

"Oh, right. Thank you, Akitsu." Naruto looked at Musubi and Tsukiumi. "Lift off!"

Musubi started manipulating the pilots controls. "Lifting off."

The ship began to vibrate. Naruto looked out the viewing screen to see the world around them slowly lowering, disappearing from view. Several monitors also revealed the group down below, standing several feet away and staring up at the ship. They were a safe distance, he determined, and wouldn't get caught by the engines' heat.

"Raise landing gears."

"Raising landing gears."

"Prepare for acceleration needed to exit the earth's atmosphere."

"Preparing to accelerate and exit the earth's atmosphere."

As the ship accelerated, Naruto felt himself being forced into his seat as earth's gravity tried to keep his vessel from reaching space. He ignored the feeling. Beside him, Miya and Akitsu sat down on the seats that slid up from the floor to keep them from flying backwards.

It didn't take long for them to leave the earth's atmosphere. They were soon surrounded by a sea of stars that glimmered like the eyes of otherworldly creatures, sparkling with the phantasmagoria of the unknown. Down below, the earth continued to turn, a blue and green ball that slowly grew smaller as the seconds ticked by.

"So," Homura started, sounding almost numb, "we're really here. We're really going to travel the reaches of space."

"That we are," Naruto answered.

Homura shook her head. "I… I can hardly believe we're doing this."

"Believe it." Naruto grinned. "We are so doing this."

"Where should we go?" Miya asked. "Do we even have a destination in mind?"

In response to her question, Naruto gave her a smile. "It doesn't really matter where we go, so long as we're together."

"That was an incredibly corny thing to say."

… Whatever. Spoil sport."

"What was that?"

"Nothing dear." Naruto turned to the others. "Prepare for lightspeed! Destination… wherever the hell we feel like going!"

And thus, a new journey began.

* * *

><p><strong>I wonder, how many of you realized that all of the times I mentioned Naruto's promiscuity was to foreshadow Naruto being Minaka's dad? Ah, well. You'll notice I didn't write out the final battle, and that's because there was no battle. Naruto curb-stomped Minaka like he was an eighty pound weakling, so I didn't feel it necessary to add some pointless battle in order to tack on more words.<strong>

**I would like to thank everyone again for reading this story. I would also like to thank everyone who went out and got my new book. I hope you all enjoyed it. I would also be very grateful if you guys could leave a review on my book's Amazon page. Even a small one sentence review about how much you enjoyed the story would really help me out a lot.**

**Once again. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing this story. You guys are awesome.**


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